Demand for SAAP accommodation by homeless people 2007–08
A report from the SAAP National Data Collection
May 2009

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare is Australia’s national
health and welfare statistics and information agency. The Institute’s mission is
 better information and statistics for better health and wellbeing.

© Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2009

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced without prior written permission from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be directed to the Head, Media and Communications Unit, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, GPO Box 570, Canberra ACT 2601.

This publication is part of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s SAAP NDC report series 13. A complete list of the Institute’s publications is available from the Institute’s website www.aihw.gov.au. 

ISBN 978 1 74024 924 9

Suggested citation 
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2009. Demand for SAAP accommodation by homeless people 2007–08: a report from the SAAP National Data Collection. 
SAAP NDC report series 13. Cat. no. HOU 211. Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 
Board Chair
Hon. Peter Collins, AM, QC

Director 
Penny Albion

Any enquiries about or comments on this publication should be directed to:
Manager
SAAP National Data Collection Agency
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
GPO Box 570
Canberra ACT 2601
Phone: 1800 627 191
Email: ndca@aihw.gov.au

Published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Please note that there is the potential for minor revisions of data in this report.
Please check the online version at <www.aihw.gov.au> for any amendments.

Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations and symbols
Summary
1	Introduction
1.1	The Supported Accommodation Assistance Program
1.2	The SAAP National Data Collection
1.3	Chapter contents
2	An overview of homelessness and SAAP
2.1	Estimating the number of homeless people
3	Meeting the accommodation needs of clients and accompanying children
3.1	Provision of accommodation
3.2	Tables
4	Unmet requests for SAAP accommodation
4.1	Extent of unmet requests
4.2	Referrals for accommodation
4.3	Tables
5	People making a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation
5.1	People requesting accommodation
5.2	Tables
6	Estimating the number of people turned away without receiving SAAP accommodation
6.1	Data issues
7	Adults and unaccompanied children turned away without receiving SAAP accommodation
7.1	Turn-away as a per cent of people requiring new SAAP accommodation
7.2	Turn-away as a per cent of total expressed demand for SAAP accommodation
7.3	Tables
8	Accompanying children turned away without receiving SAAP accommodation
8.1	Turn-away as a per cent of people requiring new SAAP accommodation
8.2	Turn-away as a per cent of total expressed demand for SAAP accommodation
8.3	Tables
9	Total people turned away without receiving SAAP accommodation
9.1	Turn-away as a per cent of people requiring new SAAP accommodation

9.2	Turn-away as a per cent of total expressed demand for SAAP accommodation
9.3	Tables
10	Conclusion
10.1	Meeting the current demand
10.2	Reducing the demand
10.3	Conclusion
10.4	Tables
Appendix 1	Demand for SAAP accommodation summary diagram
Appendix 2	The data
A2.1	The Client Collection
A2.2	The Demand for Accommodation Collection
A2.3	Interpretation of tables
A2.4	Counting rules and glossary
Appendix 3	Collection forms
References
List of tables
List of figures

Preface
This publication is one of the Series 13 reports on the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) National Data Collection. The series provides information on people who were homeless and people who were at risk of being homeless, who accessed SAAP in 
2007–08. This report looks at the demand for SAAP accommodation and the ability to meet this demand.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) manages the SAAP National Data Collection Agency, and works closely with SAAP agencies which collect and provide data, and the SAAP Information Subcommittee, to produce these reports. The SAAP Coordination and Development Committee provided valuable support in the reporting process.
The partnership is built on shared goals and mutual trust. The key is agencies’ willingness to collect and provide data to the National Data Collection Agency, knowing that any personal information provided by clients is protected by the extremely strict confidentiality provisions of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Act 1987. 
From 1 January 2009, the SAAP V Agreement between the Australian Government and the states and territories was replaced by the National Affordable Housing Agreement, and a new National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness. Data development and enhancements to the national data collection on homelessness will play an important role in evidence-based policy development and performance reporting under the new agreements.

Penny Allbon
Australian Institute of							SAAP Coordination and
Health and Welfare							Development Committee
Acknowledgments
This report was prepared by staff of the SAAP National Data Collection Agency (NDCA) at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). The Information Services and Publishing Unit of the AIHW provided assistance in preparing the report for publication.
Alison Verhoeven and the SAAP Information Subcommittee provided helpful comments on the draft report.
Finally, the vital role played by data providers is acknowledged. This report draws together a large amount of statistical material and could not have been produced without the efforts and cooperation of SAAP service providers and clients, who provided service and client information, and of the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) and state and territory funding departments, which provided administrative data.
Abbreviations and symbols
Abbreviations
ABS	Australian Bureau of Statistics	
ACT	Australian Capital Territory	
AIHW	Australian Institute of Health and Welfare	
CAP	Crisis Accommodation Program	
DV	domestic violence	
FaHCSIA	Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs	
I & I	Innovation and Investment Fund	
NDC	National Data Collection	
NDCA	National Data Collection Agency	
No.	Number	
NSW	New South Wales	
NT	Northern Territory	
Qld	Queensland	
SA	South Australia	
SAAP	Supported Accommodation Assistance Program	
SLK	statistical linkage key	
SMART	SAAP Management and Reporting Tool	
Tas	Tasmania	
Vic	Victoria	
WA	Western Australia	

Symbols
. .	not applicable	
—	nil or rounded to zero	
n.a.	not available	

Summary
This report presents an overview of the demand for Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) accommodation in 2007–08. It finds that SAAP agencies are operating to capacity with the demand for SAAP accommodation unable to be completely met.
Does SAAP meet the accommodation needs of existing clients and accompanying children?
Data collected via the SAAP Client Collection show that SAAP or Crisis Accommodation Program (CAP) accommodation was able to be provided directly to clients and their accompanying children in the majority of cases (87% and 85%, respectively). When it could not be provided directly, it was referred on to other organisations in 8% of cases and remained unmet in 5% of cases for clients and in 7% of cases for accompanying children.
How many people were turned away from SAAP accommodation?
In addition to the data collected in the Client Collection, requests made by people who wish to receive SAAP accommodation but do not, are collected in the Demand for Accommodation Collection (21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008). 
On an average daily basis during this period, 735 people (446 adults and unaccompanied children and 289 accompanying children) made a valid unmet request for accommodation. The majority of these required immediate accommodation, that is, accommodation within 24 hours (410).
Some of the people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation received accommodation later on the same day (25). Taking this into account, it is estimated that 385 people (consisting of 241 adults and unaccompanied children and 144 accompanying children) who required immediate accommodation were turned away on an average day.
This report presents two measures of turn-away. Firstly, 59% of people initiating new requests for accommodation were turned away on an average day. Secondly, taking into account those already accommodated in SAAP accommodation, as well as new requests, 3% of those requiring SAAP accommodation were turned away.
Individual(s) without children are more likely to receive SAAP accommodation than other groups, with family groups experiencing particular difficulty obtaining accommodation. See Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 for more detail.
Why were people not offered accommodation?
The majority of valid unmet requests for accommodation occurred because there was a lack of accommodation available (83%).

1	Introduction
This report provides an overview of the expressed demand for Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) accommodation during the 2007–08 financial year. It is accompanied by a summary bulletin, Demand for SAAP accommodation by homeless people 2007–08: summary (AIHW 2009b).
The daily counts of people turned away from immediate SAAP accommodation are important in providing policy makers, program developers and advocates evidence of the minimum response required to support people needing accommodation from SAAP or similar homelessness programs.
1.1	The Supported Accommodation Assistance Program
Since 1985, SAAP has been a major part of Australia’s overall response to homelessness. The main aim of SAAP was to provide transitional supported accommodation and related support services to help people who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness achieve the maximum possible degree of self-reliance and independence.
As part of the Australian Government’s National Reform Agenda, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has rolled SAAP into the new National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA), effective from 1 January 2009. The 2007–08 data presented in this report are not affected by this change.
In 2007–08, 1,562 non-government, community and local government organisations were funded nationally under SAAP (AIHW 2009a: Table 2.3). These organisations ranged from small stand-alone agencies with single outlets to larger auspice bodies with multiple outlets. Each agency primarily targeted a particular client group, such as young people, single men, single women, women escaping domestic violence, families, or a combination of client groups. Note that not all funded agencies were required to participate in the collection (AIHW 2009a: Table A2.1).
1.2	The SAAP National Data Collection
The data in this report are from the 2007–08 SAAP National Data Collection which had three distinct components—a client collection, a demand for accommodation collection, and an administrative data collection. This report is primarily based on the analysis of the first two of these collections. Further details about each collection are provided in Box 1 and at Appendix 2. The forms used for collecting the data can be found at Appendix 3.
The Client Collection measures met demand and unmet need (see glossary) for both accommodation and other SAAP support services, however, how many times a service is met or remains unmet is not measured. For example, a client may be assessed as requiring SAAP accommodation three times within a period of support but the Client Collection will only be able to report that accommodation was required sometime during that support period, not that it was required three times. Another consequence of this collection method is that a service is only reported as unmet if it is required and never provided or referred throughout the entire period of support. If, for example, a service is required three times but only able to be provided once, that service will be reported as provided.
The Demand for Accommodation Collection measures met and unmet demand for accommodation for each request for accommodation made. Met and unmet demand for other SAAP support services is not measured.
It is important to note that there are overlaps between the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections. For example, a person can be both a client in the Client Collection and have an unmet request for accommodation in the Demand for Accommodation Collection.

Box 1: The SAAP National Data Collection
The Client Collection
The Client Collection consists of information about clients receiving SAAP accommodation or support that is of an ongoing nature or that generally lasts for more than 1 hour on a given day. The information is collected throughout the year and agencies were required to complete one form per adult or unaccompanied child per support period. Details about accompanying children are also obtained through the Client Collection and recorded on their parent or guardian’s form.
The main findings from the Client Collection are published in the national and state and territory SAAP NDC annual reports (see, for example, AIHW 2009a). Chapter 3 of this report contains summary information on the accommodation needs of clients and accompanying children.
The Demand for Accommodation Collection
The Demand for Accommodation Collection covers 2 weeks each year. In 2007–08 it was conducted on 
21–27 November 2007 and on 14–20 May 2008.
The Demand for Accommodation Collection measures the levels of met and unmet demand for SAAP accommodation by collecting information about requests for accommodation. SAAP agencies were required to fill out a form per presenting unit (individual or group) every time accommodation was sought. This included when a request for accommodation was met and also when the person or group was turned away. These data are used in conjunction with Client Collection data to calculate the proportion of people turned away from SAAP accommodation. 
Often when a request for accommodation is not met, agencies are still able to provide one-off assistance to the person or group; for example, when an agency is unable to provide accommodation but able to provide a referral for accommodation. This information is also collected on the Demand for Accommodation form.
As there can be seasonal influences and people can have several unmet requests in a year, the daily and 
2-week figures cannot be used as a basis for deriving annual figures. It should also be noted that the numbers of unmet requests, people who made those requests, and people turned away, presented in this report are underestimates. This is because only data from agencies that participated in both the Client Collection and the Demand for Accommodation Collection were used to calculate the turn-away measures and provide an indication of the overall ability of SAAP to cope with the demand for accommodation (see Chapters 6, 7, 8 and 9).
1.3	Chapter contents
The structure of this report is outlined below:
•	Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the SAAP National Data Collection and gives a brief outline of the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections and the relationships between them.
•	Chapter 2 provides the context as to where SAAP fits into the larger picture of homelessness.
•	Chapter 3 focuses on the requirement for and provision of accommodation to clients and accompanying children as recorded in the Client Collection.
•	Chapter 4 discusses the number of unmet requests for SAAP accommodation as recorded in the Demand for Accommodation Collection, examines valid and invalid requests, and when the requested accommodation was needed (required). It also looks at one-off assistance and referrals for accommodation offered to individuals and groups with valid unmet requests for accommodation.
•	Chapter 5 presents information on the number of people making a valid unmet request for accommodation.
•	Chapter 6 discusses how the estimates of people turned away are formed, and highlights some data issues.
•	Chapters 7, 8 and 9 present the number of people who were not accommodated on an average day (turned-away) and provide two measures of the ability of SAAP to meet the demand for SAAP accommodation.
•	Chapter 10 discusses issues relating to meeting the demand for SAAP accommodation.
•	Appendix 1 presents a summary diagram showing how the demand for SAAP accommodation estimate is calculated.
•	Appendix 2 contains an explanation of the data used in this report and includes the counting rules.
•	Appendix 3 provides the collection forms used to collect the data used in this report. Note that agencies could also submit data via an electronic collection tool, SAAP Management and Reporting Tool (SMART).

2	An overview of homelessness and SAAP
The purpose of this report is to describe the total demand for accommodation provided through the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP). When considering total demand it is important to consider both the requirements of people who have received accommodation from SAAP (clients and accompanying children—see Appendix 2) and the requests of people who wish to receive accommodation but are turned away. This is because, although SAAP agencies accommodate many individuals on a daily basis, there are still instances when an agency cannot provide the accommodation requested by people in crisis.
It is important to emphasise that estimates of total demand for SAAP accommodation do not represent the entire homeless population and that other methods of defining homelessness exist. This chapter provides a context for how SAAP fits into the bigger picture of homelessness, and outlines the difference between the ‘service delivery’ definition of homelessness, as used by SAAP, and the ‘cultural’ definition of homelessness. 
2.1	Estimating the number of homeless people
A key issue for estimating the extent of homelessness lies in defining it. Different definitions of homelessness have been proposed to accommodate the extensive range of circumstances that could be considered to be a homeless experience—from a person having no shelter at all, to a person occupying a shelter that compromises their health or safety (AIHW 2005b: Chapter 7; AIHW 2007: Chapter 6). 
The definition of a ‘homeless person’ underpinning the SAAP National Data Collection (see Appendix 2) is a ‘service delivery’ definition that establishes criteria for the provision of assistance. It includes people who have no shelter at all, as well as people who are at risk of homelessness because their living situation and/or housing places them in circumstances that adversely affect the adequacy, safety, security or affordability of that housing. The estimates of the number of homeless people or people at imminent risk of homelessness accessing SAAP services are an important indicator of the performance of SAAP as the major program assisting those people.
In contrast, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) uses the ‘cultural definition’ of homelessness as outlined by Chamberlain and MacKenzie in Counting the homeless 2006 (Chamberlain & MacKenzie 2008). Cultural definitions of homelessness suggest that it should be defined by reference to the community standards for housing of the place and time where the definition is to be used. Using this method, there were an estimated 104,676 homeless people in Australia on Census night 2006. The ABS count of homeless people includes a total of 19,849 people (adults or unaccompanied children) in SAAP accommodation on that night.
Figure 2.1 illustrates how the definition of homelessness in SAAP relates to the ‘cultural definition’ used by the ABS, and how these different definitions of homelessness produce different estimates of the homeless population. The major service delivery count (that is, persons requesting SAAP accommodation) is smaller than the cultural definition count because there are people who need services but do not seek them, and because the ‘cultural definition’ uses broader categories. The use of the cultural definition to estimate the total homeless population is examined in more detail in Australia’s welfare 2005 and Australia’s welfare 2007 (AIHW 2005b: Chapter 7; AIHW 2007: Chapter 6).

Figure 2.1: Relationships between estimates of the homeless population and SAAP
Flow chart diagram . 
Note: See Appendix 2 for the definition of a ‘homeless person’ used by SAAP. 
Sources: Chamberlain & MacKenzie 2008; SAAP Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections.

3	Meeting the accommodation needs of clients and accompanying children
The homeless and those at imminent risk of becoming homeless present to SAAP agencies with a diverse range of needs. This is reflected in the broad range of services SAAP agencies provide. A detailed discussion of these SAAP support services, including accommodation, is contained in the 2007–08 national annual report (AIHW 2009a).
This chapter makes use of data from the SAAP Client Collection to compare the demand for SAAP or Crisis Accommodation Program (CAP) accommodation (as expressed by the SAAP worker) with the resulting service response. Whilst SAAP agencies do endeavour to meet all the needs of clients and their accompanying children, it is sometimes the case that a need for a particular service is unable to be provided. In such cases the agency may refer the client to another agency (referred) or the service is neither provided nor referred on (unmet).
It should be noted that the number of occasions that an unmet need for accommodation occurs is not reported in the Client Collection. For example, a client may have required accommodation three times within a support period but the Client Collection only records that an unmet need occurred sometime during the period of support. As a result, the unmet need for accommodation data reported in the Client Collection (discussed here) is not directly comparable with unmet demand for accommodation data reported in the Demand for Accommodation Collection (discussed in subsequent chapters).  
3.1	Provision of accommodation
In 2007–08, SAAP clients were provided with 220,300 periods of support (AIHW 2009a: Table 3.1). Around a third of these (34%) involved one or more periods of SAAP or CAP accommodation with the remainder involving the provision of support services only.
The ability of SAAP agencies to meet the needs of clients is better described by only looking at support periods that have been completed; that is, where the client has finished receiving support from the agency. There were 187,000 closed support periods recorded in 2007–08. Of these, 181,000 had a valid response to the question on the requirement for and the provision of support or accommodation services to clients. SAAP or CAP accommodation was required in 74,500 (41%) of these.
SAAP or CAP accommodation was provided directly to clients in 87% of the closed support periods where it was required (Table 3.1). When it was not provided directly, it was referred on to other organisations in 8% of cases and remained unmet in 5%.
A further 107,300 periods of support were provided to the children accompanying clients (accompanying child support periods). Of these, 87,400 were closed. In 47,100 of these, agencies recorded a direct requirement for or provision of support or accommodation services to accompanying children. SAAP or CAP accommodation was required in 63% of these.
Overall, SAAP or CAP accommodation was able to be provided directly to accompanying children in 85% of cases (Table 3.4). When it could not be provided directly, it was referred on to other organisations in 8% of cases and remained unmet in 7%.
States and territories
All states and territories were able to provide SAAP or CAP accommodation directly in the majority of cases in which it was required (Tables 3.1 and 4.3). There were, however, large variations between jurisdictions in terms of the level of unmet need and referrals on to other organisations. 
The Northern Territory (98%) and Western Australia (97%) had the highest level of direct provision of SAAP or CAP accommodation to clients (Table 3.1). This compares with the lower rates reported by South Australia (64%) and Victoria (76%). South Australia (18%), Victoria (18%) and the Australian Capital Territory (12%) had rates of referral which were above the national average (8%). South Australia reported that the client’s needs went unmet in 19% of cases which is significantly higher than in all other jurisdictions.
Accompanying children followed a similar pattern to clients with Western Australia (99%) having the highest level of direct provision and South Australia the lowest (39%) (Table 3.4). South Australia also reported by far the highest proportion of unmet need for SAAP or CAP accommodation (38%) and the highest proportion of referral on to other organisations (23%).
Client group
All client groups had SAAP or CAP accommodation provided directly in the majority of cases in which it was required (Figures 3.1 and 3.2).
Individual(s) who presented without children had by far the highest level of direct provision to clients (90%), followed by individual(s) with children (80%) and couples without children (76%) (Table 3.2). Couples with children had the lowest level of direct provision of SAAP or CAP accommodation (68%) and by far the highest level of unmet need (20% compared with between 3% and 10% for the other client groups).

