As customers jostle and shop owners holler on a busy Sunday at Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne, Davide Alberti is up to his elbows in dirty trays and buckets.

Key points: The was a 25 per cent increase in employed people seeking homelessness services in Australia last financial year

The was a 25 per cent increase in employed people seeking homelessness services in Australia last financial year Victoria had highest number of employed people seeking help in the country

Victoria had highest number of employed people seeking help in the country New South Wales had sharpest increase in demand over four years

He's working a once-a-week gig his friend offered him after he broke a vertebra in a nasty fall, stopping him from continuing his tree-felling employment.

For Mr Alberti, the cleaning job provides much more than a financial lifeline.

"It's really good for mental health," Mr Alberti said.

"The little work that I do adds to my quality of life."

Mr Alberti was a ward of the state when he was a teenager but after he turned 18 he quickly found himself living on the streets.

He spent the next 15 years in a vicious cycle of drug addiction and incarceration before a long stint at a rehabilitation clinic made him change his ways.

Davide Alberti works once a week at Queen Victoria Market to support himself. ( ABC News: James Oaten )

"I've never had any assistance in setting up housing, so I sort of just drifted along," Mr Alberti said.

"A lot of people look at you differently when you are in that situation.

"You don't see any value in yourself because others don't see value in you. So, you don't see the point in trying to better your situation."

Three years ago, he landed a "dream job" working as a tree feller.

It provided fairly regular work up until his recent injury.

But despite the pay, Mr Alberti relied on subsidised public housing.

Davide Alberti says his cat, Umbra, gives him joy in life and "makes me look a bit more outside myself". ( ABC News: James Oaten )

"I consider myself pretty lucky that I've got subsidised housing because there's not many of them around," he said.

"There's such a shortage of affordable housing that everybody's trying to fight for the same properties.

"I would not be able to afford private rental."

Full-time employment 'without housing options'

Census data shows the rate of homelessness has been steadily increasing in recent years, but men and women sleeping rough on the street only tells part of the story.

Australia is experiencing a dramatic rise in the number of people working either part-time or full-time who are turning to homelessness services to get by.

In Australia, the number of employed people approaching homelessness services has increased by 25 per cent over four years to reach 21,938 in the 2017-18 financial year.

"I do think we expect that a job will operate as insurance or protection for us against homelessness," said Jenny Smith, chief executive of Council to Homeless Persons.

"I think our services have known for some years now that that's not the case."

Davide Alberti says his cleaning job at Victoria Market is good for his mental health. ( ABC News: James Oaten )

The greatest number of employed people seeking support last financial year were in Victoria (9,550), followed by New South Wales (5,705), Queensland (2,200), Western Australia (1,786) and South Australia (1,327).

Full-time workers made up the sharpest increase in demand in Victoria (31 per cent) and NSW (75 per cent).

NSW also had the biggest proportional increase in full-time and part-time workers seeking homeless services over four years (63 per cent).

Table: Number of people with full-time employment who sought homelessness assistance State 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 Growth over four years NSW 943 1,408 1,592 1,648 75 per cent Vic 2,270 2,184 2,487 2,971 31 per cent Qld 629 616 565 647 3 per cent WA 631 579 545 705 12 per cent SA 279 298 335 308 10 per cent Tas 70 57 59 57 -19 per cent ACT 243 193 190 198 -19 per cent NT 233 198 232 191 -18 per cent National 5,298 5,533 6,005 6,725 27 per cent *Source: AIHW data analysed by Council to Homeless Persons

"We've always seen people with limited employment coming to our services for help," Ms Smith said.

"But what we've been seeing in recent years is bigger and bigger numbers of people who are in full-time employment coming to our services at risk of homelessness, without housing options."

Jenny Smith said much of the problem boils down to the fact the cost of living, particularly rental prices, is outstripping wage growth.

She said Australia needs an extra 725,000 affordable homes.

"If you're on very low income and spending more than half of it on rent, life is very, very tight," Ms Smith said.

"You only need something unexpected to go wrong and it can be the tipping point. So that can be becoming sick … [or] having to leave a relationship because of family violence."

'Stability is a pipedream'

Housing is only one area of support employed Australians are seeking from homelessness services.

Nineteen years ago, Mim and her three children were sleeping in a car as she waited to undergo surgery for cervical cancer.

She spent several days on the floor of a friend's house after self-discharging before being granted emergency accommodation.

She now works 36 hours a fortnight in youth residential care and secured a private rental eight months ago, after leaving a domestically violent relationship.

Mim and her three children were sleeping in a car as she waited to undergo surgery for cervical cancer. ( ABC News: James Oaten )

But the home was only secured with the help of a homelessness service loaning the money for bond and providing furniture.

"It took me ages to get somewhere to live but because I lived in government housing prior to where I was living so I had no rental record," Mim said.

"There was nothing to say I could pay the rent. So, I had a fairly good job and relatively good income, but no one would give me housing."

But Mim's future is still far from stable, as her employer is shutting down its operations in just a few months.

"I've got until May to find another job," Mim said.

"What happens if I don't find another job and the lease here finishes in June? Where do I go then?"

"Stability for me is kind of a pipedream."