Summary
This national report provides an overview of assistance given to clients and their accompanying children by in-scope government-funded specialist homelessness agencies during the 2008–09 financial year. This national report is complemented by state and territory supplementary reports.
The funding to the specialist homelessness agencies covered by this report was provided under the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) from 1 July 2008 to 31 December 2008 and then under the National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA) from 1 January 2009 to 30 June 2009. Funding for the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (NPAH), which supports the NAHA, did not commence until 1 July 2009. As such, no services funded under NPAH are included in this report.
Data for this report are sourced from the SAAP National Data Collection. Readers should recognise that the changed arrangements implemented midway through the 2008–09 reporting year may affect comparisons with previous years (see Chapter 1). The development and implementation of new services under the revised arrangements has been ongoing. It is not possible to quantify the extent to which services changed or new services were added in the first 6 months of operation of the NAHA, although it is known that these were not extensive. That is, the majority of existing services under SAAP continued.
Changes over time
Figure 1 presents the number of support periods and clients over the 13 years of the SAAP National Data Collection. The number of support periods provided that were in scope of the collection decreased from 220,300 in 2007–08 to 212,400 in 2008–09. The number of clients has remained relatively steady over the same period (125,600 to 125,800).
Midway through the 2008–09 financial year, SAAP was discontinued and replaced by the NAHA. This resulted in some changes in the way the jurisdictions administer the agencies. The impact that the changed arrangements had in the first 6 months of operation is not known, but the number of funded agencies and the number of agencies that were required to participate in the collection decreased (funded agencies from 1,562 in 2007–08 to 1,532 in 2008–09 and participating agencies from 1,444 to 1,433). This was a contributing factor in the decrease in the number of support periods in 2008–09.
As a result of the changes, the number of support periods and the estimated number of clients in 2008–09 cannot be directly compared with the number of support periods and clients in 2007–08. This break in the series makes understanding the trends challenging without further analysis.
A future report by the AIHW, planned for July 2010, will present more detailed analysis, providing information on changing trends in the SAAP National Data Collection.
More details on breaks in the time series, including a description of changes to the collection definitions and reporting practices, can be found in Chapter 9.
How much did it cost?
In 2008–09, in-scope specialist homelessness agencies received $405.9 million in funding from the Australian and state and territory governments. The mean level of funding per agency was $264,900.
Who was supported?
One in every 105 Australians, or 204,900 people (125,800 clients and 79,100 accompanying children) received support.
Females, particularly young females, and children were significant users of specialist homelessness services. In 2008–09, 1 in every 122 females aged 10 years and over became a client of a specialist homelessness agency, with young females aged 15–19 years the most likely group to become a client (1 in every 50 females in this age bracket accessed support). Children also had a high rate of use, with 1 in 63 children overall and 1 in every 39 children aged 0–4 years accompanying a parent or guardian to an agency.
Male clients, particularly in the older age groups, were slightly more likely than female clients to have repeat periods of homelessness; that is, to require more than one period of support within the year.
The majority of clients and accompanying children were born in Australia and did not identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were, however, over-represented when compared with the general population (18% of clients and 25% of accompanying children were Indigenous, compared with 2% of the general Australian population aged 10 years and over and 5% of children aged 0–17 years, respectively).
Why was support sought?
The reasons clients gave for seeking assistance from a government-funded specialist homelessness agency varied, depending on their age and sex. Overall, interpersonal relationship issues were the most common broad reason clients gave for seeking assistance and, of these, domestic or family violence and relationship or family breakdown were frequently cited. Other common reasons were related to accommodation.
Young males and females aged under 25 years who presented alone most commonly sought support because of issues in their interpersonal relationships, particularly the breakdown of a relationship with a family member or with a spouse or partner.
Females with children and females aged 25 years and over who presented alone also often sought support because of issues in their interpersonal relationships: in this case, particularly domestic or family violence.
Males aged 25 years and over most commonly sought support because of health-related concerns: namely issues around problematic drug, alcohol and substance use.
For couples, both with and without children, and males with children, accommodation issues were commonly reported as their main reason for seeking assistance: in particular, eviction or being asked to leave.
What type of support?
The focus of specialist homelessness agencies was largely on the provision of nonaccommodation-related support services only. A third of all support periods included a period of supported accommodation.
Advice or information was required more often than any other type of support, followed by emotional support, and advocacy or liaison on behalf of the client. Specialist services were the least likely types of services to be required.
Were support needs met?
Overall, agencies were able to directly meet the needs of clients and accompanying children in the majority of cases. Basic support—such as meals and shower facilities—were the most likely type of support to be provided directly by the agency. Specialist services—such as physical or intellectual disability services—were the least likely type of support to be provided directly and the most likely to be referred on.
In over half of their support periods, clients had a case management plan in place before the end of their support. In most cases, at least some of the goals specified in the plan were achieved.
What were the circumstances of clients on exit?
Immediately following support, clients were most commonly not employed—with a government pension or benefit as their main source of income—and living in a house or flat with some form of tenure.
Generally, client circumstances improved immediately following support, particularly for those who specifically required assistance with income, employment and housing, and for those supported for longer periods.
How long were clients supported for?
The median length of support was 14 days. The median length of accommodation was 13 days.
Family groups with children generally had the longest periods of support and accommodation. Older males and females who presented alone had the shortest periods.