At 58, Jackson Beaumont is halfway through two university degrees, scoring top marks in all his classes and laying the foundations to start a PhD in archaeology.

Key points: Experts say serious illness prevents many homeless people from engaging with support systems

Experts say serious illness prevents many homeless people from engaging with support systems A new model in Cairns embeds nurses in outreach teams that locate rough sleepers and help them transition to permanent housing

A new model in Cairns embeds nurses in outreach teams that locate rough sleepers and help them transition to permanent housing Researchers say the strategy should be rolled out nationally to address rising rates of homelessness

He describes his life as full of purpose, but it was not always that way.

Three years ago Mr Beaumont was sleeping under trees in the pouring rain, would go days without eating, and on four occasions, tried to take his own life.

He entered a cycle of homelessness after the sudden deaths of two close friends in 2017, which sent him into a spiral of severe depression.

Weighing just 55 kilograms at the time and living with borderline personality disorder, Mr Beaumont was so sick, that some days he was not even able to go to the supermarket to buy food.

"My mind was completely out of control," Mr Beaumont said.

"I was swimming in the abyss and I didn't know what was going on. I thought I was worthless — I just opted out."

Battling on

Mr Beaumont is one of about 300 people whose lives have turned around with the help of an innovative new model to address homelessness being trialled in Far North Queensland.

Unlike other street-to-home initiatives, the Going Places program embeds health professionals in its outreach team, which locates rough sleepers and helps them transition to permanent housing.

At the centre of Mr Beaumont's recovery was a mental health nurse named Natalie.

Jackson Beaumont now lives in student accommodation and is studying two Bachelor degrees, of Business and Arts. ( ABC Far North: Marian Faa )

"If I ever I felt a little bit off-colour, if I felt I was slipping again, I would get on the phone and ring up Natalie and talk through the situation," he said.

"She put me at ease, and I was able to battle on."

Director of Going Places, Mark Jentz, said the program's clinical component was crucial to its success.

"The work and the complexity of the clients we've been able to pick up now is far greater than it ever has been before," he said.

'Unable to engage': sickness a barrier to housing

Australian Research Council Future Fellow and Director of Research, Cameron Parsell, said sickness was a major barrier to addressing homelessness.

"When people have lived on the streets for a very long time, often they're so physically unwell, psychiatrically unwell, that they're unable to engage with street outreach workers," he said.

"And that means they're often unable to get off the streets and into housing."

Mental health nurse Leslie Dunbar treats clients for complex health issues with Mission Australia's Going Places program. ( ABC Far North: Marian Faa )

Since embedding nurses into the program, Going Places has seen an increase in the number of clients who are able to maintain housing long-term.

"Over 90 per cent of people who were allocated a tenancy from the streets actually sustained that tenancy," Dr Parsell said.

"What we really need to do is take the lessons that we've learnt from this Cairns innovative model and institutionalise them within the practices not only in Queensland, but elsewhere in Australia."

Homelessness and health 'inseparable'

Going Places mental health nurse Leslie Dunbar said homelessness was a health issue.

"If somebody is homeless their health will deteriorate," she said.

"No one is out there living on the streets who is completely healthy, because you struggle with poverty, malnutrition, sleeplessness … physical and sexual assault."

Ms Dunbar said the most common illnesses seen in people sleeping rough in Cairns were chronic disease, uncontrolled diabetes, renal failure, substance abuse and comorbid mental health issues.

"All of those issues will determine how well a person can sustain their tenancy," she said.

"If you're homeless and you haven't slept, and you haven't had a shower, and you don't really know what time it is or what day it is … you might not remember that it's your appointment time."

Decrease in affordable housing

Dr Parsell called on governments to "demonstrably" increase the supply of affordable housing.

"We know that homelessness is increasing alongside the supply and availability of social housing decreasing," he said.

Homelessness increased 14 per cent from 2011 to 2016 according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics census data.

The biggest spike was in people who identified as living in severely overcrowded dwellings.

Going Places coordinator Mark Jentz says nurses are embedded in the team to help clients with more complex health issues to find homes. ( ABC Far North: Marian Faa )

Dr Parsell said there were major economic savings to be made from reducing the rate of homelessness.

Research published in 2016 found every person who transitioned from homelessness to permanent social housing used on average $13,000 less in State Government services.

"When people are in housing they use the ambulance less frequently, they present to the emergency department less often and they're less likely to come in contact with the police and the criminal justice system," he said.

Mr Beaumont said finding a stable home saved his life.

"It's absolutely vital, it's essential," he said.

"You do have to have your own accommodation.

"The simple fact that you've got a front door key and you can put the key into the lock and open it up and when you go inside that's yours, that's your sanctuary."