Robert Doyle has revealed he’s sought advice from the mayor of New Orleans to help solve Melbourne’s growing issue with homeless people.

The Lord Mayor told Neil Mitchell there had been a 75 per cent spike in people sleeping rough in the CBD in just the past year alone.

‘And that’s just the tip of the iceberg,’ he explained on 3AW.

Cr Doyle said New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu had tackled the issue effectively in his American city.

‘They reduced their homeless from something like 5000 to around 1500, so it’s a much bigger problem than ours,’ Cr Doyle said.

‘It might sound simple, but one thing I think they did was build five housing units to provide a roof for people.’

Click PLAY below to hear more from Robert Doyle in studio