Financial difficulty is the single most common reason for
seeking assistance with homelessness, according to a report
released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
(AIHW).
In order to understand more about homelessness in Australia, the
Commonwealth and State and Territory governments commissioned the
AIHW to look at Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP)
clients who had low or no income.
The report, Income status of homeless people in SAAP 1999-2001,
focuses on SAAP clients who had low incomes or no income, and
reported financial difficulty as an important reason for seeking
assistance from one of the 1,200 SAAP agencies in Australia.
'Overall, 39% of SAAP clients reported that financial difficulty
was a reason for seeking help,' said report co-author Gloria
Jackson.
'The majority of those people had some income, usually
government pensions or benefits-for example, 26% received the
Newstart Allowance, and a further 19% the Disability Support
Pension.
'However, 12,000 out of 144,000 clients (about 8%) had no income
at all before SAAP support-which we initially found surprising.
'The study shows there are three main reasons why people stated
they had no income.' Ms Jackson said.
'Some were refused a benefit or ineligible (35%), others were
not receiving benefits because they had not applied (30%), and some
had applied or were waiting for benefits (26%). Breaching
Centrelink requirements was given as a reason for no income in 7%
of cases.'
Young people, people born in non-English-speaking countries, and
women escaping domestic violence are notably among those clients on
no income.
Very young people (under 15) make up only a small proportion of
SAAP clients, but when they do present to a SAAP agency they are
very likely to have no income (85% of all cases). People aged 15-24
make up a significant proportion of SAAP clients, and are also more
likely than other age-groups to have no income (30% of cases aged
15-17, and 7% of cases aged 18-24).
Generally, overseas-born people are somewhat less likely than
other groups to seek assistance from SAAP agencies. However, they
made up almost a third of the cases with no income among those who
cited financial difficulty as a reason for seeking assistance.
Clients reported no income in over 12% of support periods
involving domestic violence.
Apart from financial difficulty, other common reasons for
clients to seek assistance were associated with family conflict
(eg. domestic violence) and the availability of appropriate housing
(e.g. eviction).
30 October 2002
Further information: Justin Griffin, tel. 02
6244 1206
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, tel. 02 6244 1032
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for details.