Figure 3.1: Provision of SAAP/CAP accommodation required by clients, by client group, Australia, 
2007–08 (per cent closed support periods)
Vertical bar chart showing per cent on the y-axis and client group on the x-axis. Key shows provided, referred only and unmet.
Source: Table 3.2.

Children accompanying an individual or individuals who were not a couple were more likely to be accommodated in SAAP than children accompanying a couple (in 86% of closed support periods in which SAAP/CAP accommodation was required, compared with 72%) (Table 3.5). Children accompanying couples had requests for SAAP or CAP accommodation referred on in 11% of cases, with their requirement for accommodation remaining unmet in 17%; far higher than the 6% unmet for children accompanying individual(s).
These data suggest that family groups, particularly couples with children, find it harder to obtain SAAP or CAP accommodation even when they are already being supported or accommodated by SAAP. One reason that family groups may find it harder to get into accommodation is that once they are accommodated, these groups, particularly couples with children, tend to stay longer and hence places for them become available less often (see Chapter 10).
Primary target group of agency
All types of agencies were able to directly provide SAAP or CAP accommodation in the majority of cases in which it was required (Tables 3.3 and 3.6). Reflecting the client groups most likely to attend these agencies, those targeted primarily at supporting single men and single women had the highest level of direct provision of SAAP or CAP accommodation to clients (99% and 90%, respectively). Family agencies had by far the lowest proportion of direct provision (57%), the highest proportion remaining unmet (26%), and the highest proportion of referrals (18%), further supporting the suggestion that family groups find it harder to obtain SAAP accommodation.
Family targeted agencies also had the lowest level of direct provision of SAAP or CAP accommodation to accompanying children (56%, compared with between 64% and 100% for the other types of agencies). Family targeted agencies had by far the highest level of unmet need (27%) and one of the highest levels of referral (17%).
3.2	Tables
Table 3.1:	SAAP/CAP accommodation required by clients in closed support periods: state and territory, by provision, Australia, 2007–08 (per cent)
State/territory	Unmet	Referred 
only	Provided	Total	Closed support periods	
					Number	
NSW	3.6	5.6	90.8	100.0	23,900	
Vic	5.8	17.9	76.3	100.0	13,400	
Qld	3.0	3.0	93.9	100.0	14,700	
WA	0.5	2.1	97.4	100.0	8,500	
SA	18.7	17.6	63.7	100.0	8,200	
Tas	2.7	4.1	93.1	100.0	2,400	
ACT	2.4	12.2	85.4	100.0	1,000	
NT	0.7	1.6	97.8	100.0	2,300	
Total	5.0	8.1	86.8	100.0	74,500	
Notes for Tables 3.1–3.3
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions (weighted): 5,945 (closed support periods with no information on service requirements or provision).
2.	Note that a large number of agencies in Victoria and South Australia do not provide accommodation, they provide support services only.
3.	Figures have been weighted to adjust for agency non-participation.
Source: SAAP Client Collection.

Table 3.2:	SAAP/CAP accommodation required by clients in closed support periods: client group, by provision, Australia, 2007–08 (per cent)
Requesting group	Unmet	Referred 
only	Provided	Total	Closed support periods	
					Number	
Individual(s) no children	3.3	6.4	90.3	100.0	53,600	
Individual(s) with children	8.1	12.3	79.5	100.0	17,300	
Couple no children	9.6	14.7	75.7	100.0	1,300	
Couple with children	19.7	12.6	67.6	100.0	2,400	
Total	5.0	8.1	86.8	100.0	74,500	

Table 3.3:	SAAP/CAP accommodation required by clients in closed support periods: primary target group of agency, by provision, Australia, 2007–08 (per cent)
Primary target group	Unmet	Referred only	Provided	Total	Closed support periods	
					Number	
Young people	6.4	8.4	85.2	100.0	14,900	
Single men only	0.7	0.2	99.1	100.0	18,800	
Single women only	5.7	4.3	90.0	100.0	2,200	
Families	25.7	17.8	56.5	100.0	4,900	
Women escaping domestic violence	3.4	13.0	83.6	100.0	19,300	
Cross-target/multiple/general	4.3	9.1	86.7	100.0	14,400	
Total	5.0	8.1	86.8	100.0	74,500	

Table 3.4:	SAAP/CAP accommodation required for accompanying children in closed accompanying child support periods: state and territory, by provision, Australia, 2007–08 (per cent)
State/territory	Unmet	Referred 
only	Provided	Total	Closed accompanying child support periods	
					Number	
NSW	2.1	11.3	86.5	100.0	7,000	
Vic	2.0	9.4	88.6	100.0	4,900	
Qld	0.4	1.3	98.3	100.0	5,000	
WA	0.4	0.7	98.9	100.0	5,600	
SA	37.7	23.2	39.1	100.0	4,300	
Tas	2.1	5.5	92.4	100.0	700	
ACT	2.0	12.8	85.2	100.0	500	
NT	2.0	0.5	97.5	100.0	1,300	
Total	6.7	8.4	84.8	100.0	29,400	
Notes for Tables 3.4–3.6
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions (weighted): 40,340 (closed accompanying child support periods with no information on service requirements or provision or where ‘no assistance’ indicated). In 39,077 of these, ‘no assistance’ was indicated as required for the accompanying child.
2.	Note that a large number of agencies in Victoria and South Australia do not provide accommodation, they provide support services only.
3.	Figures have been weighted to adjust for agency non-participation.
Source: SAAP Client Collection.

Table 3.5:	SAAP/CAP accommodation required for accompanying children in closed accompanying child support periods: client group, by provision, Australia, 2007–08 (per cent)
Requesting group	Unmet	Referred 
only	Provided	Total	Closed accompanying child support periods	
					Number	
Individual(s) with children	5.8	8.2	86.1	100.0	27,000	
Couple with children	17.0	11.3	71.8	100.0	2,400	
Total	6.7	8.4	84.8	100.0	29,400	

Table 3.6:	SAAP/CAP accommodation required for accompanying children in closed accompanying child support periods: primary target group of agency, by provision, Australia, 2007–08 (per cent)
Primary target group	Unmet	Referred 
only	Provided	Total	Closed accompanying child support periods	
					Number	
Young people	4.0	9.6	86.4	100.0	1,200	
Single men only	—	—	100.0	100.0	100	
Single women only	18.3	18.0	63.7	100.0	300	
Families	27.2	17.1	55.6	100.0	5,400	
Women escaping domestic violence	1.8	6.3	91.8	100.0	18,400	
Cross-target/multiple/general	1.4	5.4	93.2	100.0	4,000	
Total	6.7	8.4	84.8	100.0	29,400	
4	Unmet requests for SAAP accommodation
This chapter uses the Demand for Accommodation Collection to report on the extent and nature of unmet requests for SAAP accommodation. As a person may make more than one request for accommodation in a day, the counts of requests in this chapter are not the same as the actual number of people making requests, which is discussed in Chapter 5.
People may be turned away from a SAAP agency for a variety of reasons, not all of which indicate that accommodation was unavailable. This report makes a distinction between valid and invalid requests (see Appendix 2) to provide a more useful measure of unmet demand. For example, a request for accommodation made at an inappropriate agency or an offer of accommodation refused by the person who requested it, are classified as invalid requests.
Valid requests are further described as requests for immediate accommodation—that is, accommodation required within 24 hours—and accommodation required after 24 hours. This is because, in the context of homelessness, requests for immediate accommodation are of particular importance.
4.1	Extent of unmet requests
There were 12,659 requests for accommodation made during the 2007–08 collection period, of which 9,150 were unmet (Appendix 1 and Table 4.1). Of these unmet requests, 2,100 (23%) were classified as invalid. The most common reasons why an invalid request could not be met were because the person or group was in the wrong target group for the agency they approached (in 44% of invalid requests for SAAP accommodation) and because the person or group refused an offer of accommodation (in 32%).
Valid unmet requests for accommodation accounted for 77% (7,060) of the 9,150 unmet requests for SAAP accommodation made during the collection period (Table 4.1). When this is converted to a daily average number, an estimated 504 valid unmet requests for accommodation were made to SAAP agencies on an average day during the collection period (Table 4.4).
The majority of valid unmet requests occurred because there was a lack of accommodation (83%), either because insufficient accommodation was available at the agency itself (59%) or because a referral agency was unable to refer the group on because they had no vacancies on their books (24%) (Table 4.1). In 8% of valid unmet requests the agency did not offer accommodation because the type of accommodation the group required, such as longer term or independent accommodation, was not able to be provided by the agency. For example, the agency might be set up to provide refuge or dormitory style crisis accommodation only.
Over half of all valid unmet requests for accommodation were for immediate accommodation (58%) (Table 4.4). The remaining 42% were for accommodation required after 24 hours.
Although not all people received the SAAP accommodation they required, most were offered some form of assistance (in 89% of all valid unmet requests for accommodation) (Table 4.7). The most common type of one-off assistance offered was information (in 81% of valid unmet requests), followed by a referral for accommodation (55%), and emotional support or counselling (41%).
States and territories
On a state and territory basis, Queensland reported the largest proportion of valid unmet requests for accommodation (28%), followed by New South Wales (25%), and Victoria (19%) (Table 4.1). The Northern Territory reported the smallest (1%).
Across the states and territories, the predominant reason why valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation could not be met was because of a lack of accommodation, either because insufficient accommodation was available at the agency itself or because a referral agency was unable to refer the group on because they had no vacancies on their books. This ranged from a low of 78% in Victoria to a high of 91% in the Australian Capital Territory (Figure 4.1). 

Figure 4.1: Valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: main reason why request was not met, by state and territory, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
Vertical bar chart showing per cent on y-axis and state/territory on x-axis. Key shows lack of accommodation and other reasons.
Source: Derived from Table 4.1.

In most states and territories, the majority of valid unmet requests for accommodation were for immediate accommodation (Table 4.4). The exceptions to this were Victoria and South Australia, where more requests were for accommodation after 24 hours (63% and 54%, respectively). Tasmania and Western Australia had the highest proportion of requests for immediate accommodation (both around 79%).
Requesting group
Individual(s) who presented without children accounted for the largest proportion of valid unmet requests for accommodation (59%), followed by individual(s) who presented with children (34%) (Table 4.2). Couples with and without children accounted for only a small proportion of valid unmet requests for accommodation (5% and 2%, respectively).
Across all requesting groups, the predominant reason why valid requests for SAAP accommodation could not be met was because of a lack of accommodation, either because insufficient accommodation was available at the agency itself, or because a referral agency was unable to refer the group on because they had no vacancies on their books (Figure 4.2). This was, however, higher for people who presented with children. Individual(s) with children and couples with children reported this reason in 87% and 86% of their valid unmet requests for accommodation, respectively, compared with 81% and 74% for individual(s) and couples without children, respectively.

Figure 4.2: Valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: main reason why request was not met, by requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
Vertical bar chart showing per cent on y-axis and requesting group on x-axis. Key shows lack of accommodation and other reasons.
Source: Derived from Table 4.2.

The majority of requesting groups reported a similar number of requests for immediate accommodation as compared with accommodation after 24 hours (Table 4.5). Individuals without children were an exception, with 63% of requests being for immediate accommodation. Couples with children were the most likely to request accommodation after 24 hours (55%).
Primary target group of agency
Youth agencies accounted for the highest proportion of valid unmet requests (30%), followed by general agencies (26%), family agencies (17%), and domestic violence agencies (15%) (Table 4.3). Agencies that mainly support single women and single men had the lowest proportions of unmet requests.
The proportion of requests that could not be met because of a lack of accommodation ranged from a low of 73% for general agencies to a high of 90% for agencies set up to primarily support families (Figure 4.3).

Figure 4.3: Valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: main reason why request was not met, by primary target group of agency, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
Horizontal bar chart showing primary target group on y-axis and per cent on x-axis. Key shows lack of accommodation and other reasons.

In most types of agencies, groups more often required immediate accommodation 
(Table 4.6). The exception to this was family agencies, where most valid requests for accommodation were for accommodation required after 24 hours (52%).
4.2	Referrals for accommodation
In order to inform the discussion in Chapter 10 regarding the capacity of SAAP to deal with the demand for SAAP accommodation, it is necessary to examine whether attempts were made to secure accommodation at another source when people were turned away. Note that referrals for accommodation are examined based on valid unmet requests for immediate SAAP accommodation.
While not all people requesting immediate SAAP accommodation were able to be accommodated, SAAP agencies were able to make a referral for accommodation at an alternative source in 57% of valid unmet requests for immediate SAAP accommodation (Table 4.8). This means that individuals or groups whose request for accommodation was not able to be met directly by that SAAP agency were helped to find accommodation at another source in over half of cases (for example, in another SAAP agency, a hostel, a caravan park, etc.). It must be noted that outcomes from referrals are not recorded, so it is not known how many of the people who were referred on for accommodation actually secured that accommodation or whether the quality of the referred accommodation is comparable with that offered by SAAP.
States and territories
With the exception of Victoria, across the states and territories a referral for accommodation at another source was made in over half of the valid unmet requests for accommodation (Table 4.8). The lowest proportion of referrals was recorded in Victoria (44%) and the highest in the Northern Territory (69%).
Requesting group
According to requesting group, there was little difference in the proportion of referrals for accommodation, with all groups obtaining a referral for accommodation in over half of their valid unmet requests for immediate accommodation (Table 4.9). Couples with children had a referral for accommodation arranged in 62% of their valid unmet requests for immediate accommodation, followed by couples without children (59%), individual(s) without children (57%), and individual(s) with children (55%).
Primary target group of agency
Referrals for accommodation were most often made in general agencies (in 71% of valid unmet requests for immediate accommodation), followed by single men’s agencies (61%), and domestic violence agencies (58%) (Table 4.10). In agencies that primarily support families, young people, and single women, referrals for accommodation were arranged in less than half of cases, (47%, 47% and 48%, respectively).
4.3	
Tables
Table 4.1:	Unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: main reason why request was not met, by state and territory, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent)
Main reason	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT		Total	
										%	Number	
Valid requests											
Insufficient accommodation available	57.3	53.3	64.7	64.7	46.0	82.4	40.2	70.3	59.0	4,160	
Referral agency with no vacancies on books	29.2	24.6	15.3	21.0	38.4	7.5	50.7	8.9	24.0	1,690	
Type of accommodation requested is not provided	4.3	10.3	12.1	5.7	4.8	4.1	1.3	10.9	7.8	550	
Insufficient staff to provide support	1.1	1.2	1.6	2.1	0.4	0.9	—	5.0	1.3	90	
Facilities for special needs not available	0.8	1.5	0.9	0.8	0.4	0.9	1.3	2.0	0.9	70	
Other(a)	7.3	9.1	5.5	5.8	9.9	4.1	6.6	3.0	7.0	500	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	24.7	19.2	28.3	9.0	9.7	4.5	3.2	1.4	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	1,740	1,350	2,000	630	690	320	230	100	. .	7,060	
Invalid requests											
Agency inappropriate—
wrong target group	43.0	25.1	55.5	53.8	43.3	31.8	72.5	43.9	43.9	920	
Person/group inappropriate for agency	25.6	16.7	16.0	22.9	26.0	32.9	5.0	25.8	21.4	450	
No fee-free accommodation available	1.4	5.8	2.1	2.0	2.7	9.4	—	—	2.8	60	
Person/group refused offer of accommodation	29.9	52.4	26.4	21.3	28.0	25.9	22.5	30.3	31.9	670	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	30.1	18.8	22.9	11.9	7.1	4.1	1.9	3.1	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	630	400	480	250	150	90	40	70	. .	2,100	
Total requests for accommodation (number)	2,370	1,750	2,480	880	840	400	270	170	. .	9,150	
(a)	In a small number of cases, requests for SAAP accommodation were unmet because of the age of a male child (applicable to domestic violence agencies only). To ensure confidentiality, these cases are not presented separately but are included in the ‘other’ valid request category.
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2).
3.	A person or group may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of requests in this chapter are not the same as the actual number of people making those requests which is discussed in Chapter 5.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.

Table 4.2:	Unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: main reason why request was not met, by requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent)
Main reason	Individual(s) no children	Individual(s) with children	Couple no children	Couple with children		Total	
						%	Number	
Valid requests							
Insufficient accommodation available	56.6	62.6	50.0	66.3	59.0	4,160	
Referral agency with no vacancies on books	24.3	24.0	24.3	20.1	24.0	1,690	
Type of accommodation requested is not provided	8.2	6.8	16.7	6.0	7.8	550	
Insufficient staff to provide support	1.7	0.7	0.7	0.8	1.3	90	
Facilities for special needs not available	1.3	0.5	0.7	0.3	0.9	70	
Other(a)	7.9	5.5	7.6	6.5	7.0	500	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	59.3	33.5	2.0	5.2	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	4,180	2,360	140	370	. .	7,060	
Invalid requests							
Agency inappropriate—wrong target group	42.3	48.2	46.8	48.8	43.9	920	
Person/group inappropriate for agency	24.2	13.4	16.1	18.6	21.4	450	
No fee-free accommodation available	3.0	2.5	1.6	2.3	2.8	60	
Person/group refused offer of accommodation	30.5	35.9	35.5	30.2	31.9	670	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	71.9	23.1	3.0	2.0	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	1,510	490	60	40	. .	2,100	
Total requests for accommodation (number)	5,690	2,850	210	410	. .	9,150	
(a)	In a small number of cases, requests for SAAP accommodation were unmet because of the age of a male child (applicable to domestic violence agencies only). To ensure confidentiality, these cases are not presented separately but are included in the ‘other’ valid request category.
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2).
3.	A person or group may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of requests in this chapter are not the same as the actual number of people making those requests which is discussed in Chapter 5.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.

