It is shameful that almost 10 years after former prime minister Kevin Rudd described the issue as a "national obscenity" there are now more people than ever on the streets.

That there are huge numbers of people with nowhere to live, couch surfing, or living in the cars is not a secret, but it is a mystery how successive governments have failed to deal with the problem.

It should not take a decade to determine that the country needs a bipartisan, long-term and strategic approach, not a splintered framework between governments and services.

Homelessness Australia has called for a "well resourced strategy" to address the problem by extending evidence-based responses across the country "complemented by the necessary supply of social and affordable housing".

No doubt this is a similar sentiment to what has been called for for years and perhaps one day the federal government will listen.

As relatively well-off Canberrans tuck into their Easter eggs and hot cross buns this long weekend it's worth a thought that this is not a problem going on elsewhere - it's right on our doorstep.

Despite much trumpeting of our higher than average income and living standard in the territory we have a serious crisis just below the surface.

The ACT has the second highest rate of homelessness in Australia and about 50 per 10,000 residents experience it.

Of the 105,000 Australians who experience homelessness daily, more than 1700 of them are in the ACT.

Of that figure about 500 are under 18 and 300 are under 12.

We have a problem in the ACT and while politicians, community organisations and service providers are certainly trying to fix it there is not likely to be an easy solution.

Especially when large sections of the community express horror over the relocation of public housing tenants to new developments in their suburbs. More housing is one part of the solution for homelessness.

Perhaps this Easter long weekend people could find it within themselves not to fight against the territory's most vulnerable residents.