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Demand for social housing has continued to increase in Queensland, with a surge of 745 families applying for accommodation.
Data released in November, for last year's June to September quarter, revealed 43,074 Queenslanders were on the waitlist for social housing – a rise of 1,600 since the quarter prior.
Queensland Council of Social Services (QCOSS) chief executive Aimee McVeigh claimed there were many more Queenslanders in need who were not reflected in those numbers.
"We know there's around 100,000 households that are eligible in Queensland for social housing and who are in need of social housing," Ms McVeigh said.
Queensland Opposition Leader David Crisafulli on Saturday accused the Labor government of letting vulnerable Queenslanders down, saying it was a "failure of epic proportions".
Mr Crisafulli said those in need of housing assistance "have never been under this much pressure".
"We've got Queenslanders who don't believe they'll ever own a home, Queenslanders who are struggling to pay their rent, and the most vulnerable with no access to social housing," Mr Crisafulli told media.
Queensland Shadow Minister for Housing Tim Mander said he was most concerned by the number of families on the waitlist.
"The most disturbing statistic that's come out with this increase in the number on the social housing waitlist, is that it's an increase in families … Queenslanders have had enough and now it's families that are suffering," Mr Mander said.
Ms McVeigh echoed this concern, telling the ABC "many children are waiting years for a secure place to live".
Mr Mander called on the Labor government to do better, claiming the state's housing crisis had gone from "dire to diabolical".
The criticism follows the state government's announcement in November to introduce more funding for the Immediate Housing Response for Families (IHRF) — a multi-million-dollar program that provided housing assistance to Queenslanders experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness.
At the time of announcement, Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon said the additional $23 million would address existing problems.
"We know there are housing concerns across the community, and we are getting on with the job of building more homes to put a roof over the head of people who need it most," Ms Scanlon said.
Minister for State Development and Infrastructure Grace Grace echoed this at the time, saying the additional funding would "extend a lifeline" to families looking to secure a safe space to stay.
"[The data] shows that the number of single-person households has reduced, but the number of families who are looking for government support has increased, and that's why we're responding," Ms Grace said.
But Ms McVeigh said, although the government had delivered about 500 new social housing dwellings so far, it was still not enough to meet demand.
"Notwithstanding the fact that there are plans to ramp that up, the plans are not ambitious enough," she said.
Ms McVeigh suggested an overarching state government housing plan would be needed to address the crisis. Until then, those in need would continue to struggle, she said.
"The government has, for many months now, been promising that plan and it is time that they released it. The plan should include targets to include more social and affordable housing that actually bears a relationship to the need that we're seeing in our community," she said.
Government calls to action come just days after it was revealed that Brisbane was now the third most expensive city in the country to buy property.