Table 4.3:	Unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: main reason why request was not met, by primary target group of agency, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent)
Main reason	Young people	Single men 
only	Single women only	Families	Women escaping domestic violence	Cross-target/
multiple/general		Total	
								%	Number	
Valid requests									
Insufficient accommodation available	55.3	61.6	58.7	66.2	57.0	58.8	59.0	4,160	
Referral agency with no vacancies on books	28.1	25.6	23.6	23.9	31.5	14.5	24.0	1,690	
Type of accommodation requested is not provided	6.7	5.1	7.1	3.3	3.8	15.3	7.8	550	
Insufficient staff to provide support	1.5	1.3	3.1	0.7	1.0	1.3	1.3	90	
Facilities for special needs not available	0.9	1.3	0.9	0.2	1.2	1.3	0.9	70	
Other(a)	7.6	5.1	6.5	5.7	5.6	8.8	7.0	500	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	29.8	8.9	4.6	16.7	14.6	25.6	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	2,100	630	320	1,180	1,030	1,800	. .	7,060	
Invalid requests									
Agency inappropriate—wrong target group	47.6	27.7	42.9	70.4	44.4	32.4	43.9	920	
Person/group inappropriate for agency	23.8	22.3	24.7	11.7	20.0	22.6	21.4	450	
No fee-free accommodation available	0.9	4.7	2.6	1.3	1.7	6.4	2.8	60	
Person/group refused offer of accommodation	27.8	45.3	29.9	16.6	34.0	38.6	31.9	670	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	33.3	7.1	3.7	10.6	20.1	25.3	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	700	150	80	220	420	530	. .	2,100	
Total requests for accommodation (number)	2,800	770	400	1,400	1,450	2,330	. .	9,150	
(a)	In a small number of cases, requests for SAAP accommodation were unmet because of the age of a male child (applicable to domestic violence agencies only). To ensure confidentiality, these cases are not presented separately but are included in the ‘other’ valid request category.
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2).
3.	A person or group may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of requests in this chapter are not the same as the actual number of people making those requests which is discussed in Chapter 5.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.

Table 4.4:	Valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: when accommodation was required, by state and territory, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
When 
accommodation required	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT		Total	
										%	Number	
Within 24 hours	62.2	37.5	62.0	79.0	45.7	79.2	70.3	69.3	58.5	294.6	
After 24 hours	37.8	62.5	38.0	21.0	54.3	20.8	29.7	30.7	41.5	209.4	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	24.7	19.2	28.3	9.0	9.7	4.5	3.2	1.4	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	124.4	96.6	142.6	45.3	48.9	22.7	16.4	7.2	. .	504.0	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2).
3.	A person or group may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of requests in this chapter are not the same as the actual number of people making those requests which is discussed in Chapter 5.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.

Table 4.5:	Valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: when accommodation was required, by requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
When 
accommodation required	Individual(s) no children	Individual(s) with children	Couple no children	Couple with children		Total	
						%	Number	
Within 24 hours	63.4	52.3	49.3	45.1	58.5	294.6	
After 24 hours	36.6	47.7	50.7	54.9	41.5	209.4	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	59.3	33.5	2.0	5.2	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	298.7	168.7	10.3	26.3	. .	504.0	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2).
3.	A person or group may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of requests in this chapter are not the same as the actual number of people making those requests which is discussed in Chapter 5.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.

Table 4.6:	Valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: when accommodation was required, by primary target group of agency, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
When 
accommodation required	Young people	Single
men
only	Single women only	Families	Women escaping domestic violence	Cross-target/
multiple/general		Total	
								%	Number	
Within 24 hours	52.3	75.4	56.5	47.6	76.4	57.0	58.5	294.6	
After 24 hours	47.7	24.6	43.5	52.4	23.6	43.0	41.5	209.4	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	29.8	8.9	4.6	16.7	14.6	25.6	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	150.1	44.6	23.0	84.1	73.4	128.8	. .	504.0	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2).
3.	A person or group may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of requests in this chapter are not the same as the actual number of people making those requests which is discussed in Chapter 5.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.
Table 4.7:	Valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: one-off assistance, by state and territory, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
One-off assistance	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT		Total	
										%	Number	
Referral for accommodation	56.1	43.7	59.8	55.0	50.4	58.2	61.1	66.3	54.5	274.8	
Information	82.4	84.0	81.0	79.8	86.6	62.3	87.8	58.4	81.4	410.3	
Referral for non-accommodation	39.6	33.4	31.2	39.0	32.1	32.1	47.2	31.7	35.0	176.6	
Meals	26.3	13.2	24.9	28.1	23.1	20.1	24.5	15.8	22.8	114.7	
Financial assistance/material aid	21.8	20.6	17.6	26.7	17.2	18.2	22.3	17.8	20.2	101.6	
Transport	22.6	17.3	17.4	26.2	18.7	16.7	28.8	22.8	20.0	100.7	
Laundry/shower facilities	23.4	11.6	17.6	26.2	16.5	17.9	21.0	16.8	18.7	94.1	
Emotional support/counselling	44.6	40.1	34.8	39.4	52.0	38.4	40.6	35.6	40.7	205.0	
Other	15.8	14.0	9.1	18.1	14.5	9.1	19.7	18.8	13.5	68.0	
None	10.2	12.1	10.4	13.4	6.9	23.9	6.6	12.9	11.1	55.9	
Total (row %)	24.7	19.2	28.3	9.0	9.7	4.5	3.2	1.4	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	124.4	96.6	142.6	45.3	48.9	22.7	16.4	7.2	. .	504.0	
											
Mean types of one-off assistance offered	3.3	2.8	2.9	3.4	3.1	2.7	3.5	2.8	. .	3.1	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2).
3.	A person or group may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of requests in this chapter are not the same as the actual number of people making those requests which is discussed in Chapter 5.
4.	A person or group seeking assistance were able to be offered more than one type of one-off assistance so percentages do not total 100.
5.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
6.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.
Table 4.8:	Referrals for accommodation made in valid unmet requests for immediate SAAP accommodation, by state and territory, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average)
State/territory	Referrals for accommodation (a)	Valid unmet requests for immediate accommodation (b)	Referrals for accommodation as a percentage of valid unmet requests for immediate accommodation 
(a÷b*100)	
	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	
NSW	27.5	46.1	26.3	77.4	59.6	
Vic	9.5	15.9	12.3	36.2	44.0	
Qld	30.9	51.8	30.0	88.4	58.6	
WA	12.4	20.8	12.1	35.8	58.1	
SA	7.0	11.6	7.6	22.4	52.1	
Tas	6.1	10.2	6.1	18.0	56.7	
ACT	4.6	7.6	3.9	11.5	66.5	
NT	2.0	3.4	1.7	5.0	68.6	
Total	100.0	167.5	100.0	294.6	56.8	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2).
3.	A person or group may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of requests in this chapter are not the same as the actual number of people making those requests which is discussed in Chapter 5.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.
Table 4.9:	Referrals for accommodation made in valid unmet requests for immediate SAAP accommodation, by requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average)
Requesting group	Referrals for accommodation (a)	Valid unmet requests for immediate accommodation (b)	Referrals for accommodation as a percentage of valid unmet requests for immediate accommodation
(a÷b*100) 	
	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	
Individual(s)
no children	64.8	108.5	64.3	189.5	57.3	
Individual(s)
with children	29.0	48.6	29.9	88.2	55.1	
Couple
no children	1.8	3.0	1.7	5.1	59.2	
Couple
with children	4.4	7.4	4.0	11.9	62.0	
Total	100.0	167.5	100.0	294.6	56.8	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2).
3.	A person or group may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of requests in this chapter are not the same as the actual number of people making those requests which is discussed in Chapter 5.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.
Table 4.10:	Referrals for accommodation made in valid unmet requests for immediate SAAP accommodation, by primary target group of agency, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average)
Primary target group	Referrals for accommodation 
(a)	Valid unmet requests for immediate accommodation (b)	Referrals for accommodation as a percentage of valid unmet requests for immediate accommodation 
(a÷b*100) 	
	Per cent	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent	
Young people	22.1	37.0	26.6	78.5	47.1	
Single men only	12.2	20.5	11.4	33.6	60.9	
Single women only	3.8	6.3	4.4	13.0	48.4	
Families	11.3	18.9	13.6	40.1	47.1	
Women escaping domestic violence	19.5	32.7	19.0	56.1	58.3	
Cross-target/
multiple/general	31.1	52.1	24.9	73.4	71.1	
Total	100.0	167.5	100.0	294.6	56.8	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2).
3.	A person or group may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of requests in this chapter are not the same as the actual number of people making those requests which is discussed in Chapter 5.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.
5	People making a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation
People can make more than one request for SAAP accommodation in a day. Figure 5.1 shows that people who make a request for SAAP accommodation can either be successful on the first attempt, make subsequent requests until they are accommodated, have their needs met elsewhere, or give up trying altogether. How often people have their needs met by other means and no longer require SAAP assistance cannot be measured at present.

Figure 5.1: Possible outcomes of valid requests for SAAP accommodation
Flow chart diagram.

This chapter presents information on the estimated daily average number of people who made a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation and the immediacy of their need. As people can make more than one unmet request in a day, to estimate the number of people making those requests as distinct from the number of requests themselves, each valid unmet request presented in Chapter 4 has been attributed to an estimated number of individuals (see Appendix 2 for more detail). 
The tables at the end of this chapter generally present data firstly for adults and unaccompanied children, then for accompanying children, and finally for total people (adults, unaccompanied children and accompanying children combined).
5.1	People requesting accommodation
On an average day during the collection period, 735 people (446 adults and unaccompanied children and 289 accompanying children) had a valid unmet request for accommodation (Table 5.1). Adults and unaccompanied children accounted for 61% of all people with a valid unmet request for accommodation, and accompanying children for 39% (derived from Table 5.1).
Fifty-six per cent of all people with a valid unmet request for accommodation required immediate accommodation with the remaining 44% requiring it after 24 hours. Adults and unaccompanied children had a higher requirement for immediate accommodation (58%) as compared with accompanying children (53%).
States and territories
Queensland accounted for over a quarter of all people with a valid unmet request for accommodation (30%) (Table 5.1). Twenty-two per cent of all people with a valid unmet request for accommodation were in New South Wales and 17% in Victoria. The Northern Territory reported the smallest number (2%).
The proportion of people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation varied greatly by jurisdiction—from 29% in Victoria to 80% in Western Australia. Victoria (71%) and South Australia (53%) were the only jurisdictions where accommodation was more often required after 24 hours.
Requesting group
Over half (53%) of all people with a valid unmet request for accommodation presented as an individual(s) with children (Table 5.2). People presenting as an individual(s) without children accounted for a third (33%), couples with children for just over 11%, and couples without children for 2%.
Individual(s), both with and without children, and couples without children most often required immediate accommodation (54%, 64% and 51% of total people, respectively). In contrast, couples with children more often required accommodation after 24 hours (58%). It should be noted that family groups, particularly couples with children, were less likely to request immediate accommodation than individual(s) who presented without children. 
The majority of accompanying children (86%) presented with an individual or individuals who were not a couple (individual(s) with children). Fourteen per cent accompanied a couple. Children who accompanied an individual(s) most often required immediate accommodation (55%). The opposite was true for children accompanying a couple, of whom 59% required accommodation after 24 hours.
Primary target group of agency
Over a quarter of all people tried to obtain accommodation through a general agency and the same again from family agencies (both 27%) (Table 5.3). Twenty per cent tried at youth agencies, 17% at domestic violence agencies, 6% at single men’s agencies, and 3% at single women’s agencies.
People who tried to obtain accommodation through single men’s agencies, domestic violence agencies and general agencies, most often required immediate accommodation (72%, 77% and 57%, respectively). In contrast, people who tried at youth agencies, single women’s agencies, and family agencies most often required accommodation after 24 hours (55%, 54% and 55%, respectively).
Sex
The majority of people with a valid unmet request for accommodation were female (57%) (Table 5.4). This is the result of the significant variation amongst adults and unaccompanied children, with 61% being female. Accompanying children showed little variation between girls and boys.
Males (58%) were slightly more likely to require immediate accommodation than females (54%) (Table 5.4).  
Age
Well over half of all people with a valid unmet request for accommodation were aged under 20 years (61%). Another third were aged 20–44 years (34%), 5% were aged 45–64 years and less than 1% were aged 65 years and over (Table 5.5).
The majority of accompanying children were aged under 12 years (72%) (AIHW unpublished data). Fifteen per cent were aged 12–17 years and 13% were of unknown age.
While the majority of people in most of the age groups required immediate accommodation, those aged 65 years and over more often required accommodation after 24 hours.
Country of birth
It is not possible to report the country of birth of adults and unaccompanied children separately from accompanying children as it is collected via a single question on the collection form (see Appendix 3 for a copy of the form). 
There were large amounts of missing or unknown data in relation to country of birth. Of the 735 people who made a valid unmet request for accommodation on an average day, 76% (558) provided data on their country of birth and date were missing or unknown for 24% (derived from tables 5.6 and 5.1). No imputation was done to adjust for missing data on country of birth (see Appendix 2).
The vast majority (91%) of people with a valid unmet request for accommodation were born in Australia (Table 5.6). Six per cent were born overseas in a predominantly non-English-speaking country and 3% were born overseas in a predominantly English-speaking country.
People with a valid unmet request for accommodation who were born in Australia or overseas in a predominantly English-speaking country, most often required immediate accommodation (53% and 55%, respectively) (Table 5.6). People born overseas in a mainly non-English-speaking country were more likely to request accommodation after 24 hours (57%).
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
It is not possible to report the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status of adults and unaccompanied children separately from accompanying children, as it is collected via a single question on the collection form (see Appendix 3 for a copy of the form). 
There were large amounts of missing or unknown data in relation to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status question. Of the 735 people who made a valid unmet request for accommodation, 71% (523) provided data on their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status and data were missing or unknown for 29% (derived from tables 5.7 and 5.1). No imputation was done to adjust for missing data on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status (see Appendix 2).
The majority (72%) of people with a valid unmet request for accommodation were ‘other Australians’, that is, they did not identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. It must be noted, however, that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were over-represented in comparison with their population size. At 30 June 2006, an estimated 2% of the Australian population were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, yet 28% of people with a valid unmet request for accommodation identified as Indigenous (Table 5.7 and ABS 2007).
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with a valid unmet request for accommodation were slightly more likely than ‘other Australians’ to request immediate accommodation (56% compared with 51%, respectively) (Table 5.7). 
5.2	
Tables
Table 5.1:	People with a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation, by when accommodation was required and state and territory, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
When 
accommodation required	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT		Total	
										%	Number	
	Adults and unaccompanied children	
Within 24 hours	62.2	33.4	60.9	78.3	45.2	77.9	74.2	78.4	57.7	257.6	
After 24 hours	37.8	66.6	39.1	21.7	54.8	22.1	25.8	21.6	42.3	188.7	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	23.9	17.9	29.0	9.4	10.6	4.6	3.1	1.4	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	106.7	80.1	129.3	42.1	47.4	20.6	13.9	6.3	. .	446.4	
	Accompanying children	
Within 24 hours	61.1	22.3	47.0	81.0	49.9	80.5	57.1	79.2	52.6	152.1	
After 24 hours	38.9	77.7	53.0	19.0	50.1	19.5	42.9	20.8	47.4	137.0	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	19.1	16.0	31.7	12.4	12.8	4.7	1.6	1.8	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	55.3	46.2	91.6	35.7	37.1	13.6	4.5	5.1	. .	289.1	
	Total people	
Within 24 hours	61.9	29.3	55.1	79.5	47.3	78.9	70.0	78.8	55.7	409.7	
After 24 hours	38.1	70.7	44.9	20.5	52.7	21.1	30.0	21.3	44.3	325.7	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	22.0	17.2	30.0	10.6	11.5	4.7	2.5	1.6	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	162.0	126.3	220.9	77.9	84.4	34.2	18.4	11.4	. .	735.4	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2). Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of people in this chapter are not the same as the counts of requests which is discussed in Chapter 4.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.

Table 5.2:	People with a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation, by when accommodation was required and requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
When 
accommodation required	Individual(s) no children	Individual(s) with children	Couple no children	Couple with children		Total	
						%	Number	
	Adults and unaccompanied children	
Within 24 hours	63.7	52.8	51.2	41.8	57.7	257.6	
After 24 hours	36.3	47.2	48.8	58.2	42.3	188.7	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	55.0	32.3	3.3	9.3	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	245.6	144.1	14.9	41.7	. .	446.4	
	Accompanying children	
Within 24 hours	. .	54.5	. .	41.4	52.6	152.1	
After 24 hours	. .	45.5	. .	58.6	47.4	137.0	
Total	. .	100.0	. .	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	. .	85.6	. .	14.4	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	. .	247.4	. .	41.7	. .	289.1	
	Total people	
Within 24 hours	63.7	53.9	51.2	41.6	55.7	409.7	
After 24 hours	36.3	46.1	48.8	58.4	44.3	325.7	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	33.4	53.2	2.0	11.3	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	245.6	391.4	14.9	83.4	. .	735.4	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2). Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of people in this chapter are not the same as the counts of requests which is discussed in Chapter 4.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.

