The federal government will fund a national network of homelessness initiatives for a further year, promising $115m towards the scheme.

Kevin Andrews, the minister for social services, said the funding will provide certainty for people and organisations involved in the national partnership agreement on homelessness program, which has been extended by a year.

The funding pledge follows a warning by groups, including the Salvation Army and Anglicare, that they would have to cut their services for homeless people unless they got significant government backing.

The agreement funds more than 180 initiatives across Australia to help provide shelter, food and support for homeless people, or those at risk of homelessness.

Andrews said it was important for the government to provide assurance to the services supporting the 105,000 people who are homeless on any given night.

“These dedicated people provide critical support to help vulnerable Australians get their lives back together, as well as find affordable and sustainable housing,” he said.

“This $115m investment gives peace of mind as it maintains the current level of service delivery funding.

“It gives hundreds of homelessness services the assurance they need to stay open, keep their staff and continue to support Australia’s most vulnerable people.”

Andrews said he will be working with state and territory governments about further funding. He said Labor had failed to deliver on a promise to halve the number of homeless Australians, citing Australian Bureau of Statistics figures which show homeless numbers grew from 90,000 in 2006 to 105,237 in 2013.

In a report released in December, the Salvation Army said that more than 20,500 people sought help from the organisation in the second half of last year. More than half of the women seeking assistance were fleeing domestic abuse at home.

Bruce Redman, a Salvation Army spokesman, told Guardian Australia that the funding will enable the organisation to provide help to "rough sleepers" for a further year.

“This is critical funding and we’ve got to give credit where it’s due, given that there are a lot of people putting their hands up for funding and saying ‘what about me’,” he said.

“The number of homeless people is increasing, there’s no two ways about it. People are coming to the cities in search of work and the rents are crazy. We are also seeing people in Melbourne end up in dodgy rooming houses, which are dreadful places.

“This isn’t a problem that’s going away. That’s something we’ll be telling the government over the coming 12 months while this funding lasts.”

Labor said the $115m actually represented a cut, given that $159m was committed by the previous government in March last year for the homeless program.

Jenny Macklin, Labor's housing and homelessness spokeswoman, said any funding was welcome but that the new deal is a $44m reduction for homeless services.



“In the government’s eyes, anything that’s more than zero dollars is a funding injection,” she said.



“The 3,400 workers, 180 programs and 80,000 Australians who depend on support under the agreement need funding certainty, not more cuts from the Abbott government."