freelance writer in the Washington, D.C., area. She has been writing about health care, science, nutrition, fitness and law since 1988, and served as the editor of a health law newsletter. Margolis holds a bachelor of arts degree in biology, a master's degree in counseling and a paralegal certificate.Think there are no homeless people in your area? Think again

Updated

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released 2016 Census data showing more than 100,000 Australians are homeless — and revealing they live in virtually every part of the country.

The Council of Homeless People says the map shows homelessness is a "national epidemic".

See how many homeless people are in your suburb. You can zoom, pan or enter your suburb and state (eg. Camp Hill, Qld) to search.

The homeless rate across the country is 50 people per 10,000, with high numbers of homeless both in highly populated city centres but also in regional areas.

To understand why, it is worth looking at how the ABS defines homelessness.

As well as people sleeping rough, it also includes people in shelters, boarding houses,