Table 5.3:	People with a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation, by when accommodation was required and primary target group of agency, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 
14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
When 
accommodation required	Young people	Single men
only	Single women only	Families	Women escaping domestic violence	Cross-target/
multiple/general		Total	
								%	Number	
	Adults and unaccompanied children	
Within 24 hours	48.8	75.5	57.0	46.4	77.1	58.7	57.7	257.6	
After 24 hours	51.2	24.5	43.0	53.6	22.9	41.3	42.3	188.7	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	27.5	9.2	3.7	18.5	13.7	27.4	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	122.7	41.1	16.4	82.4	61.2	122.5	. .	446.4	
	Accompanying children	
Within 24 hours	24.9	45.3	22.9	44.6	77.7	54.2	52.6	152.1	
After 24 hours	75.1	54.7	77.1	55.4	22.3	45.8	47.4	137.0	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	7.1	2.1	2.6	39.8	22.6	25.7	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	20.6	6.1	7.5	114.9	65.4	74.4	. .	289.1	
	Total people	
Within 24 hours	45.3	71.6	46.3	45.3	77.4	57.0	55.7	409.7	
After 24 hours	54.7	28.4	53.7	54.7	22.6	43.0	44.3	325.7	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	19.5	6.4	3.3	26.8	17.2	26.8	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	143.4	47.3	23.9	197.3	126.6	196.9	. .	735.4	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2). Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of people in this chapter are not the same as the counts of requests which is discussed in Chapter 4.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.

Table 5.4:	People with a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation, by when accommodation was required and sex, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
When 
accommodation required	Male	Female		Total	
				%	Number	
	Adults and unaccompanied children	
Within 24 hours	62.1	54.9	57.7	257.6	
After 24 hours	37.9	45.1	42.3	188.7	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	39.5	60.5	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	176.1	270.2	. .	446.4	
	Accompanying children	
Within 24 hours	52.8	52.4	52.6	152.1	
After 24 hours	47.2	47.6	47.4	137.0	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	49.1	50.9	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	142.1	147.0	. .	289.1	
	Total people	
Within 24 hours	58.0	54.0	55.7	409.7	
After 24 hours	42.0	46.0	44.3	325.7	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	43.3	56.7	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	318.2	417.2	. .	735.4	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2). Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of people in this chapter are not the same as the counts of requests which is discussed in Chapter 4.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.

Table 5.5:	People with a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation, by when accommodation was required and age, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
When 
accommodation required	Under 20 
years(a)	20–44 
years	45–64 
years	65+
years		Total	
						%	Number	
	Adults and unaccompanied children	
Within 24 hours	53.5	56.0	61.8	41.5	55.5	220.9	
After 24 hours	46.5	44.0	38.2	58.5	44.5	176.9	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	32.6	58.4	8.0	1.0	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	129.6	232.5	32.0	3.8	. .	397.9	
	Accompanying children	
Within 24 hours	52.6	. .	. .	. .	52.6	152.1	
After 24 hours	47.4	. .	. .	. .	47.4	137.0	
Total	100.0	. .	. .	. .	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	100.0	. .	. .	. .	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	289.1	. .	. .	. .	. .	289.1	
	Total people	
Within 24 hours	52.9	56.0	61.8	41.5	54.3	373.0	
After 24 hours	47.1	44.0	38.2	58.5	45.7	313.9	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	60.9	33.8	4.7	0.6	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	418.6	232.5	32.0	3.8	. .	686.9	
(a)	Note that accompanying children are aged 17 years and under. For the ‘Accompanying children’ section of this table, the age group 
‘Under 20 years’ is all accompanying children, including those of ‘unknown’ age. For the ‘Total people’ section of this table, the age group ‘Under 20 years’ includes all accompanying children, including those of ‘unknown’ age.
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 48.5 adults and unaccompanied children, 0 accompanying children, and 48.5 people of unknown age (daily average).
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2). Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of people in this chapter are not the same as the counts of requests which is discussed in Chapter 4.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.

Table 5.6:	People with a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation, by when accommodation was required and country of birth, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
When 
accommodation required	Australia	Other English-speaking countries	Non-English- speaking countries		Total	
					%	Number	
	Total people	
Within 24 hours	53.0	55.1	43.0	52.5	292.6	
After 24 hours	47.0	44.9	57.0	47.5	265.1	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	90.7	3.0	6.3	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	505.6	16.9	35.2	. .	557.7	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 177.7 people of unknown or missing country of birth.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2). However, adjustments could not be made for missing country of birth.
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2). Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of people in this chapter are not the same as the counts of requests which is discussed in Chapter 4.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.

Table 5.7:	People with a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation, by when accommodation was required and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
When 
accommodation required	Aboriginal and/or 
Torres Strait Islander	Other 
Australians		Total	
				%	Number	
	Total people	
Within 24 hours	55.8	51.1	52.4	274.2	
After 24 hours	44.2	48.9	47.6	249.1	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	. .	
Total (row %)	28.1	71.9	100.0	. .	
Total (number)	146.9	376.4	. .	523.3	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 212.1 people of unknown or missing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status.
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data (see Appendix 2). However, adjustments could not be made for missing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status.
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2). Further, a request (counted as 1 request) can be made by an individual or on behalf of a group of people (counted as 1 or more people). Therefore, the counts of people in this chapter are not the same as the counts of requests which is discussed in Chapter 4.
4.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
5.	Figures are unweighted.
Source: SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection.

6	Estimating the number of people turned away without receiving SAAP accommodation
Some people who make a valid unmet request for accommodation subsequently receive SAAP accommodation later on the same day. For this reason, when estimating how many people were turned away, it is essential to distinguish between people who made a valid unmet request for accommodation but could not be accommodated in SAAP at all and those who eventually found SAAP accommodation by the end of each day (see Appendix 2). 
Chapters 7, 8 and 9 present two measures of the ability of SAAP to meet the demand for SAAP accommodation. The first measure is the turn-away for people requiring new SAAP accommodation; that is, the average daily percentage of people who could not be accommodated relative to all people requiring new immediate accommodation. This provides an indication of a person’s likelihood of obtaining SAAP accommodation on an average day during the collection period.
However, SAAP accommodates large numbers of clients on any given day, including clients who are continuing their accommodation from a previous day. For this reason simply examining the daily request turn-away without acknowledging the number of people already in SAAP accommodation may provide an incomplete picture. Therefore, it is important to consider the level of unmet demand for SAAP accommodation in relation to the total expressed demand for SAAP accommodation. This is calculated as the average daily percentage of people who could not be accommodated relative to people who required new immediate SAAP accommodation and those who were continuing their accommodation from the previous day. It provides a measure of the overall ability of SAAP to meet the demand for accommodation on an average day during the collection period.
It is important to note that neither of these provide a measure of the additional capacity required in SAAP, only a measure of the expressed undersupply of SAAP accommodation (in terms of people) on an average day during the Demand for Accommodation Collection period. Measuring the additional capacity required to accommodate the expressed demand for SAAP accommodation, as well as a discussion of hidden need for SAAP accommodation, are contained in Chapter 10.
6.1	Data issues
It must be noted that there are some data issues that should be considered when analysing the estimated turn-away measures:
•	It is possible to estimate the number of people turned away only for those who required immediate accommodation; that is, accommodation required within 24 hours. This means that the measures might underestimate the turn-away for groups who are more likely to request accommodation after 24 hours.
•	Dates of support and accommodation are not collected for accompanying children in the Client Collection. For the purposes of calculating the turn-away measures, accompanying children are assumed to have the same periods of accommodation as the parent or guardian. Note that accompanying children are recorded on only one parent’s or guardian’s record when clients present as a couple.
The next chapters present the measures of turn-away by state, requesting group and primary target group of the agency, but do not present turn-away by age, sex, country of birth or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status. This is because:
•	on occasion, only part of a group requesting accommodation was able to be accommodated. While the Demand for Accommodation Collection collects demographic information—such as age, sex, country of birth and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status—on the group making the request for accommodation, it does not break down the number of people who were accommodated out of that group by demographics. Only the total number accommodated is collected. For example, if a group of male and female friends make a request but only some of that group is able to be accommodated, the Collection cannot distinguish how many of the males or how many of the females in the group were accommodated. Analysis suggests that the accommodation of a partial group is not common. However, the problem is significant enough to prevent calculation of valid estimates of turn-away by demographics.
•	age, country of birth and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status are collected only for clients who provided informed consent in the Client Collection but are collected for all people who request accommodation in the Demand for Accommodation Collection.

7	Adults and unaccompanied children turned away without receiving SAAP accommodation
This chapter presents the number of adults and unaccompanied children turned away from SAAP accommodation on an average day, as well as two measures of the ability of SAAP to meet the expressed demand for accommodation.
An analysis of data pertaining to accompanying children is contained in Chapter 8 which, together with the data presented in this chapter on adults and unaccompanied children, enables an analysis of all people in Chapter 10.
7.1	Turn-away as a per cent of people requiring new SAAP accommodation
Table 7.1 shows the number of adults and unaccompanied children requesting immediate SAAP accommodation on a daily basis, and the percentage turned away without being accommodated. On average, of the 436 requiring new and immediate accommodation, 55% (241) were unable to be accommodated by the end of the day.
States and territories
On an average day in most jurisdictions, more adults and unaccompanied children were turned away than could be accommodated (Table 7.1). The exceptions to this were New South Wales, where 43% of adults and unaccompanied children were turned away, Victoria, where 45% were turned away, and the Northern Territory, where 40% were turned away.
The highest turn-away as a percentage of adults and unaccompanied children requiring new accommodation was recorded in the Australian Capital Territory (81%), followed by Tasmania (70%).
Requesting group
The turn-away rates for the different groups who required immediate accommodation suggest that, overall, SAAP is more likely to be able to provide accommodation for  individual(s) who presented without children. This group had the lowest daily turn-away rate nationally (49%) (Figure 7.1). Individual(s) without children was also the only group more likely to be accommodated than not. In contrast, 80% of couples with children, 78% of couples without children, and 68% of individual(s) with children were turned away on an average day.
Figure 7.1: Turn-away for adults and unaccompanied children who required immediate accommodation, by requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average number of adults and unaccompanied children requiring new accommodation)
Vertical bar chart showing per cent on the y-axis and requesting group on the x-axis.
Source: Table 7.2.
Primary target group of agency
Agencies primarily targeted at supporting single men had by far the lowest turn-away (26%) of adults and unaccompanied children requiring new and immediate accommodation (Table 7.3). This type of agency was also the only one more likely to be able to provide accommodation than not. In contrast, family targeted agencies had by far the highest turn-away (85%). This supports the data on turn-away by requesting group presented above which suggest that family groups have more difficulty than individuals in obtaining accommodation.
7.2	Turn-away as a per cent of total expressed demand for SAAP accommodation
On an average day during the Demand for Accommodation Collection period, 8,534 adults and unaccompanied children either required SAAP accommodation or were already accommodated (Table 7.1 and Figure 7.2). Of this total: 
•	241 (3%) made a valid request for immediate accommodation and did not obtain SAAP accommodation by the end of the day
•	8,293 (97%) were accommodated in SAAP (195 were newly accommodated and 8,098 were continuing their accommodation from the previous day and into the next day). 

Figure 7.2: Demand for immediate SAAP accommodation for adults and unaccompanied children, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average number and per cent of total demand for accommodation)
Pie chart showing continuing accommodation, turned away and newly accommodated.
Source: Table 7.1.

States and territories
Tasmania had the highest turn-away as a proportion of total demand for accommodation (6%), followed by Queensland and Western Australia (both around 5%) (Table 7.1). The lowest turn-away was reported in Victoria (1%). All other jurisdictions reported turn-away of between 2% and 3%.
Requesting group
Although couples without children accounted for the smallest number of adults and unaccompanied children requesting new accommodation and the smallest number already accommodated in SAAP on an average day, they had the highest turn-away as a percentage of the total demand for accommodation (4%) (Table 7.2). All other requesting groups had a turn-away of 3%. This suggests that SAAP has slightly less ability to meet the demand for accommodation for couples without children than for the other client groups. 
Primary target group of agency
As a percentage of the total demand for accommodation, general agencies and family agencies reported the highest turn-away for adults and unaccompanied children (both around 4%) (Table 7.3).
7.3	
Tables
Table 7.1:	Adults and unaccompanied children turned away, by state and territory, Australia, 
21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average)
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total	
	Adults and unaccompanied children requiring new accommodation (number)	
Not accommodated (turned away) (A)	62.4	21.9	75.5	30.9	20.8	15.4	9.7	4.6	241.2	
Newly accommodated (B)	82.4	26.4	37.9	20.1	12.9	6.5	2.2	6.9	195.1	
Successful first request	78.4	21.5	34.6	17.9	12.3	5.9	1.6	6.6	178.7	
Accommodated in subsequent request(s)	4.0	4.9	3.3	2.1	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.3	16.4	
Total requiring new accommodation (C)
(A + B)	144.8	48.2	113.4	50.9	33.7	21.9	11.9	11.5	436.4	
	Clients already accommodated (number)	
Accommodation ending	79.0	25.9	37.3	19.4	13.1	6.6	1.6	6.9	189.9	
Continuing accommodation (D)	2,984.2	1,603.2	1,369.4	637.1	829.2	251.9	275.3	147.4	8,097.6	
Total accommodated (B + D)	3,066.6	1,629.6	1,407.2	657.2	842.1	258.4	277.5	154.2	8,292.8	
										
Total demand for accommodation (E)
(A + B + D)	3,129.0	1,651.4	1,482.7	688.1	862.9	273.8	287.2	158.9	8,534.0	
	Proportion turned away (per cent)	
Turn-away (A ÷ C * 100)
(% requiring new accommodation)	43.1	45.3	66.6	60.6	61.7	70.4	81.4	40.4	55.3	
										
Turn-away (A ÷ E * 100)
(% total demand for accommodation)	2.0	1.3	5.1	4.5	2.4	5.6	3.4	2.9	2.8	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0 Demand for Accommodation Collection; 27.1 Client Collection (daily average).
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data from the Demand for Accommodation Collection (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Demand for Accommodation Collection data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2).
4.	The accommodation status of a client on a particular day is based on the reported periods of accommodation within a support period. A client can end one period of accommodation and start another on the same day at the same agency—these are considered to be a single period. It can be reasonably assumed that a client will not have more than one period of accommodation at different agencies on the same day.
5.	‘Not accommodated’ and ‘Accommodated in subsequent request(s)’ refer to people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation (see Appendix 2). 
6.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
7.	Figures are unweighted.
Sources: SAAP Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections.

Table 7.2:	Adults and unaccompanied children turned away, by requesting group, Australia, 
21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average)
	Individual(s) no children	Individual(s) with children	Couple no children	Couple with children	Total	
	Adults and unaccompanied children requiring new accommodation (number)	
Not accommodated (turned away) (A)	144.9	72.3	7.2	16.9	241.2	
Newly accommodated (B)	154.1	34.9	2.1	4.1	195.1	
Successful first request	142.4	31.1	1.6	3.6	178.7	
Accommodated in subsequent request(s)	11.7	3.7	0.4	0.6	16.4	
Total requiring new accommodation (C)
(A + B)	298.9	107.1	9.3	21.0	436.4	
	Clients already accommodated (number)	
Accommodation ending	151.4	33.0	2.1	3.4	189.9	
Continuing accommodation (D)	4,872.9	2,452.9	169.2	602.7	8,097.6	
Total accommodated (B + D)	5,026.9	2,487.7	171.3	606.9	8,292.8	
						
Total demand for accommodation (E)
(A + B + D)	5,171.8	2,560.0	178.5	623.7	8,534.0	
	Proportion turned away (per cent)	
Turn-away (A ÷ C * 100)
(% requiring new accommodation)	48.5	67.5	77.7	80.3	55.3	
						
Turn-away (A ÷ E * 100)
(% total demand for accommodation)	2.8	2.8	4.0	2.7	2.8	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0 Demand for Accommodation Collection; 27.1 Client Collection (daily average).
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data from the Demand for Accommodation Collection (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Demand for Accommodation Collection data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2).
4.	The accommodation status of a client on a particular day is based on the reported periods of accommodation within a support period. A client can end one period of accommodation and start another on the same day at the same agency—these are considered to be a single period. It can be reasonably assumed that a client will not have more than one period of accommodation at different agencies on the same day.
5.	‘Not accommodated’ and ‘Accommodated in subsequent request(s)’ refer to people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation (see Appendix 2). 
6.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
7.	Figures are unweighted.
Sources: SAAP Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections.

Table 7.3:	Adults and unaccompanied children turned away, by primary target group of agency, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average)
	Young people	Single men only	Single women only	Families	Women escaping domestic violence	Cross-target/
multiple/
general	Total	
	Adults and unaccompanied children requiring new accommodation (number)	
Not accommodated (turned away) (A)	57.1	28.2	8.9	37.9	42.4	66.7	241.2	
Newly accommodated (B)	30.9	81.5	5.7	6.7	38.5	31.9	195.1	
Successful first request	28.1	78.6	5.3	6.4	33.6	26.7	178.7	
Accommodated in subsequent request(s)	2.8	2.9	0.4	0.3	4.9	5.2	16.4	
Total requiring new accommodation (C)
(A + B)	87.9	109.6	14.6	44.6	80.9	98.6	436.4	
	Clients already accommodated (number)	
Accommodation ending	32.1	79.4	5.2	6.9	35.5	30.8	189.9	
Continuing accommodation (D)	2,349.2	1,420.6	348.5	1,003.6	1,331.4	1,644.4	8,097.6	
Total accommodated (B + D)	2,380.1	1,502.0	354.2	1,010.3	1,369.9	1,676.3	8,292.8	
Total demand for accommodation (E)
(A + B + D)	2,437.1	1,530.2	363.1	1,048.2	1,412.3	1,743.0	8,534.0	
	Proportion turned away (per cent)	
Turn-away (A ÷ C * 100)
(% requiring new accommodation)	64.9	25.7	61.0	85.0	52.4	67.6	55.3	
								
Turn-away (A ÷ E * 100)
(% total demand for accommodation)	2.3	1.8	2.5	3.6	3.0	3.8	2.8	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0 Demand for Accommodation Collection; 27.1 Client Collection (daily average).
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data from the Demand for Accommodation Collection (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Demand for Accommodation Collection data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2).
4.	The accommodation status of a client on a particular day is based on the reported periods of accommodation within a support period. A client can end one period of accommodation and start another on the same day at the same agency—these are considered to be a single period. It can be reasonably assumed that a client will not have more than one period of accommodation at different agencies on the same day.
5.	‘Not accommodated’ and ‘Accommodated in subsequent request(s)’ refer to people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation (see Appendix 2). 
6.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
7.	Figures are unweighted.
Sources: SAAP Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections.

