Fourteen rough sleepers are dying in public parks or countryside areas each year on average in Australia, an analysis of hidden death reports reveals. The deaths of a young international student sleeping rough in Hyde Park , a young homeless mother who died of sepsis in Western Australia , and a newborn baby at a makeshift homeless camp near Wagga beach have prompted an outpouring of grief and shock in recent weeks. The deaths have triggered renewed focus on Australia’s homelessness crisis and the lack of social and emergency housing options, which are pushing vulnerable rough sleepers into precarious situations. An analysis of coronial records, most of which are not public, reveals disturbing numbers of homelessness deaths in public parks and countryside areas, including riverbanks. Between 2010 and 2020, 54 rough sleepers died in public parks, the analysis shows. Eighty-five homeless Australians died in countryside areas – including in bushland, desert, beaches and riverbanks – in the same period.…