"There are no simple solutions," she said.

"But I would certainly like to see a greater focus on prevention and early intervention, to try and avoid homelessness before it occurs."

"This includes having the wrap-around services in place for those facing difficult circumstances, ensuring they receive the support they need, when they need it most," she said.

Ms Cooke's comments follow regional councils in Australia reporting seeing people sleeping rough "for the first time in living memory".

The increase in homelessness comes on the back of a significant increase in home values since the start of the pandemic, a national housing summit has heard.

Linda Scott, president of the Australian Local Government Association and councillor for the City of Sydney, told the summit that councils across regional Australia had reported a visible increase in people sleeping rough, as well as an increase in the number of families "on the precipice of rough sleeping".

"Rough sleepers were not a problem in the regions...but that has changed dramatically," she said.

"What is needed is actually to provide homes for people in our communities."

Fran Stead of the Cowra Information and Neighbourhood Centre said Cowra had a 'catch-22' with the hospital rebuild increasing the need for more housing to accommodate workers.

"We certainly have seen an increase [in housing stress]," Ms Stead said.

"Many families are struggling, as well as an increase in single occupants," she said "many access temporary accommodation through housing but this is time limited and it isn't ideal for families to be housed in a hotel room."

Independent MP Helen Haines said that in her electorate of Indi, people were "experiencing homelessness on record levels".

"A person who may have been looking for a flat and can't find one may end up in a caravan park, the person who's in the caravan park ends up in a tent," she said.

RAI showed research found one in five city dwellers wanted to move to the regions for a "more affordable lifestyle". They also presented analysis of CoreLogic home value index, which they said showed the median value of homes in regional Australia had increased by 54.2% between March 2020 and December 2023.

Chief executive Liz Ritchie said the housing market was "facing a societal shift", with after more than 57,000 millennials moving to the regions from the cities between 2016 and 2021.

"Five years ago, there were plenty of houses in regional Australia, and here we are today in a very constrained market," she said.

She said new builds were not keeping pace with population growth.

"We can't turn a blind eye and continue to focus on metropolitan areas," she said. "We will continue to have constraints and inequity unless we can get longer term planning on the table."

The electoral district of Cootamundra faces similar pressures. The latest census for 2021 showed that across the Central West, lone occupancy households were the largest household type (26.8%) followed by couple families without children (26.1%).

The Housing Market Snapshot for the region said though there is variation across LGA's within the region, the data a requirement for affordable, small occupancy homes.

1800RESPECT - 1800 656 463

Link2home Homelessness - 1800 152 152

Link2home Veterans and Ex-Service - 1800 326 989

Pictured: Cowra Neighbourhood Centre's Fran Stead with member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke. Ms Stead says the rebuild of the Cowra Hospital is creating a Catch-22 for the town in relation to housing.

-by Dan Ryan and Eliza Spencer