Table 7.4:	Adults and unaccompanied children turned away each day, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008
	Wed
21
Nov	Thu
22
Nov	Fri
23
Nov	Sat
24
Nov	Sun
25
Nov	Mon
26
Nov	Tue
27
Nov	Wed
14
May	Thu
15
May	Fri
16
May	Sat
17
May	Sun
18
May	Mon
19
May	Tue
20
May	Daily average	
	Total people requiring new accommodation (number)	
Not accommodated (turned away) (A)	330	287	257	53	53	345	288	338	302	294	89	81	351	309	241.2	
Newly accommodated (B)	221	237	223	120	140	246	213	239	213	224	119	108	216	213	195.1	
Successful first request	201	226	208	111	135	210	202	215	191	202	113	104	185	199	178.7	
Accommodated in subsequent request(s)	20	11	15	9	5	36	11	24	22	22	6	4	31	14	16.4	
Total requiring new accommodation (C) 
(A + B)	551	524	480	173	193	591	501	577	515	518	208	189	567	522	436.4	
	Clients and accompanying children already accommodated (number)	
Accommodation ending	223	217	229	103	152	248	208	203	222	195	96	127	239	197	189.9	
Continuing accommodation (D)	8,094	8,105	8,105	8,207	8,184	8,086	8,114	8,004	8,027	8,041	8,158	8,163	8,034	8,045	8,097.6	
Total accommodated (B + D)	8,315	8,342	8,328	8,327	8,324	8,332	8,327	8,243	8,240	8,265	8,277	8,271	8,250	8,258	8,292.8	
Total demand for accommodation (E)
(A + B + D)	8,645	8,629	8,585	8,380	8,377	8,677	8,615	8,581	8,542	8,559	8,366	8,352	8,601	8,567	8,534.0	
	Proportion turned away (per cent)	
Turn-away (A ÷ C * 100)
(% requiring new accommodation)	59.9	54.8	53.5	30.6	27.5	58.4	57.5	58.6	58.6	56.8	42.8	42.9	61.9	59.2	55.3	
Turn-away (A ÷ E * 100)
(% total demand for accommodation)	3.8	3.3	3.0	0.6	0.6	4.0	3.3	3.9	3.5	3.4	1.1	1.0	4.1	3.6	2.8	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0 Demand for Accommodation Collection; 27.1 Client Collection (daily average).
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data from the Demand for Accommodation Collection (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Demand for Accommodation Collection data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2).
4.	The accommodation status of a client on a particular day is based on the reported periods of accommodation within a support period. A client can end one period of accommodation and start another on the same day at the same agency—these are considered to be a single period. It can be reasonably assumed that a client will not have more than one period of accommodation at different agencies on the same day.
5.	‘Not accommodated’ and ‘Accommodated in subsequent request(s)’ refer to people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation (see Appendix 2). 
6.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
7.	Figures are unweighted.
Sources: SAAP Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections.

8	Accompanying children turned away without receiving SAAP accommodation
This chapter presents the number of accompanying children turned away from SAAP accommodation on an average day, as well as two measures of the ability of SAAP to meet the expressed demand for accommodation for these children.
8.1	Turn-away as a per cent of people requiring new SAAP accommodation
Table 8.1 shows the number of accompanying children requesting immediate SAAP accommodation on an average day, and the percentage turned away without being accommodated. Of the 218 requiring new and immediate accommodation, 66% (144) were unable to be accommodated by the end of the day. This equates to 2 in every 3 accompanying children requiring immediate accommodation being turned away.
Given the higher turn-away reported for family groups presented in Chapter 7, it is not surprising that the turn-away for accompanying children is higher than that for adults and unaccompanied children.
States and territories
South Australia reported the highest proportion of accompanying children turned away (82%), followed by Tasmania (76%), Queensland (73%) and Western Australia (70%) 
(Table 8.1). Victoria was the only jurisdiction in which accompanying children were more often immediately accommodated than turned away (29%). 
Requesting group
Children accompanying a couple were more likely to be turned away than children accompanying an individual(s) (74% compared with 65%, respectively) (Table 8.2).
Primary target group of agency
All types of agencies had to turn accompanying children away more often than not (with turn-away of 51% or more) (Table 8.3). Family agencies and single men’s agencies had to turn accompanying children away more often than other types of agencies (both around 83%). 
It should be noted that some agencies do accept a limited number of people outside of their primary target group. This explains why a small number of people with accompanying children were accommodated or tried to get accommodation from agencies that primarily support single women or single men. However, while, for example, a woman with children might be acceptable to a single women’s agency, accommodating people with children is not their primary focus and they might not have the facilities to do so. 
8.2	Turn-away as a per cent of total expressed demand for SAAP accommodation
On an average day during the Demand for Accommodation Collection period, 6,162 accompanying children required new and immediate SAAP accommodation or were already accommodated (Table 8.1 and Figure 8.1). Of this total: 
•	144 (2%) accompanied a parent(s) or guardian(s) who made a valid request for immediate accommodation and who did not obtain SAAP accommodation by the end of the day
•	6,018 (98%) were accommodated in SAAP (74 were newly accommodated and 5,944 were continuing their accommodation from the previous day and into the next day).

Figure 8.1: Demand for immediate SAAP accommodation for accompanying children, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average number and per cent of total demand for accommodation)
Pie chart showing continuing accommodation, turned away and newly accommodated.
Source: Table 8.1
States and territories
The ability of SAAP agencies to accommodate accompanying children was lower in Tasmania and Western Australia than in the other states and territories (both with turn-away of around 5%) (Table 8.1). The lowest turn-away was reported in Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory (both around 1%).
Requesting group
When the turn-away is expressed as the percentage of accompanying children who could not be accommodated relative to the total demand for accommodation by accompanying children, it shows that there is little difference in the ability of SAAP to accommodate children who accompany an individual(s) compared with those who accompany a couple (both with turn-away of around 2%) (Table 8.2). 
Primary target group of agency
 Single men’s agencies, general agencies and family agencies had a slightly lower ability to accommodate accompanying children than other types of agencies (4%, 3% and 3%, respectively) (Table 8.3). Other types of agencies reported turn-away of between 1% and 2%.
8.3	
Tables
Table 8.1:	Accompanying children turned away, by state and territory, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average)
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total	
	Accompanying children requiring new accommodation (number)	
Not accommodated (turned away) (A)	32.7	6.5	41.8	28.4	18.2	10.8	2.1	3.4	143.9	
Newly accommodated (B)	18.4	15.7	15.6	12.2	4.1	3.4	1.4	3.0	73.8	
Successful first request	17.3	11.9	14.4	11.7	3.9	3.2	1.0	2.3	65.6	
Accommodated in subsequent request(s)	1.1	3.8	1.2	0.5	0.3	0.1	0.4	0.7	8.1	
Total requiring new accommodation (C)
(A + B)	51.1	22.2	57.4	40.6	22.4	14.1	3.6	6.4	217.7	
	Accompanying children already accommodated (number)	
Accommodation ending	18.1	14.4	13.4	13.1	5.9	2.9	1.2	4.4	73.4	
Continuing accommodation (D)	1,716.5	1,298.2	1,199.5	507.0	719.6	185.0	210.3	107.8	5,943.9	
Total accommodated (B + D)	1,734.9	1,313.9	1,215.1	519.2	723.7	188.4	211.7	110.8	6,017.6	
Total demand for accommodation (E)
(A + B + D)	1,767.6	1,320.4	1,256.9	547.6	741.9	199.1	213.9	114.1	6,161.6	
	Proportion turned away (per cent)	
Turn-away (A ÷ C * 100)
(% requiring new accommodation)	64.1	29.3	72.9	69.9	81.5	76.3	60.0	52.8	66.1	
Turn-away (A ÷ E * 100)
(% total demand for accommodation)	1.9	0.5	3.3	5.2	2.5	5.4	1.0	2.9	2.3	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0 Demand for Accommodation Collection; 19.1 Client Collection (daily average).
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data from the Demand for Accommodation Collection (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Demand Collection data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2).
4.	Dates of support and accommodation are not collected for accompanying children in the Client Collection, however, it can be reasonably assumed that an accompanying child is accommodated when their parent or guardian has been accommodated. For this reason, figures are based on the support periods with accommodation of the child’s parent or guardian. The accommodation status of a client on a particular day is based on the reported periods of accommodation within a support period. A client can end one period of accommodation and start another on the same day at the same agency—these are considered to be a single period. It can be reasonably assumed that a client will not have more than one period of accommodation at different agencies on the same day. 
5.	‘Not accommodated’ and ‘Accommodated in subsequent request(s)’ refer to children accompanying people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation (see Appendix 2). 
6.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
7.	Figures are unweighted.
Sources: SAAP Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections.

Table 8.2:	Accompanying children turned away, by requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average)
	Individual(s) 
with children	Couple 
with children	Total	
	Accompanying children requiring new accommodation (number)	
Not accommodated (turned away) (A)	127.1	16.9	143.9	
Newly accommodated (B)	67.9	5.9	73.8	
Successful first request	60.1	5.5	65.6	
Accommodated in subsequent request(s)	7.7	0.4	8.1	
Total requiring new accommodation (C)
(A + B)	194.9	22.8	217.7	
	Accompanying children already accommodated (number)	
Accommodation ending	68.6	4.7	73.4	
Continuing accommodation (D)	5,047.6	896.2	5,943.9	
Total accommodated (B + D)	5,115.5	902.1	6,017.6	
Total demand for accommodation (E)
(A + B + D)	5,242.6	919.0	6,161.6	
	Proportion turned away (per cent)	
Turn-away (A ÷ C * 100)
(% requiring new accommodation)	65.2	74.0	66.1	
Turn-away (A ÷ E * 100)
(% total demand for accommodation)	2.4	1.8	2.3	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0 Demand for Accommodation Collection; 19.1 Client Collection (daily average).
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data from the Demand for Accommodation Collection (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Demand Collection data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2).
4.	Dates of support and accommodation are not collected for accompanying children in the Client Collection, however, it can be reasonably assumed that an accompanying child is accommodated when their parent or guardian has been accommodated. For this reason, figures are based on the support periods with accommodation of the child’s parent or guardian. The accommodation status of a client on a particular day is based on the reported periods of accommodation within a support period. A client can end one period of accommodation and start another on the same day at the same agency—these are considered to be a single period. It can be reasonably assumed that a client will not have more than one period of accommodation at different agencies on the same day. 
5.	‘Not accommodated’ and ‘Accommodated in subsequent request(s)’ refer to children accompanying people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation (see Appendix 2). 
6.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
7.	Figures are unweighted.
Sources: SAAP Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections.

Table 8.3:	Accompanying children turned away, by primary target group of agency, Australia, 
21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average)
	Young people	Single men only	Single women only	Families	Women escaping domestic violence	Cross-target/
multiple/
general	Total	
	Accompanying children requiring new accommodation (number)	
Not accommodated (turned away) (A)	4.8	2.8	1.7	51.0	45.6	38.1	143.9	
Newly accommodated (B)	2.7	0.6	1.6	10.6	44.6	13.7	73.8	
Successful first request	2.4	0.6	1.6	10.4	39.4	11.4	65.6	
Accommodated in subsequent request(s)	0.4	—	—	0.2	5.3	2.3	8.1	
Total requiring new accommodation (C)
(A + B)	7.5	3.4	3.3	61.6	90.2	51.8	217.7	
	Accompanying children already accommodated (number)	
Accommodation ending	2.8	0.9	1.0	12.9	44.8	11.0	73.4	
Continuing accommodation (D)	627.9	77.1	226.4	1,825.9	2,058.6	1,128.0	5,943.9	
Total accommodated (B + D)	630.6	77.6	227.9	1,836.5	2,103.2	1,141.7	6,017.6	
Total demand for accommodation (E)
(A + B + D)	635.4	80.4	229.6	1,887.5	2,148.8	1,179.8	6,161.6	
	Proportion turned away (per cent)	
Turn-away (A ÷ C * 100)
(% requiring new accommodation)	63.8	83.0	52.2	82.8	50.5	73.5	66.1	
Turn-away (A ÷ E * 100)
(% total demand for accommodation)	0.8	3.5	0.7	2.7	2.1	3.2	2.3	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0 Demand for Accommodation Collection; 19.1 Client Collection (daily average).
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data from the Demand for Accommodation Collection (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Demand Collection data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2).
4.	Dates of support and accommodation are not collected for accompanying children in the Client Collection, however, it can be reasonably assumed that an accompanying child is accommodated when their parent or guardian has been accommodated. For this reason, figures are based on the support periods with accommodation of the child’s parent or guardian. The accommodation status of a client on a particular day is based on the reported periods of accommodation within a support period. A client can end one period of accommodation and start another on the same day at the same agency—these are considered to be a single period. It can be reasonably assumed that a client will not have more than one period of accommodation at different agencies on the same day. 
5.	‘Not accommodated’ and ‘Accommodated in subsequent request(s)’ refer to children accompanying people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation (see Appendix 2). 
6.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
7.	Figures are unweighted.
Sources: SAAP Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections.

Table 8.4:	Accompanying children turned away each day, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008
	Wed
21
Nov	Thu
22
Nov	Fri
23
Nov	Sat
24
Nov	Sun
25
Nov	Mon
26
Nov	Tue
27
Nov	Wed
14
May	Thu
15
May	Fri
16
May	Sat
17
May	Sun
18
May	Mon
19
May	Tue
20
May	Daily average	
	Total people requiring new accommodation (number)	
Not accommodated (turned away) (A)	199	151	171	21	14	218	174	189	207	142	39	13	270	207	143.9	
Newly accommodated (B)	92	126	77	33	46	113	102	87	74	74	31	25	81	72	73.8	
Successful first request	75	122	65	28	36	100	95	76	61	66	28	25	73	69	65.6	
Accommodated in subsequent request(s)	17	4	12	5	10	13	7	11	13	8	3	—	8	3	8.1	
Total requiring new accommodation (C) 
(A + B)	291	277	248	54	60	331	276	276	281	216	70	38	351	279	217.7	
	Clients and accompanying children already accommodated (number)	
Accommodation ending	96	78	113	28	51	135	87	59	72	84	23	40	91	70	73.4	
Continuing accommodation (D)	6,001	6,019	6,028	6,074	6,064	5,968	5,997	5,853	5,866	5,861	5,906	5,903	5,834	5,840	5,943.9	
Total accommodated (B + D)	6,093	6,145	6,105	6,107	6,110	6,081	6,099	5,940	5,940	5,935	5,937	5,928	5,915	5,912	6,017.6	
Total demand for accommodation (E)
(A + B + D)	6,292	6,296	6,276	6,128	6,124	6,299	6,273	6,129	6,147	6,077	5,976	5,941	6,185	6,119	6,161.6	
	Proportion turned away (per cent)	
Turn-away (A ÷ C * 100)
(% requiring new accommodation)	68.4	54.5	69.0	38.9	23.3	65.9	63.0	68.5	73.7	65.7	55.7	34.2	76.9	74.2	66.1	
Turn-away (A ÷ E * 100)
(% total demand for accommodation)	3.2	2.4	2.7	0.3	0.2	3.5	2.8	3.1	3.4	2.3	0.7	0.2	4.4	3.4	2.3	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0 Demand for Accommodation Collection; 19.1 Client Collection (daily average).
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data from the Demand for Accommodation Collection (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Demand Collection data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2).
4.	Dates of support and accommodation are not collected for accompanying children in the Client Collection, however, it can be reasonably assumed that an accompanying child is accommodated when their parent or guardian has been accommodated. For this reason, figures are based on the support periods with accommodation of the child’s parent or guardian. The accommodation status of a client on a particular day is based on the reported periods of accommodation within a support period. A client can end one period of accommodation and start another on the same day at the same agency—these are considered to be a single period. It can be reasonably assumed that a client will not have more than one period of accommodation at different agencies on the same day. 
5.	‘Not accommodated’ and ‘Accommodated in subsequent request(s)’ refer to children accompanying people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation (see Appendix 2). 
6.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
7.	Figures are unweighted.
Sources: SAAP Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections.
1	
9	Total people turned away without receiving SAAP accommodation
This chapter presents the total number of people (adults, unaccompanied children and accompanying children) turned away from SAAP accommodation on an average day, as well as two measures of the ability of SAAP to meet the expressed demand for accommodation (see Chapter 6).
9.1	Turn-away as a per cent of people requiring new SAAP accommodation
Table 9.1 shows the total number of people requesting immediate SAAP accommodation on an average daily basis, and the percentage turned away without being accommodated. On average, of the 654 people requesting immediate accommodation, 59% (385) were unable to be accommodated by the end of the day. Data presented in Chapter 4 show that the most likely reason for this was that there was a lack of accommodation available.
States and territories
In New South Wales, Victoria and the Northern Territory, people were more likely to obtain SAAP accommodation than not (with 49%, 40% and 45% of people turned away, respectively) (Table 9.1). In all other jurisdictions, people were more likely to be turned away than accommodated, with 65% or more turned away. People in the Australian Capital Territory were the least likely to obtain SAAP accommodation (with 77% turned away).
Requesting group
Individual(s) without children were the only group slightly more likely to obtain SAAP accommodation than not, with over half finding accommodation (Figure 9.1). Family groups, particularly couples both with and without children, were the groups least likely to obtain SAAP accommodation. Agencies turned away 78% of couples without children, 77% of couples with children, and 66% of individual(s) with children who required immediate new accommodation.

