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Auckland mayor Phil Goff says homeless people are dying on the city's street, and more needs to be done to fix the problem.
The council is working on the problem with the independent Maori Statutory board, central government, non-government organisations and housing bodies.
Low income households, children and young people and sole parent families are most affected by insecure housing or homelessness, with Pasifika people 10 times more likely to be homeless than Pakeha and Maori five times more likely.
Mr Goff says international studies rate Auckland as having one of the biggest homeless problems in the world.
"This is big. It's serious. People are dying on the street. They are dying from synthetic cannabis. They are dying from the cold and from being homeless and from the nature of their lives and way disproportionately these people are Maori and Pasifika. That is a reflection of what is happening in society and we need to address that," he says.
Auckland Council has managed to house 64 homeless people in the past couple of months, and it aims to find homes for 400 more over the next three years.
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