Homelessness advocacy groups are facing a nervous wait to see if crucial funding will again be provided in the upcoming federal budget.

Each of the last two years, the Federal Government has extended the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (NPAH) program with the states not long before it was due to expire at the end of June.

But this year, nobody knows what is in store from the federal budget.

The $115 million the Commonwealth contributes to the NPAH is matched by the states, and is vital for the funding of organisations that help the homeless across the country.

The guessing game about the program's future in the lead up to the federal budget has become an unwelcome ritual in the homelessness sector, and the uncertainty means some groups are preparing to scale back, or shut down altogether.

"The previous federal Labor government failed to make any provision for Commonwealth homelessness funding after June 30, 2014," Social Services Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement.

But there was no word on whether the funding would continue.

"Future arrangements for the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness will be considered in the context of the 2015-16 Budget," the statement said.

Advocacy groups like Housing for the Aged Action Group (HAAG) are feeling the crunch.

Last year, Victoria stepped in temporarily when Commonwealth money dried up — but there are no guarantees that will happen this year.

Some staff members have already left. Soon, the organisation's 13 employees may be reduced to just four.

They are also preparing to possibly shut down the office altogether.

"At the moment we're about two weeks away from saying to people 'we can no longer help you, we don't know where you're going to have to go'," HAAG's Jeff Fiedler said.

"That's going to be extremely difficult for us to do."

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'I would have ended up homeless' if not for HAAG, says retiree

For seniors like Joan Lansbury, HAAG has been a lifeline. After she retired, rent at her former apartment kept rising and quickly outpaced her aged pension.

After paying for rent and utilities, she had just $70 a fortnight for food and everything else.

HAAG helped her find a community housing unit with much lower rent.

"You're not living fortnight to fortnight, waiting after a week for your next pension," she said.

"If I hadn't got my housing, I don't know what I would've done. I really don't. I probably would've ended up homeless."

Tun Yoong has been living in a refuge after being abused in her family home, but is due to move into her own apartment this week.

HAAG helps all sorts of senior tenants, including those who have suffered elder abuse, like Tun Yoong, 75.

Mrs Yoong has been living in a refuge since November, when she sought treatment for a knife wound in her hand.

"I have been suffering from family violence with my daughter," she explained, speaking in Cantonese.

"She keeps on beating me, sometimes shouts at me, and the last time, she even tried to use a knife."

Mrs Yoong was brought to Melbourne from Malaysia seven years ago by her family, and for much of that time she says she was a virtual prisoner in the family home.

She is set to move into her own apartment this week.

But she may be one of the last tenants HAAG assists before suspending operations.

Others who have been helped by HAAG say cutting back on funds to prevent homelessness before it happens is short-sighted.

Nev Spencer says his story proves how anyone can prove to be at risk of being homeless.

He worked for Qantas in the US and at one point co-owned a $900,000 house in Perth. Three years ago, after a family dispute, he wound up with almost nothing.

He arrived back in his hometown Melbourne broke, with only a car and nowhere to live.

"My impression of people being homeless was people living rough on the street, under a bridge, in squats somewhere," he said.

Mr Spencer says he now knows seniors of all kinds are at risk of homelessness.

"I'm a prime example, having lived a conventional lifestyle up until the age of 75, then suddenly finding myself homeless," he said.

Without government funding for groups that help those at risk, Mr Spencer said he wondered where people like him would go for help.