Homeless man Christopher Milne, 50, died in Launceston on Monday, June 27

Margaret Milne, a pensioner who lives in Queensland, said she spent two years advocating the Tasmanian government and the homelessness services sector, along with social housing providers to find secure accommodation for her son Chris.

Chris, 50, died on June 27 in Launceston's CBD following a medical episode Ms Milne said was exacerbated by exposure, after Chris spent the last two-and-a-half years homeless.

"I can't understand how it's happened, I really can't," Ms Milne said.

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Chris was described by his mother as "really intelligent" and a "lovely human" she believed would one day become a diplomat.

"I really didn't expect him to end up living the way he did, but he was really independent in his adult life and we allowed him to be," she said.

Chris had recently agreed to move back to Queensland with his mother before he died, following the death of his father in May.

However, the reason he'd stayed in Tasmania was to be closer to his son, whom he hadn't been able to see for nearly three years.

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The Family Court requires that parents need to have a permanent address to allow for visitation, and when Chris was forced into homelessness he lost that right.

"He never left more than 300 metres away from the Launceston General Hospital, in case something happened [to his son]. However, what really happened was that Chris needed the hospital a lot more than his son did."

A healthy man, Chris had never had chronic illness before falling into homelessness, however, during 2021 he had more than 10 visits to the LGH, Ms Milne said.

"He was constantly getting sicker," she said.

Ms Milne said he was suffering from a heart condition, which a month ago left him in a catatonic state that led to him needing to be resuscitated, along with infections in wounds left behind by alleged assaults.

Homeless people are subject to alleged assaults frequently, which is on the rise in Launceston. Police are investigating where they can.

Ms Milne said as a pensioner she didn't have much money to help out her son, but in 2021 had tried to apply for rental properties and social housing in her own name, for Chris to live in, but she was blocked at every turn by the shortage.

"It's not unique to Tasmania, it's everywhere, this housing crisis is a national shame," she said.

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"We are in Australia, it's not like we are in a third-world country, we need to be doing better than this."

Housing Minister Guy Barnett said his heart to the Milne family and he had reached out to them on Friday, July 1.

"This is a heartbreaking situation and one that is very complex," he said.

"I am advised efforts were made to engage and connect Mr Milne with homelessness services, but unfortunately these efforts were unsuccessful."

"Our Safe Spaces initiatives are designed to provide safe shelter and wrap around services to those who are sleeping rough and we encourage anyone who needs that support to engage with those services by calling Housing Connect."

Ms Milne said she also facilitated conversations between Chris and CatholicCare regarding permanent accommodation, which was also unsuccessful.

CatholicCare Tasmania chief executive Andrew Hill said the organisation assisted Tasmanians across key areas such as counselling, emergency relief, housing, homelessness, family violence and emergency relief.

He said all of those areas had experienced higher demand over the past year.

"Many of our services are experiencing a surge in demand due increased living costs, and the lack of availability and cost of housing," he said.

"The Catholic Church in Tasmania, through its non-profit entities, works closely with state, federal and local governments to help alleviate the chronic shortage of social and affordable housing in Tasmania."

He said the Church was also committed to investing in the construction of new social and affordable housing via partnerships with other for-purpose groups, faith-based organisations and government housing and building initiatives.

"A new social enterprise of the Catholic Church in Tasmania, St Joseph Affordable Homes was established to complete the Church's social and affordable building projects while providing trade qualifications in a range of construction areas gained through an in-house apprenticeship and life-coaching scheme."

Homeless not-for-profit organisation Shekinah House had some personal dealings with Chris for a few years while he was homeless and coordinator Louise Cowan described him as a "thorough gentleman".

"He was so kind-hearted, unassuming and grateful. He never asked for anything, he was just trying to live the best life he could," she said.

Ms Cowan said Shekinah House was not assisting Chris in an official capacity, but he had taken advantage of their meal service at times.

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"We had a lot of conversations with him, and that's also part of the process, it's really important for people to talk, it's part of the support," she said.

Ms Cowan said she had known of Chris for about five years and said he was well-respected in the Launceston community.

"People cared about him," she said.

A memorial service for Chris is scheduled for this coming Wednesday, July 6 at City Baptist Church on Frederick Street at 1:30pm.

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