Why the SHS collection was developed
Homelessness is a matter of great concern for all Australian governments. In order to make good decisions on homelessness matters, and to continue to make improvements, they want and need good information. We were asked by the Australian Government, and state and territory governments, to develop the new SHS collection on homelessness. It provides better information about people who are homeless and the services provided to them.
To provide a better picture of issues faced by people experiencing homelessness, we revised the national standards used to measure homelessness. These standards are specified in the National Minimum Data Set (NMDS), which form the basis for the Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) collection.
We expanded the National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) to include:
- data from government departments, agencies or services that provide a specialist homelessness services
- data on crisis accommodation
- children as clients in their own right
- previous experiences of homelessness
We also:
- collect 'demand for accommodation' throughout the year
- improved existing data
- made the information more timely, with agencies submitting monthly reports.
The Specialist Homelessness Services National Minimum Data Set is held in METeOR. This document includes the referenced Glossary Items.