Figure 9.1:	Turn-away for people who required immediate accommodation, by requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average number of people requiring new accommodation)
Vertical bar chart showing per cent on y-axis and requesting group on x-axis. Key shows turned away and newly accommodated.
Source: Derived from Table 9.2.
Primary target group of agency
Family targeted agencies were the most likely type of agency to turn people away, with 84% of people who required new and immediate accommodation being turned away on an average day (Table 9.3). General agencies turned away 70% of people, youth agencies 65%, single women’s agencies 59% and domestic violence agencies 51%. Agencies that primarily support single men were the only agency type more likely to be able to accommodate people than not, with 27% of people requiring new accommodation being turned away and 73% able to be accommodated.
9.2	Turn-away as a per cent of total expressed demand for SAAP accommodation
On an average day during the Demand for Accommodation Collection period, 14,696 people either required new SAAP accommodation or were already accommodated (Table 9.1). Of this total: 
•	385 people made a valid request for immediate accommodation and did not obtain SAAP accommodation by the end of the day
•	14,310 were accommodated in SAAP (269 were newly accommodated and 14,042 were continuing their accommodation from the previous day and into the next day).
As can be seen from Figure 9.2, SAAP accommodates a large number of people each day and it is important to note that people requiring new SAAP accommodation made only a small percentage (5%) of the total demand for accommodation on an average day. 

Figure 9.2: Demand for immediate SAAP accommodation for total people, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average number and per cent of total demand for accommodation)
Pie chart showing continuing accommodation, turned away and newly accommodated.
Source: Table 9.1
States and territories
The overall ability of SAAP to accommodate people was lowest in Tasmania, where 6% of people, as a proportion of total demand for accommodation, were not able to be accommodated. Western Australia also reported a relatively high turn-away, at 5%.
Requesting group
When the turn-away is expressed as the percentage of people who could not be accommodated relative to the total demand for accommodation, couples without children had the highest turn-away (4%), followed by individual(s) with and without children 
(both 3%) and couples with children (2%) (Table 9.2). 
Primary target group of agency
As a percentage of the total demand for accommodation, general agencies reported the highest turn-away (4%), followed by family agencies and domestic violence agencies (both around 3%) (Table 9.3). Agencies that primarily support single men or single women reported the lowest turn-away, at less than 2% each.
9.3	
Tables
Table 9.1:	Total people turned away, by state and territory, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 
14–20 May 2008 (daily average)
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total	
	Total people requiring new accommodation (number)	
Not accommodated (turned away) (A)	95.1	28.4	117.3	59.3	39.0	26.2	11.9	8.0	385.1	
Newly accommodated (B)	100.7	42.1	53.4	32.3	17.1	9.9	3.6	9.9	268.9	
Successful first request	95.6	33.4	48.9	29.6	16.1	9.1	2.6	8.9	244.4	
Accommodated in subsequent request(s)	5.1	8.6	4.5	2.6	0.9	0.8	1.0	1.0	24.6	
Total requiring new accommodation (C)
(A + B)	195.9	70.4	170.7	91.6	56.1	36.1	15.5	17.9	654.1	
	Clients and accompanying children already accommodated (number)	
Accommodation ending	97.1	40.3	50.6	32.6	19.1	9.5	2.8	11.4	263.3	
Continuing accommodation (D)	4,700.7	2,901.4	2,568.9	1,144.1	1,548.8	436.9	485.6	255.1	14,041.5	
Total accommodated (B + D)	4,801.4	2,943.5	2,622.3	1,176.4	1,565.9	446.7	489.2	265.0	14,310.4	
Total demand for accommodation (E)
(A + B + D)	4,896.6	2,971.9	2,739.6	1,235.7	1,604.9	472.9	501.1	273.0	14,695.6	
	Proportion turned away (per cent)	
Turn-away (A ÷ C * 100)
(% requiring new accommodation)	48.6	40.3	68.7	64.7	69.6	72.7	76.5	44.8	58.9	
Turn-away (A ÷ E * 100)
(% total demand for accommodation)	1.9	1.0	4.3	4.8	2.4	5.5	2.4	2.9	2.6	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0 Demand for Accommodation Collection; 46.3 Client Collection (daily average).
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data from the Demand for Accommodation Collection (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Demand for Accommodation Collection data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2).
4.	The accommodation status of a client or accompanying child on a particular day is based on the reported periods of accommodation within a support period. A client can end one period of accommodation and start another on the same day at the same agency—these are considered to be a single period. It can be reasonably assumed that a client will not have more than one period of accommodation at different agencies on the same day. Note that dates of support and accommodation are not collected for accompanying children, however, it can be reasonably assumed that an accompanying child is accommodated when their parent or guardian has been accommodated.
5.	‘Not accommodated’ and ‘Accommodated in subsequent request(s)’ refer to people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation (see Appendix 2). 
6.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
7.	Figures are unweighted.
Sources: SAAP Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections.

Table 9.2:	Total people turned away, by requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 
14–20 May 2008 (daily average)
	Individual(s) no children	Individual(s) with children	Couple no children	Couple with children	Total	
	Total people requiring new accommodation (number)	
Not accommodated (turned away) (A)	144.9	199.4	7.2	33.7	385.1	
Newly accommodated (B)	154.1	102.7	2.1	10.1	268.9	
Successful first request	142.4	91.3	1.6	9.1	244.4	
Accommodated in subsequent request(s)	11.7	11.4	0.4	1.0	24.6	
Total requiring new accommodation (C)
(A + B)	298.9	302.1	9.3	43.8	654.1	
	Clients and accompanying children already accommodated (number)	
Accommodation ending	151.4	101.6	2.1	8.1	263.3	
Continuing accommodation (D)	4,872.9	7,500.5	169.2	1,498.9	14,041.5	
Total accommodated (B + D)	5,026.9	7,603.2	171.3	1,509.0	14,310.4	
Total demand for accommodation (E)
(A + B + D)	5,171.8	7,802.6	178.5	1,542.7	14,695.6	
	Proportion turned away (per cent)	
Turn-away (A ÷ C * 100)
(% requiring new accommodation)	48.5	66.0	77.7	77.0	58.9	
Turn-away (A ÷ E * 100)
(% total demand for accommodation)	2.8	2.6	4.0	2.2	2.6	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0 Demand for Accommodation Collection; 46.3 Client Collection (daily average).
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data from the Demand for Accommodation Collection (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Demand for Accommodation Collection data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2).
4.	The accommodation status of a client or accompanying child on a particular day is based on the reported periods of accommodation within a support period. A client can end one period of accommodation and start another on the same day at the same agency—these are considered to be a single period. It can be reasonably assumed that a client will not have more than one period of accommodation at different agencies on the same day. Note that dates of support and accommodation are not collected for accompanying children, however, it can be reasonably assumed that an accompanying child is accommodated when their parent or guardian has been accommodated.
5.	‘Not accommodated’ and ‘Accommodated in subsequent request(s)’ refer to people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation (see Appendix 2). 
6.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
7.	Figures are unweighted.
Sources: SAAP Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections.

Table 9.3:	Total people turned away, by primary target group of agency, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average)
	Young people	Single men only	Single women only	Families	Women escaping domestic violence	Cross-target/
multiple/
general	Total	
	Total people requiring new accommodation (number)	
Not accommodated (turned away) (A)	61.9	31.0	10.6	88.9	87.9	104.8	385.1	
Newly accommodated (B)	33.6	82.0	7.3	17.3	83.1	45.6	268.9	
Successful first request	30.4	79.1	6.9	16.8	73.0	38.1	244.4	
Accommodated in subsequent request(s)	3.1	2.9	0.4	0.5	10.1	7.5	24.6	
Total requiring new accommodation (C)
(A + B)	95.4	113.0	17.9	106.2	171.1	150.4	654.1	
	Clients and accompanying children already accommodated (number)	
Accommodation ending	34.9	80.3	6.2	19.8	80.3	41.8	263.3	
Continuing accommodation (D)	2,977.1	1,497.6	574.9	2,829.5	3,390.0	2,772.4	14,041.5	
Total accommodated (B + D)	3,010.7	1,579.6	582.1	2,846.8	3,473.1	2,818.0	14,310.4	
Total demand for accommodation (E)
(A + B + D)	3,072.6	1,610.6	592.8	2,935.7	3,561.1	2,922.8	14,695.6	
	Proportion turned away (per cent)	
Turn-away (A ÷ C * 100)
(% requiring new accommodation)	64.8	27.4	59.4	83.7	51.4	69.7	58.9	
Turn-away (A ÷ E * 100)
(% total demand for accommodation)	2.0	1.9	1.8	3.0	2.5	3.6	2.6	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0 Demand for Accommodation Collection; 46.3 Client Collection (daily average).
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data from the Demand for Accommodation Collection (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Demand for Accommodation Collection data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2).
4.	The accommodation status of a client or accompanying child on a particular day is based on the reported periods of accommodation within a support period. A client can end one period of accommodation and start another on the same day at the same agency—these are considered to be a single period. It can be reasonably assumed that a client will not have more than one period of accommodation at different agencies on the same day. Note that dates of support and accommodation are not collected for accompanying children, however, it can be reasonably assumed that an accompanying child is accommodated when their parent or guardian has been accommodated.
5.	‘Not accommodated’ and ‘Accommodated in subsequent request(s)’ refer to people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation (see Appendix 2). 
6.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
7.	Figures are unweighted.
Sources: SAAP Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections.

Table 9.4:	Total people turned away each day, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008
	Wed
21
Nov	Thu
22
Nov	Fri
23
Nov	Sat
24
Nov	Sun
25
Nov	Mon
26
Nov	Tue
27
Nov	Wed
14
May	Thu
15
May	Fri
16
May	Sat
17
May	Sun
18
May	Mon
19
May	Tue
20
May	Daily average	
	Total people requiring new accommodation (number)	
Not accommodated (turned away) (A)	529	438	428	74	67	563	462	527	509	436	128	94	621	516	385.1	
Newly accommodated (B)	313	363	300	153	186	359	315	326	287	298	150	133	297	285	268.9	
Successful first request	276	348	273	139	171	310	297	291	252	268	141	129	258	268	244.4	
Accommodated in subsequent request(s)	37	15	27	14	15	49	18	35	35	30	9	4	39	17	24.6	
Total requiring new accommodation (C) 
(A + B)	842	801	728	227	253	922	777	853	796	734	278	227	918	801	654.1	
	Clients and accompanying children already accommodated (number)	
Accommodation ending	319	295	342	131	203	383	295	262	294	279	119	167	330	267	263.3	
Continuing accommodation (D)	14,095	14,124	14,133	14,281	14,248	14,054	14,111	13,857	13,893	13,902	14,064	14,066	13,868	13,885	14,041.5	
Total accommodated (B + D)	14,408	14,487	14,433	14,434	14,434	14,413	14,426	14,183	14,180	14,200	14,214	14,199	14,165	14,170	14,310.4	
Total demand for accommodation (E)
(A + B + D)	14,937	14,925	14,861	14,508	14,501	14,976	14,888	14,710	14,689	14,636	14,342	14,293	14,786	14,686	14,695.6	
	Proportion turned away (per cent)	
Turn-away (A ÷ C * 100)
(% requiring new accommodation)	62.8	54.7	58.8	32.6	26.5	61.1	59.5	61.8	63.9	59.4	46.0	41.4	67.6	64.4	58.9	
Turn-away (A ÷ E * 100)
(% total demand for accommodation)	3.5	2.9	2.9	0.5	0.5	3.8	3.1	3.6	3.5	3.0	0.9	0.7	4.2	3.5	2.6	
Notes
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions: 0 Demand for Accommodation Collection; 46.3 Client Collection (daily average).
2.	Adjustments have been made for missing data from the Demand for Accommodation Collection (see Appendix 2).
3.	People may make more than one request for accommodation in a day. Demand for Accommodation Collection data are based on the first valid unmet request for accommodation made (see Appendix 2).
4.	The accommodation status of a client or accompanying child on a particular day is based on the reported periods of accommodation within a support period. A client can end one period of accommodation and start another on the same day at the same agency—these are considered to be a single period. It can be reasonably assumed that a client will not have more than one period of accommodation at different agencies on the same day. Note that dates of support and accommodation are not collected for accompanying children, however, it can be reasonably assumed that an accompanying child is accommodated when their parent or guardian has been accommodated. 
5.	‘Not accommodated’ and ‘Accommodated in subsequent request(s)’ refer to people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation (see Appendix 2). 
6.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
7.	Figures are unweighted.
Sources: SAAP Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections.

10	Conclusion
On a national basis, SAAP agencies are operating to capacity, with the demand for SAAP accommodation unable to be met completely. This chapter discusses the demand for SAAP accommodation in relation to data on turn-away, as well as issues around the availability of SAAP accommodation, estimating capacity, the relationship between supply and demand, and hidden demand for accommodation. It also outlines new policies in relation to reducing homelessness and hence the demand for crisis accommodation. 
10.1	Meeting the current demand
As shown in Chapter 4, an undersupply of accommodation appears to be a significant factor in why people are turned away from SAAP accommodation (in 83% of valid unmet requests for accommodation). While this was the case overall and by state and territory, client group, and primary target group of the agency, it was particularly evident for people with children and agencies that were primarily set up to support family groups.
Patterns of accommodation use
SAAP clients comprise people from diverse sections of the community, with differing needs and requirements in relation to SAAP accommodation. Therefore their barriers to obtaining accommodation and their patterns of accommodation use differ.

Figure 10.1: SAAP closed support periods with accommodation: mean and median length of accommodation for clients who were accommodated for at least 1 day, by client group, Australia, 2007–08 (number of days)
Vertical bar chart showing days on y-axis and client group on x-axis. Key shows mean and median.
Source: Table 10.2.

One reason why it may be more difficult for family groups to secure immediate SAAP accommodation is that, once they are accommodated, these groups tend to stay longer (Figure 10.1). Therefore, the turnover of beds is less for family groups than for other clients.
The duration of occupancy for couples with children was generally the longest, followed by individual(s) with children, and couples without children. Individual(s) who presented without children stayed for the shortest time (Table 10.2). Clients of family agencies were generally accommodated for longer periods than in other types of agencies (Table 10.3). This, combined with the higher turn-away and the higher proportion where lack of accommodation was the main reason they were not offered accommodation, suggests that most of the accommodation that is available for family groups is already taken up each day.
Despite this evidence, simply increasing the number of places would likely not reduce turn-away in the long term. The current collection provides estimates of the expressed undersupply of accommodation (in terms of people) on an average day. These numbers, however, do not take into consideration a range of factors discussed below.
Estimating capacity
When considered in terms of places, providing the same number of places as the number of people turned away would likely not meet the current expressed demand for SAAP accommodation. For example, one problem with the assumption that 385 additional places would alleviate the current demand for SAAP accommodation is that, based on data on the length of support of SAAP clients, many people who are turned away are likely to require accommodation for more than one night (on average 54 days) (Table 10.1). On this basis, if all 385 people turned away on an average day were provided with a SAAP accommodation period, none of the beds provided would become available for other people requiring accommodation for however long those 385 people stay.
In addition, the number turned away does not take into consideration informal analyses of the SAAP unmet demand data that indicate, just as studies of the demand for hospital beds and the job market have shown, that an increase in the supply of accommodation might increase the demand pressures on SAAP accommodation. In this way, the availability of more beds in the sector could be anticipated to result in an increase in demand for accommodation. This relationship between supply and demand is discussed further below. 
Related to supply and demand is the fact that there is what can be termed ‘hidden need’ for SAAP accommodation caused by people not seeking assistance when they need it. Hidden need for SAAP accommodation is discussed later in this chapter.
While the above factors point to an increase in capacity being required, the level of demand is also affected by the fact that people may re-present at a SAAP agency on subsequent days after being turned away. The amount of extra accommodation required is therefore likely to be less than if everybody turning up each day was new. The National Data Collection (NDC) currently does not differentiate how many of the requests on a given day are new requests as opposed to repeat requests from previous days. Information is gathered, however, on the number of re-presentations within a day (1.1). These numbers suggest that people do not make many repeated attempts if they fail initially. For more detail, see hidden need for accommodation presented later in this chapter.
Taking all these factors into consideration alongside the data on daily turn-away, it suggests that many more than 385 places would be required to meet the current expressed demand for SAAP accommodation (for more information see Griffin 2008).
Supply and demand
Figure 10.2 presents the daily expressed demand for SAAP accommodation. It shows that, on any given day, there was not a lot of variation between the number of people starting accommodation and those ending it. This suggests that accommodation is taken up when it becomes vacant and that SAAP is operating to capacity.

