Cr Docker said the motion that calls on council staff to review its Protocol for Homeless People in Public Places and look for ways to support frontline homelessness services was always planned to be put forward as soon as possible after he was elected.

"100 per cent - in Wollongong, we're beyond the housing crisis," Cr Docker said.

"We're starting to slip into a homelessness crisis. For me, I think the strength of a community is best judged by how they support the most vulnerable. That's why I was bringing this to the floor of council the first chance I got."

"One of the heads of the local providers told me recently that it's much easier for them to turn one of their dwellings into an Airbnb than it is to turn it into crisis and emergency accommodation," Cr Docker said.

"This isn't about big developers providing affordable housing or anything like that. These are about the services which are at the very acute end of this crisis.

"So it's just how can we bring those services online as quickly as possible once those applications hit the council's desk?"

"We need to throw everything we have at that and that includes bringing local government into the mix," he said.

"We need to use our imagination. We need to throw everything at this problem. Otherwise it would be far more costly to deal with down the track."

Cr Docker said he was confident the motion would have the full support of the councillors in this new term.

"Every single one of the councillors which have been elected care about their community and know about this crisis and I'm confident that this will pass," he said.

"I'm asking for a briefing. There's no budgetary impacts, there's no money being spent at the moment.

"This is asking for a briefing and sending a clear signal to staff that this is my intention and that we need a stronger focus in this area."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 24 October 2024.