Almost 400 people are sleeping rough across five inner Melbourne council areas, a recent street count has found — and many of them are on the waiting list for public housing.

Trained volunteers who visited streets, parks and laneways on the wintry day of June 19 counted 392 homeless people in the municipalities of Melbourne, Port Phillip, Yarra, Stonnington and Maribyrnong.

Overall there were 279 rough sleepers counted in the City of Melbourne this year.

The were 65 homeless people counted in Port Phillip, 29 in Yarra, 16 in Maribyrnong and three in Stonnington.

The street count found: 78 per cent of rough sleepers were male, 22 per cent were female

78 per cent of rough sleepers were male, 22 per cent were female 54 per cent were aged 26-40, while most of the others were aged 41-60

54 per cent were aged 26-40, while most of the others were aged 41-60 Most were Australian born

Most were Australian born 14 per cent identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

14 per cent identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander 42 per cent were on the public housing waiting list

42 per cent were on the public housing waiting list 35 per cent were found sleeping on the street, 13 per cent in parks and 48 per cent in other locations such as river banks Source: City of Melbourne

In 2016, the count focused on an area that made up 20 per cent of the City of Melbourne and found 247 homeless people. This year volunteers found 210 rough sleepers in the same area — representing a 15 per cent drop.

Housing Minister Martin Foley said patterns of homelessness were changing.

"The real challenge is the changing nature of homelessness. With younger people homeless, with older women increasingly homeless, it shows there's more to do."

The survey found 42 per cent of the rough sleepers were on the public housing waiting list.

Mr Foley said the State Government was planning 6,000 new social housing units over the next five years.

"In the immediate term, what these figures show is that by intervening early by securing people in private rental and by making sure we have pathways that keep people out of homelessness we can start to make an impact," he said.

Kira Walker, 26, was one of those who slept out in Melbourne's CBD last night in freezing temperatures.

Kira Walker says she is mostly treated well, but sleeping on the street is uncomfortable. ( ABC News: Stephanie Anderson )

"It's cold. The lights don't go out either so you're constantly under light, so it confuses you, gives you headache a lot. Never any quiet. Never any dark," she said.

Ms Walker said she came to Melbourne from Adelaide in January to escape violence.

She sleeps under security cameras on a number of blankets spread out on the paving next to a shop on Swanston Street.

"The community is actually really nice to me," she said.

"It's normally okay but people tell you to go get a job, things like that. Would you hire me?

"I don't like it when people speak down to me. I'm just like everyone else, I just don't have a house."

Rough sleepers counted in this year's survey were found camping along river banks, in parks and sleeping on the street.

Most of the homeless were male (78 per cent) and 79 per cent were born in Australia.

More young people and women are sleeping on the streets, the Government says. ( ABC News: Stephanie Anderson )

Only 14 per cent had been transient for more than five years.

City of Melbourne acting Lord Mayor Arron Wood said homelessness the data would help authorities deal with the issue.

"This joint count means we now have a picture of homelessness across inner Melbourne like never before," Cr Wood said.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said more needed to be done to address the root cause of homelessness.

"Whether they are domestic violence, mental health and depression issues, we really need to get to the bottom of it," he said.

"It's something we don't have to accept as the norm for a big city. We should be combatting this and trying to do all we can to get people into emergency housing."

The street count is conducted every two years and has been running since 2008.