Figure 10.2 Daily demand for SAAP accommodation, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (number)
Vertical bar chart showing number on y-axis and day on x-axis. Key shows accommodation ending, newly accommodated and not accommodated.
Source: Table 9.4

It is also interesting to note that the demand for SAAP accommodation appears to be following its supply. For example, Figure 10.2 shows that weekends, when some agencies are closed or have reduced staffing and hence less opportunities are available to obtain accommodation, are the only days on which the number of people turned away is less than the number starting or leaving accommodation. This suggests that, as the supply of accommodation falls, so too does the demand for that accommodation.
Hidden need for accommodation
The data discussed so far have related to the expressed demand for SAAP accommodation; that is, the people who are actively seeking accommodation. There is, however, evidence to suggest that not everyone who requires SAAP accommodation is seeking it. For example, the large number of homeless people enumerated in the 2006 Census of Population and Housing homeless enumeration strategy, of which only a small proportion were accommodated in SAAP (see Chapter 1), suggests a significant level of hidden need. The low percentage of new requests for SAAP accommodation on a daily basis suggests that people in need of accommodation may not be approaching SAAP agencies.
In addition, that the number of valid unmet requests for immediate accommodation is not considerably larger than the number of people seeking such accommodation, suggests that people do not make repeated attempts if they fail initially. Tables 4.4 and 5.1 suggest that the majority of people turned away on an average day do not approach another SAAP agency that same day (1.1 attempts). However, unsuccessful groups may split up and retry in other combinations and the extent to which this happens is not known. There are also no definitive data available on how often people re-present on subsequent days.
Furthermore, referrals for other accommodation are not always obtained once a person has been unsuccessful. On an average day, only around half (57%) of the valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation were formally referred on to accommodation at another source (Table 4.8). Clients may infer from this that SAAP accommodation is difficult to obtain, and that trying at another agency is unlikely to prove successful on that day. They might, however, try again on subsequent days.
For these reasons, it is important to note that increasing the capacity of SAAP to accommodate more people may not necessarily mean that the rate of people turned away would decrease. It may be that once more accommodation becomes available those people who have previously not sought, or who have given up seeking accommodation, may try to obtain it.
10.2	Reducing the demand
There are several ways that current levels of demand for SAAP or other crisis accommodation could be met or reduced. While these include providing additional crisis beds, this is not the only, or a long-term, solution. Current policy directions on reducing homelessness, and hence the demand for crisis accommodation, are discussed below.
Other policies, such as reducing the amount of time that clients stay in crisis accommodation, might also facilitate a fall in turn-away rates, however, external barriers, such as long social housing waiting lists and the need to provide additional support to help people maintain their tenancies, would need to be considered in conjunction with this. Such investigation is outside the scope of this report.
National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA)
The data in this report were collected under the fifth SAAP Agreement (SAAP V) which emphasised the goals of early intervention and post-crisis support. These goals had the potential to free up crisis accommodation for those who most need it—the former (early intervention) can pre-empt the need for a crisis bed in the first place; the latter (post-crisis support) can reduce the probability of a client returning for more accommodation.
On 1 January 2009, the SAAP V Agreement between the Australian Government and the states and territories was replaced by the National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA), of which homelessness is an agreed priority area.
As part of this, a National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness, which has been agreed between the states and territories and the Australian Government, will come into effect on 1 July 2009. This agreement contributes to the NAHA outcome ‘people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness achieve sustainable housing and social inclusion’. It recognises that, while providing suitable crisis accommodation is essential, reducing homelessness involves far more than that. To this end the agreement focuses on three broad strategies to reduce homelessness and to increase economic and social participation:
•	prevention and early intervention to stop people becoming homeless
•	improving and expanding service responses to homelessness to achieve sustainable housing, improve economic and social participation and end homelessness
•	breaking the cycle of homelessness so that homelessness does not recur.
The agreement is intended to complement new initiatives on social housing, remote Indigenous housing and other major housing policy reforms.
Discussions are currently underway on improvements to existing data collections under the new agreement.
10.3	Conclusion
The high turn-away for people requiring new accommodation, the low daily turnover of people in SAAP accommodation (there are relatively few people leaving their accommodation and taking up accommodation compared with those continuing their accommodation), and the modest referral rate for those requiring immediate accommodation, suggest that finding accommodation in a SAAP agency is difficult. It also indicates that SAAP agencies are generally operating to capacity, with the demand for SAAP accommodation unable to be completely met.
In contrast, the small number of people not accommodated relative to the total expressed demand for SAAP accommodation (3%) seems to suggest that a small increase in the number of places available on an average day could have a significant impact on the level of unmet demand for accommodation. However, this conclusion assumes that all those who need SAAP accommodation are currently approaching SAAP agencies and does not consider how long people stay in SAAP once they do get accommodation. In addition, an increase in capacity may have flow-on effects on the number of people seeking accommodation because, as supply increases, so too might the demand for that accommodation. For these reasons it is acknowledged that providing additional places is not the only or a long term solution to meeting the demand for crisis accommodation or reducing the number of people turned away.
10.4	
Tables
Table 10.1:	SAAP closed support periods with accommodation: mean and median length of accommodation, by state and territory, Australia, 2007–08 (number of days)
State and territory	Mean	Median	
NSW	56	13	
Vic	84	28	
Qld	47	12	
WA	31	5	
SA	58	10	
Tas	35	9	
ACT	96	35	
NT	24	4	
Total	54	12	
Notes for tables 10.1–10.3
1.	Number excluded due to errors and omissions (weighted): 0.
2.	Excludes accommodation that started and ended on the same day.
3.	Figures have been weighted to adjust for agency non-participation.
Source: SAAP Client Collection.

Table 10.2:	SAAP closed support periods with accommodation: mean and median length of accommodation, by client group, Australia, 2007–08 (number of days)
Client group	Mean	Median	
Individual(s) no children	44	10	
Individual(s) with children	71	19	
Couple no children	85	22	
Couple with children	169	94	
Total	54	12	

Table 10.3:	SAAP closed support periods with accommodation: mean and median length of accommodation, by primary target group of agency, Australia, 2007–08 (number of days)
Primary target group	Mean	Median	
Young people	70	16	
Single men only	35	9	
Single women only	74	18	
Families	158	91	
Women escaping domestic violence	36	7	
Cross-target/multiple/general	55	14	
Total	54	12	
Appendix 1	Demand for SAAP accommodation summary diagram
Figure A1.1 provides a summary of the demand for SAAP accommodation in 2007–08. This diagram outlines how requests for accommodation made during the Demand for Accommodation Collection were used to determine how many people were not accommodated on an average day. This number of people is then used in conjunction with data from the Client Collection to calculate the turn-away measures.

Figure A1.1: Demand for SAAP accommodation summary diagram for requests and total people, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average)
Flow chart diagram

Notes 
1.	Only data from agencies that participated in both the Client and Demand for Accommodation Collections are included. Consequently, the figures understate the level of activity in SAAP agencies.
2.	Figures may not add due to rounding.

Appendix 2	The data
A2.1	The Client Collection
The Client Collection is the main component of the National Data Collection. It contains information about all clients receiving support of more than 1 hour’s duration under SAAP, or who are accommodated by a SAAP agency, or who enter into an ongoing support relationship with a SAAP agency. Data are recorded by service providers during or immediately following contact with clients, and are then forwarded to the National Data Collection Agency after clients’ support periods have ended or, for ongoing clients, at the end of the reporting period (30 June). Data collected include basic sociodemographic information, information about the services required by and provided to each client, and information about each client’s situation before and after receiving SAAP services. 
A full-scale trial of the Client Collection, involving all agencies across Australia, began in March 1996, and the collection proper began on 1 July 1996. The collection has continued, with some refinements to the data items introduced in July each year. In July 2005, a Core Data Set was introduced. The Core Data Set collects fewer data items than were previously collected, includes a new statistical linkage key (SLK) and incorporates changes in some definitions, such as that of client, support period, accompanying child and accompanying child support period. For this reason, data from 2005–06 onwards are not strictly comparable with previous years.
A2.1.1	Participation
A high level of participation among SAAP-funded agencies is necessary to ensure that the data accurately reflect the work done under the auspices of the program. Overall, the participation rate for the Client Collection has been very satisfactory—in 2007–08, 92% of SAAP agencies providing support and/or accommodation participated in the collection (Table A2.1). This was higher than the 87% participation rate obtained in 2006–07.
A2.1.2	Consent and valid consent
In assessing the quality of data in any collection, it is important to consider not only overall participation rates but also the degree to which returned data are complete. All data collections and surveys invariably have some missing data, but this does not necessarily undermine the validity or reliability of information obtained. However, high levels of 
non-response to particular questions mean that some caution should be exercised when interpreting the data because the results may not fully reflect the entire population of interest.
In this context, note that the protocols established for the National Data Collection require that SAAP clients provide information in a climate of informed consent. If a client’s consent is not obtained, only a limited number of questions can be completed, and a statistical linkage key is not recorded. Statistical linkage keys allow data collected on separate occasions from the same person to be combined without identifying the person. Thus enumeration of actual clients and accompanying children, in addition to occasions of support, is possible.
Clients
Across Australia, consent and valid consent (see Section A2.4) were obtained from clients in 87% and 83% of records, respectively (Table A2.1). In all states and territories, valid consent for clients was obtained in the majority of cases, ranging from 75% in Tasmania to 90% in the Northern Territory. The same was true according to primary target group, ranging from 78% for agencies primarily targeted at women and children escaping domestic violence to 92% for agencies that primarily targeted single men.
Accompanying children
The protocols of the SAAP National Data Collection state that data should be collected in a climate of informed consent. However, consent in the case of accompanying children is more complicated than that for clients. Young children are not able to understand the purpose of the collection and cannot, therefore, give informed consent. In addition, the question concerning the age at which young people are able to give consent has no simple, universally accepted answer.
For the purposes of the SAAP National Data Collection, consent can be obtained from either the parent/guardian or the child, depending on family circumstances and whether or not the child is judged able to comprehend what is being asked of her/him. In cases where there is a strong objection from the parent/guardian about the data collection, the wishes of the parent/guardian take precedence. 
Consent is obtained at the support period level, not the accompanying child support period level, and a client may choose to provide consent for their details to be recorded but not wish to record those of their accompanying child. This is highlighted by the large gap between the rates of consent and valid consent for accompanying children. Consent was obtained in 92% of accompanying child records (Table A2.2); valid consent was obtained in 69%. 
A2.1.3	Adjusting for agency non-participation and client non-consent
The AIHW has developed a methodology—primarily for use when deriving annual estimates—that adjusts for differences between support periods with consent and those without. The methodology also adjusts estimates to allow for agency non-participation, for clients who give valid consent for some support periods but not for others (referred to as ‘mixed consent’), and for clients who do not give consent in any of their periods of support. A description of the methodology is given in the 2007–08 national annual report (AIHW 2009a: Appendix 2). In this current report, only the Client Collection data in Tables 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3 and 10.4 have been adjusted.

Table A2.1:	SAAP Client Collection: agency participation rates and records returned with informed consent and valid consent, by state and territory and primary target group for 2007–08, and by reporting period, Australia
	Agencies(a)		Records returned	
	Total	Participation rate		Total	Consent	Valid consent(b)	
State/territory	Number	Per cent		Number	Per cent	Per cent	
NSW	389	91.3		58,891	88.3	80.6	
Vic	461	91.3		64,197	89.0	84.0	
Qld	231	93.1		29,613	90.4	83.7	
WA	141	92.9		16,799	89.6	83.1	
SA	118	90.7		19,827	87.0	81.7	
Tas	36	100.0		6,710	78.0	74.5	
ACT	34	91.2		2,683	87.6	83.7	
NT	34	100.0		4,115	93.8	89.6	
Total	1,444	92.1		202,835	88.6	82.5	
Primary target group							
Young people	517	89.9		40,552	86.6	80.8	
Single men only	98	91.8		23,295	93.3	91.6	
Single women only	47	93.6		5,495	90.0	86.3	
Families	125	95.2		14,545	93.0	87.5	
Women escaping domestic violence	337	96.1		46,633	86.9	77.7	
Cross-target/multiple/general	320	90.0		72,315	88.3	82.2	
Total	1,444	92.1		202,835	88.6	82.5	
(a)	‘Agencies’ refers to the number of agencies that were ‘in scope’—that is, that should have been participating in the reference period. Refer to Section A2.4.
(b)	‘Valid consent’ here refers to all records with a valid statistical linkage key (refer to Section A2.4).
Note: Table based on records returned from agencies in scope for the Client Collection during the reference period. Not all agencies funded under SAAP are required to participate in the Client Collection. Consequently, some agencies funded under SAAP (refer to AIHW 2009a: Table 2.3) are not included in this table.
Sources: SAAP Administrative Data and Client Collections.

Table A2.2:	SAAP Client Collection: records returned with informed consent and valid consent for accompanying children, by state and territory and primary target group of agency, Australia, 2007–08
	Records returned	
	Total	Consent	Valid consent(a)	
State/territory	Number	Per cent	Per cent	
NSW	23,200	92.7	74.1	
Vic	28,896	91.7	62.7	
Qld	15,834	92.4	64.9	
WA	10,853	92.4	69.1	
SA	12,801	91.9	78.8	
Tas	2,890	84.2	65.0	
ACT	1,776	90.1	76.2	
NT	2,557	93.4	78.5	
Total	98,807	91.9	69.2	
Primary target group				
Young people	6,936	90.0	66.3	
Single men only	914	90.3	77.1	
Single women only	2,951	97.2	82.2	
Families	17,946	93.8	77.4	
Women escaping domestic violence	46,687	91.8	68.7	
Cross-target/multiple/general	23,373	90.7	62.9	
Total	98,807	91.9	69.2	
(a)	‘Valid consent’ here refers to all records with a valid statistical linkage key (refer to Section A2.4).
Sources: SAAP Administrative Data and Client Collections.

A2.2	The Demand for Accommodation Collection
The Demand for Accommodation Collection is used to measure the level of unmet demand for SAAP accommodation, to calculate the proportion of people turned away from SAAP accommodation, and to provide an indication of the overall ability of SAAP to meet the demand for accommodation. Previously known as the Unmet Demand and Met Demand Collections, the Demand for Accommodation Collection is conducted annually (in two 
1-week periods). All SAAP-funded agencies that provide support or accommodation to clients were asked to record each unsuccessful and successful request for accommodation during the collection period; a form was completed for each person (adult or unaccompanied child) or group of people (including accompanying children). In 2007–08 the collection was held on 21–27 November 2007 and on 14–20 May 2008. During this collection period, 13,290 useable records were received (Table A2.3).
The participation rate for the Demand for Accommodation Collection was lower than that for the Client Collection. Nationally, 63% of agencies returned data following the 2 weeks of the collection period. The participation rate for 2007–08 ranged from a high of 75% in Tasmania to a low of 49% in Victoria.
In 2007–08, agencies mainly targeting families had the highest participation rate (82%). Agencies that primarily targeted young people recorded the lowest participation rate (58%).
It is not known whether agencies that did not participate in the Demand for Accommodation Collection received requests they could not meet. Consequently, it is possible that findings from this collection may understate the true extent of unmet demand. In addition, only demand for accommodation data for agencies that participated in the two collections used to calculate the turn-away measures in this report—the Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections—are presented in the tables in Chapters 4–9. These agencies accounted for 12,659 Demand for Accommodation Collection records, and the analysis in those chapters is based on this reduced number of records and associated people (AIHW unpublished data).
Note that when comparing estimates across years several factors need to be taken into account, such as the participation rate in each year and any changes in the collection or estimation methodology. For example, prior to 2003–04, imputation for missing information was carried out at a national level. From 2003–04 onwards, it was done at a state and territory level. 

