Everyone is only a few steps away from homelessness, according to Mission Australia chief executive officer Catherine Yeomans.
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Ms Yeomans was at Dubbo on Friday to speak to Mission Australia staff in the region about homelessness, and the organisation's goal to halve it by 2020.
There are about 180 people homeless at Dubbo on any given night, Ms Yeomans said, and 400 in the region.
"Anyone can easily slip into homelessness. All it could take is the loss of a job or a relationship breakdown. If you lose your job your landlord is not going to be patient with you when you say 'don't worry, I'll get a job in a few months," she said.
"What we want to raise awareness of is silent homelessness. Only 6 per cent are rough sleepers, the rest are in crisis accommodation, they're staying with a series of friends and family, they're staying in hotels or caravan parks, sometimes they're even staying in tents.
One of the big problems in regional areas like Dubbo was the lack of accommodation, Ms Yeomans said.
"Some of it is the same, in the sense that homelessness is not a problem it's right across the country, but there are some things that are different and that's access to crisis accommodation.
"There's only one crisis accommodation property in Dubbo and that's not enough, because what happens if you have family who need to escape in the middle of the night?"
Mission Australia is calling on all governments to sign on to targets that will help halve homelessness and the number of people in rental stress by 2020.
"Our staff in Dubbo tell me that housing affordability is increasingly becoming a concern in regional areas and many of the families we see through our family support programs are at risk of homelessness because they're spending large proportions of their income on rent," Ms Yeomans said.
Mission Australia is calling for a united approach from all levels of government, the community, businesses and individuals to help tackle homelessness.
