A researcher into homelessness says Australia's north has a high number of working men who are living in their cars.

Associate Professor at Melbourne's Swinburne University, David MacKenzie, says north Queensland, the north of Western Australia and the Northern Territory have a higher rate of homelessness than the nation's south.

He says that is because of a range of factors, including a highly transient population, a large Indigenous population, a strong resources sector and an acute shortage of public housing.

"It's related obviously to remoteness," he said.

"So the population is smaller but for a whole host of reasons perhaps, and possibly similar reasons across the Top End, we see greater rates and greater likelihood of becoming homeless."