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While the four walls of a motel room offer safety from the outside world, the space inside is far from a home.
Single mum Jessica Davies and her four kids, aged between two and 16, have been living in a motel in the Queensland city of Bundaberg since July.
"It's not suitable, especially with a two-year-old," she said.
"It's not OK — there's no privacy, there is no space. Everyone is on top of each other."
Her family has been on the waiting list for social housing since February, and has lived in several motels over the past six months.
She said she was not able to find an affordable rental in Bundaberg with enough room for her kids.
Jessica Davies with her two-year-old son. (ABC Wide Bay: Johanna Marie)
Her motel room has one bed and some of the kids have to sleep on the floor.
There is no oven or stove, only a microwave and kettle to prepare meals.
"[In other motels, some of] the rooms aren't even adequate to live in at all," Ms Davies said.
"It's an absolute joke.
"There's nowhere for [my two-year-old] to play and I can't keep taking him to the park every day because I'm drained, I'm sick.
"It's mentally not OK living here.
"It takes a very big toll on your mental health."
Eight of the 19 rooms of the motel where Ms Davies is staying are being used for emergency housing.
'Incredibly high' stress
Daniel Jones, a Bundaberg pastor, said the housing crisis "now knows no boundaries or borders".
Pastor Daniel Jones says he's seeing employed people who are homeless. (ABC Wide Bay: Grace Whiteside)
"It's kids living in tents, it's mums, it's dads. It's people who are employed," he said.
"There's no substance [abuse], there's not mental health [issues], they just don't have anywhere to live."
The CEO of social justice not-for-profit Micah Projects, Karen Walsh, said it was a stark situation.
"We've never seen so many families seeking help," she said.
"Historically we've never really had a family homelessness system, it's been more geared to individuals.
"Proportionately there's been a decrease in supply of family homes that is unprecedented."
Karen Walsh says the number of families living in motels warrants an urgent task force response. (Supplied: Micah Projects)
Ms Walsh said inadequate sleeping arrangements and not being able to cook easily were affecting people's health.
"The level of stress is incredibly high and the anxiety about when a house is going to become available," she said.
Growing waitlist
The number of people on Queensland's social housing register hit 45,473 in March, according to the Queensland Council of Social Service.
Almost 8,000 of those application are households with children.
Ms Walsh said the state government urgently needed to address the housing crisis to give people hope.
"It's a really critical issue that needs an urgent task force response," Ms Walsh said.
"What's their pathway to long-term accommodation, where they can get stability, their kids can go to school?
"People need to be given hope that there's some way this cycle is going to break."
Crisis accommodation
The state government has increased access to emergency accommodation using hotels and motels in recent years, providing more than 270,000 nights of temporary accommodation since July 2022.
The number of nights provided has significantly jumped in parts of Queensland, including in the Central and North Coast region, which increased from more than 14,000 in October-December 2023 to more than 22,000 in January-March 2024.
Brisbane also experienced a rise.
More than 16,000 nights of temporary accommodation were provided in January-March 2024, a 50 per cent jump from the previous quarter.
Allie Douglas is the manager of one of at least four Bundaberg motels providing crisis accommodation.
Allie Douglas says she noticed a "big increase" in demand for accommodation at the motel. (ABC Wide Bay: Johanna Marie)
She said people were happy to have a roof over their head and a comfortable bed to sleep in.
"We've been supplying housing for a couple of years, and there has been a big increase in the past six to eight months," Ms Douglas said.
While providing housing for the homeless did bring a few issues, Ms Douglas said she doesn't tolerate any disruptive behaviour.
"People who come in here and drink all day and night, argue, fight, cause hassles, I just get them out," she said.
Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon said the government had given organisations "a 20 per cent uplift as well as more money" for providing emergency accommodation.
Meaghan Scanlon says the government is building one million more homes. (ABC News: Chris Gillette)
"Through our plan we're building one million more homes, including 53,500 social homes," she said.
"While we get on with building those homes, our critical response team and government-funded organisations have been out on the ground offering people a safe place to sleep while they work with them on longer-term housing options."
Election debate
Shadow Housing Minister, Tim Mander, said the social housing waitlist continued to grow under Labor's "broken promises".
"Homes with Purpose will unlock unused charity and church-owned land for social and community housing for our most vulnerable Queenslanders," he said in a statement.
Tim Mander says the LNP has several policies to help ease the housing crisis. (ABC News)
"It has the potential to deliver 10,000 homes by 2044."
Mr Mander said the LNP had a plan to unlock 53,500 new social homes over two decades.
The party has also announced policies to boost home ownership through abolishing stamp duty for new homes and raising the threshold on existing homes, boosting housing approvals, and allowing first home buyers with a two per cent deposit to close the gap with government equity.