Table A2.3:	SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection: agency participation rates and records returned, by state and territory and primary target group for 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008, and by reporting period, Australia
	Agencies	Participation rate	Records returned	
State/territory	Number	Per cent	Number	
NSW	389	66.3	4,221	
Vic	461	48.8	2,273	
Qld	231	74.9	3,277	
WA	141	69.5	1,326	
SA	118	62.7	1,155	
Tas	36	75.0	490	
ACT	34	70.6	307	
NT	34	73.5	241	
Total	1,444	62.6	13,290	
Primary target group				
Young people	517	58.4	3,219	
Single men only	98	66.3	1,803	
Single women only	47	70.2	453	
Families	125	81.6	1,537	
Women escaping domestic violence	337	59.3	1,945	
Cross-target/multiple/general	320	63.1	4,333	
Total	1,444	62.6	13,290	
Reporting period				
12–25 November 1998	1,168	n.a.	7,001	
11–24 November 1999	1,164	n.a.	7,394	
29 November–5 December 2000 and 9–15 May 2001	1,236	n.a.	10,685	
22–28 August 2001 and 8–14 May 2002	1,286	n.a.	10,941	
9–15 December 2002 and 7–13 May 2003	1,202	89.7	14,034	
26 November–2 December 2003 and 5–11 May 2004	1,225	76.9	13,217	
1–7 December 2004 and 11–17 May 2005	1,212	73.2	11,970	
7–13 December 2005 and 17–23 May 2006	1,219	71.0	14,342	
2–8 August 2006 and 16–22 May 2007	1,456	61.4	14,992	
21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008	1,444	62.6	13,290	
Notes
1.	Based on records returned from agencies in scope for the Demand for Accommodation Collection.
2.	‘Agencies’ refers to the number of agencies that were ‘in scope’— that is, agencies that should have been participating in the reference period.
3.	From 2002–03 onwards information on requests for SAAP accommodation was collected on a single form which captured groups with both met and unmet requests for accommodation. In 2001–02, information was also gathered on the demand for SAAP accommodation both met and unmet; however, two separate forms were used. In the years preceding 2001–02, data on unmet requests for both SAAP non-accommodation support services and requests for SAAP accommodation, were collected for unmet requests on a single form. For these reasons, the participation rate cannot be compared across years.
4.	Figures are unweighted.
Sources: SAAP Administrative Data Collection and Demand for Accommodation Collection.
A2.2.1	Estimation methods and adjusting for missing information
In this report, imputed or edited data are included in all tables that use information from the Demand for Accommodation Collection. Also, only demand for accommodation data for agencies that participated in the two collections used to calculate the turn-away measures in this report—the Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections—are presented in the tables in Chapters 4–9. These agencies accounted for 12,659 Demand for Accommodation Collection records, and the analysis in those chapters is based on this reduced number of records and associated people (AIHW unpublished data).
Estimation methods
During the 2007–08 Demand for Accommodation Collection period, SAAP agencies across Australia that participated in both the Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections reported 9,150 requests for accommodation that were not met (Table 4.1). However, many of these requests were made at inappropriate agencies. This includes requests for accommodation at agencies where the person did not fall within the agency’s target group, where the person or group was inappropriate for the agency, or where there was no fee-free accommodation available. It also includes those people who refused an agency’s offer of accommodation. Consequently, the number of valid unmet requests is a more useful measure of unmet demand. In addition, not all valid unmet requests involve immediate accommodation. In the context of homelessness, the level of unmet requests for immediate accommodation is of particular importance. It must also be emphasised that the number of valid unmet requests does not represent the actual number of people, since a person can make requests on more than one occasion and at more than one SAAP agency. There are thus, two types of estimates of primary interest for unmet demand: numbers of valid unmet requests and numbers of people with valid unmet requests.
Invalid requests may be followed by successful requests at another agency, especially if a referral has been arranged. That is, a proportion of people who make an unsuccessful request for accommodation might subsequently receive accommodation from another SAAP agency on the same day. For this reason, when calculating turn-away it is important to count the number of times this occurred. During the 2007–08 Demand for Accommodation Collection period, SAAP agencies across Australia that participated in both the Demand for Accommodation and Client Collections reported 3,505 requests for accommodation that were met (Figure A1.1). Met requests for accommodation are not analysed separately in this publication, rather they are used to estimate the number of people who had a valid unmet request earlier in the day but were subsequently accommodated later that day (344 people, derived from Table 9.1).
Several difficulties are associated with estimating the number of valid unmet requests and the number of people who make these requests. First, a proportion of people who make an unsuccessful request for accommodation may subsequently receive accommodation from another SAAP agency, quite possibly soon after the initial request. Use of a statistical linkage key has proved unworkable in the context of unmet demand, so previously it was not possible to identify when this situation occurred. Second, people may have their needs met by other means and no longer require SAAP assistance. Third, a person may make several requests for accommodation—again, without a linkage key, related requests cannot be identified with certainty. Finally, data required to identify valid unmet requests may be missing. These possibilities pose four main problems:
•	Estimates of the number of unmet requests obtained from the collection may overstate the actual level of unmet demand.
•	Estimates of the number of valid unmet requests may be too low as a result of missing data.
•	The number of people making valid unmet requests cannot be obtained directly from the collection.
•	An accurate final turn-away for those seeking assistance cannot be calculated.
Although it is not currently possible to resolve the first of these problems, a method has been developed for deriving estimates of both the number of valid unmet requests and the number of individuals whose valid requests were not met each day of the 2-week collection period. The method used to derive these estimates is outlined in the following section. It should be noted, however, that the resulting estimates would overstate the number of people involved if people make requests for accommodation on different approaches to SAAP agencies within the collection period. Additionally, because people might make several approaches on the same day to SAAP agencies throughout the year, the daily figure cannot be pro-rated up to give an estimate of the number of people turned away from SAAP agencies annually. People often approach SAAP services more than once within 12 months, as is illustrated by the fact that, nationally, 27% of SAAP clients had more than one period of support in 2007–08 (derived from AIHW 2009a: Table 3.1).
To address the fourth concern, it was decided to combine the collection of met and unmet demand into one—the Demand for Accommodation Collection. Using the estimated number of people mentioned above in conjunction with the number of people with met requests for accommodation and the Client Collection, it is now possible to estimate the number of people with a valid prior request on a particular day, who successfully gained SAAP accommodation later that day, as well as the estimated number of people who were turned away with their needs unmet. The method used to derive these estimates is outlined in the following section and the analysis is provided in Chapters 6, 7, 8 and 9. 
Adjusting for missing information
There are several key estimates required for estimating both unmet and met demand. These are:
•	the number of valid unmet requests for immediate accommodation
•	the number of people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation
•	the number of people with a valid unmet request for immediate accommodation with a subsequent met request for accommodation.
These estimates are crucial because they show the volume of requests for immediate accommodation, indicate the number of people with unmet needs within the collection period and how much of that demand is later met, and are used in conjunction with data from other collections to examine total demand for SAAP services. Missing data in items used to derive these estimates will therefore affect the estimates’ utility because they lead to estimates being too low.
Unmet demand
The information used to derive the unmet demand estimates is elicited through seven questions on the Demand for Accommodation Collection form (see Appendix 3):
•	Question 2, asking the number of adults or unaccompanied children seeking accommodation
•	Question 3, asking the number of accompanying children requiring accommodation with their parent(s) or guardian(s)
•	Question 4, asking about immediacy of the need for accommodation
•	Question 5a and Question 5b, asking whether or not the same request for accommodation had been made and turned away earlier that day and the reason for that turn-away, if applicable
•	Question 6, asking whether an offer of accommodation was made by the agency
•	Question 7a and Question 7b, asking if the person refused an offer of accommodation and, if so, why
•	Question 9, asking if the person made a valid request—that is, sought support from an appropriate agency.
Missing information for any of these questions affects estimates of valid unmet requests and/or estimates of people making those requests. To maximise the utility of estimates from the Demand for Accommodation Collection, an answer was imputed where information was missing for Questions 4, 5a, 5b, 6, 7a, 7b and 9. The imputation itself was done at the form level by randomly assigning an answer for the missing question using the distribution of answers for that question. To improve accuracy, this imputation also used information from related questions. 
Some editing on Questions 2 and 3 was undertaken to help minimise the impact of erroneous or missing responses to these questions. For example, editing was carried out based on the presenting unit and where accompanying children were erroneously recorded in both Questions 2 and 3.
An estimate of the total number of valid unmet requests can then be derived by identifying records that correspond to valid unmet requests. This is done using both the original and the imputed answers: initially, valid requests are identified using Questions 7 and 9, and any requests in which an offer of assistance was refused or where the reason for the agency refusing indicates that it was an invalid request, are excluded. Question 4 can then be used to divide these valid unmet requests into requests for immediate accommodation and other requests.
The number of people associated with valid unmet requests for accommodation is identified by finding those valid unmet requests that correspond to first valid unmet requests. This can partly be done by excluding repeat requests at agencies (identified via Question 5) from identified valid unmet requests (estimated as described). In addition to this, however, to estimate the number of people with a valid unmet request for accommodation one further piece of information is needed—whether a first (invalid) request at an inappropriate agency later becomes an unmet (valid) request at an appropriate agency. This information is very difficult to obtain. In reports prior to 1999–00, adjustments were made for this gap in information at the state and territory level. The adjustments were based on the ratio of valid second (or further) unmet requests to the total number of first unmet requests. In the 2001–02 analysis, this ratio was also applied, but it was used at the form level to provide an estimate of the probability of an invalid first unmet request later becoming a valid unmet request. Using this probability, a proportion of invalid first unmet requests were imputed to become first valid unmet requests. These imputed first valid unmet requests were then combined with observed first valid unmet requests to estimate the total number of people. This ‘unit-level’ approach allowed for greater flexibility in the tables that were produced than the ‘state-level’ adjustments. In the 2002–03 Demand for Accommodation Collection and onwards, information was gathered on whether a person had made an unmet request earlier that day and the reason for prior turn-away, meaning that the number of first invalid unmet requests that later became valid unmet requests could now be estimated using information gathered (in Questions 13a and 13b in 2002–03 and in Questions 5a and 5b in subsequent years). 
Met demand
Missing information on the number of people accommodated and about whether a client was previously turned away affects estimates of the number of people who successfully gained accommodation later in the day on which they had made an unmet request. For met demand, the information used to derive the estimated number of people who had a previous valid unmet request for accommodation earlier on the same day is elicited through Questions 5a, 5b, 6, 7a and 8 on the 2007–08 Demand for Accommodation form (see Appendix 3) which determine if the request is met, ask how many people were accommodated, whether the person or group had made a request for accommodation earlier that day, and, if they were unsuccessful, the reason why. The turn-away measures in this report relate only to those who required immediate accommodation. This information is elicited through Question 4 on the form.
For the purposes of this report, only people with a met request who had a valid unmet request earlier in the day are considered as people who were accommodated in subsequent requests (see Chapters 6, 7, 8 and 9). Whether the previous request was valid is determined on the basis of the response recorded against Question 5b on the form. Invalid requests include those made for accommodation where the person did not fall within the agency’s target group, where the person or group was inappropriate for the agency and where the person or group refused the offer of accommodation due to not wanting to split, because the agency was in the wrong area, or where they refused accommodation for other reasons. The number of people who were accommodated in subsequent requests is subtracted from the number of people who had a first valid unmet request for accommodation to estimate the number of people who were not accommodated daily.
The imputation for Questions 4, 5a, 5b, 6 and 7a was done at the form level by randomly assigning an answer for the missing question using the distribution of answers for that question. To improve accuracy, this imputation also used information from related questions (see also previous section on unmet demand). Some editing was carried out on Question 8 based on the presenting unit.
A2.2.2	Matching requesting groups
The Demand for Accommodation Collection form collected information on the requesting group in a different format from that used in the Client Collection. The following table outlines the combinations used in this report.

Name of requesting group	Client Collection requesting groups	Demand for Accommodation Collection requesting groups	
Individual(s) no children	Person alone or with unrelated person	Person without child(ren)	
	Other, with no record of accompanying children in Part B of the form (see Appendix 3)	Persons without child(ren)	
	Requesting group missing, with no record of accompanying children in Part B of the form (see Appendix 3)	Requesting group missing, with no record of accompanying children in Question 3 or Question 8 of the form (see Appendix 3)	
Individual(s) with children	Person with child(ren)	Person with child(ren)	
	Other, with record of accompanying children in Part B of the form (see Appendix 3)	Persons with child(ren)	
	Requesting group missing, with record of accompanying children in Part B of the form (see Appendix 3)	Requesting group missing, with record of accompanying children in Question 3 or Question 8 of the form (see Appendix 3)	
Couple no children	Couple without child(ren)	Couple without child(ren)	
Couple with children	Couple with child(ren)	Couple with child(ren)	
A2.3	Interpretation of tables
When interpreting the tables in this report, readers should note the following:
•	The reference period for the table is specified in the title. This may vary from table to table, depending on the collection being used.
•	The population to which the table refers is specified in the title. A number of tables use data from more than one collection, so a table may have two reference populations. This is specified in the title and/or the table notes.
•	The main unit used in the table (for example, percentages or numbers) is usually shown at the end of the table title; if no unit is given there, the units used are given in the body of the table. 
•	Unless otherwise indicated, records with missing data (resulting from errors or omissions) are not included in the percentages or numbers in a table. Care should be taken when interpreting and using figures in a table if the numbers of errors and omissions are relatively high—as a rule of thumb, more than one-third as big as the number of records included in the table. 
•	Components may not add to totals due to rounding.
•	In some tables, people may have had more than one response, so percentages do not total 100. A note to the table indicates whether this is the case.
In general, numbered notes at the bottom of the tables indicate:
•	the number of records excluded from the table because of missing data. The number missing for each collection used in the table is given separately
•	whether the data are unweighted or an adjustment for non-participation and/or client non-consent has been made
•	whether any imputed data have been used (see Section A2.2.1)
•	any additional information needed to interpret the table.
A2.4	Counting rules and glossary
In this report the following rules and terms have been used. For detailed descriptions of categories, please see the SAAP collectors’ manual (AIHW 2005a).

Accommodated client	A client is considered to be accommodated during a support period if the support type of SAAP/CAP accommodation was provided and/or a date of accommodation was provided.	
Accommodation period	The period during which a client was in SAAP supported accommodation (also referred to as a period of accommodation). A client may have no accommodation periods or one or more accommodation periods within a support period. The dates on which each accommodation period began and ended during the support period are collected for clients but not for accompanying children. However, it can be reasonably assumed that an accompanying child will have the same accommodation period start and end dates as their parent(s) or guardian(s) in the majority of cases.	
Accompanying child	A person aged under 18 years who:
•	has a parent or guardian who is a SAAP client; and
•	accompanies that client to a SAAP agency any time during that client’s support period; and/or
•	receives assistance directly as a consequence of a parent or guardian’s support period.	
Accompanying child support period	Each support period in which the child either accompanies a parent or guardian to a SAAP agency or receives assistance as a result of a parent or guardian’s support period.
Within an accompanying child support period the child may receive one-off assistance and/or support over a period of time. Since the child may not be supported for the entire duration of a parent’s or guardian’s support period, it is not possible to assess the exact length of support for an accompanying child. However, it can be reasonably assumed that an accompanying child will have the same support period start and end dates as their parent(s) or guardian(s) in the majority of cases.
The number of accompanying child support periods is calculated by summing the number of accompanying children reported for each support period.	
Agency	An organisation or establishment that receives a specified amount of SAAP funds to provide services.
A SAAP agency is included for 2007–08 if information about funding allocations was provided for 2007–08 and the agency operated for some part of the period 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008.
The number and profile of agencies change each year as a result of the amalgamation or splitting of agencies, the opening of new agencies, or the reclassification of service delivery models or target groups. These changes are determined by state and territory government departments.	
Alpha code	A predetermined combination of letters from a client’s or accompanying child’s name, together with a letter designating their sex. See also valid alpha code.	
At imminent risk of homelessness	Includes people who are at risk of losing their housing because of factors that do not pose a threat to their safety, for example, interpersonal conflicts that do not involve violence. A person who requires the support of a SAAP worker to maintain their current housing situation and live independently in the community may also be considered to be at risk of becoming homeless.	
Client	A person who is homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness who:
•	is accommodated by a SAAP agency
•	enters into an ongoing support relationship with a SAAP agency
•	receives support or assistance from a SAAP agency which entails generally 1 hour or more of a worker’s time, either with that client directly or on behalf of that client, on a given day.
This includes people who are aged 18 years or older and people of any age not accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Client records from operational SAAP agencies are included in the analyses presented in this report if:
•	the client’s support period ended in the reporting period
•	the client’s support period started on or before the end of the reporting period and either was ongoing at the end of the reporting period (30 June) or the end date of the support period was unknown and the record was entered by the NDCA before the data entry close-off date for the reporting period.
Tables detailing the characteristics of individual clients generally present data collected during the client’s first support period in the reporting period.	
Closed accompanying child support periods	An accompanying child support period associated with a closed support period.	
Closed support period	A support period that had finished on or before the end of the reporting period—30 June.	
Country of birth	The country in which a person was born. Countries are divided into:
•	Australia
•	other English-speaking countries (Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Zimbabwe)
•	mainly non-English-speaking countries.	
Family group	Refers to the following requesting or client groups:
•	individual(s) with children
•	couple no children
•	couple with children.
See A2.2.2 (Matching requesting groups) for details of how these groups are formed.	
Homeless person	A person who does not have access to safe, secure and adequate housing. A person is considered not to have access to safe, secure and adequate housing if the only housing to which they have access:
•	damages, or is likely to damage, their health
•	threatens their safety
•	marginalises them through failing to provide access to:
–	adequate personal amenities, or
–	the economic and social supports that a home normally affords
•	places them in circumstances which threaten or adversely affect the adequacy, safety, security and affordability of that housing
•	has no security of tenure—that is, they have no legal right to continued occupation of their home.
A person is also considered homeless if he or she is living in accommodation provided by a SAAP agency or some other form of emergency accommodation.	
Immediate accommodation	Accommodation required/needed within 24 hours.	
Invalid unmet request for accommodation	An unmet request for accommodation is invalid if:
•	the request is made at an agency of an inappropriate target group
•	the person or group is inappropriate for the agency
•	there is no fee-free accommodation available at the agency
•	the proffered assistance is refused.
See also valid unmet request and Section A2.2.1.	
Length of accommodation	Accommodation length is obtained by summing the individual accommodation lengths reported for a support period. An individual accommodation length is obtained by subtracting the accommodation start date from the accommodation finish date for those periods with valid dates. If a client starts and ends accommodation on the same date, the length of accommodation is recorded as zero.
A support period with accommodation may begin before the start of the financial year. For this report, length of accommodation is the total length of accommodation within a support period, not the length of accommodation within the financial year.	
Mean	The weighted arithmetic average of the item using relevant records with valid values.	
Median	The median is the fiftieth percentile of a distribution. This is the value of an item such that half (using weights) of relevant records with valid values are below this value and half are above it.	
Met request for accommodation	A request for accommodation is met if the agency offers supported accommodation to the person or group requesting accommodation and that offer is accepted. All met requests for accommodation are considered to be valid as the accommodation could be provided.	
Missing values	Records that are not available for analysis are shown in table notes. The number of such records for each table is calculated in the following order of precedence:
•	records not available because of errors
•	records not available because of omissions.
In tables involving subpopulations, it is impossible to determine whether a given record should be included or excluded if data are missing for the variable(s) defining the subpopulation in the analysis. Such records are generally not included in the missing count for these tables.	
Ongoing support period	A support period is considered ongoing at the end of the reporting period if each of the following conditions is met:
•	no support end-date is provided
•	no after-support information is provided
•	the corresponding client form was received in the month following the end of the reporting period.
Ongoing support periods are generally not included in tables relating to duration of support or accommodation.	
Ongoing support relationship	An ongoing support relationship exists between a SAAP agency and a person if some assistance has been provided to that person, and it is expected that future contact will occur between the person and the agency for the purpose of providing additional assistance. Future contact can be assumed if:
•	a definite appointment has been made with the person to work through particular problems/issues
•	an agreement has been reached with the person to work through particular problems/issues even if a specific appointment has not been made
•	the agency expects the client to return for more assistance within a month.
However, an invitation to return to the agency in the future if the need arises does not constitute an ongoing support relationship. Rather it should simply be seen as an offer to enter into a new support period or to provide assistance at some future time.	
Percentages	Percentages presented in the report are based on valid values only; that is, records without values for the relevant data item are excluded from the denominator before percentages are calculated.	
Period of accommodation	See Accommodation period. 	
Primary target group	Refers to the primary target group of the agency; that is, the primary characteristics of persons to whom a SAAP service is targeted. There are six classifications used by the SAAP National Data Collection. These are:
•	young people
•	single men only
•	single women only
•	families
•	women and children escaping domestic violence
•	cross-target/multiple/general.	
Referral	For the purposes of the National Data Collection, a referral involves a formal process—not simply the provision of information. A (formal) referral occurs when a SAAP agency contacts another organisation and that organisation accepts the person concerned for an appointment or interview. A referral has not been provided if the person is not accepted for an appointment or interview.	
Rounding	Two-week estimates based on the Demand for Accommodation Collection are rounded to the nearest 10. Annual estimates derived from the Client Collection are generally rounded to the nearest 100. Average daily estimates are generally rounded to 1 decimal place.	
Statistical linkage key (SLK)	A statistical linkage key (SLK) is a derived variable that allows demographic data about the same client to be combined across support periods without the name of the client being recorded. 
See also valid SLK. 	
Support/service	Assistance, other than supported accommodation, provided to a client or accompanying child as part of a support period.
See also type of service/support.	
Support period	Commences when a client begins to receive support and/or supported accommodation from a SAAP agency. The support period is considered to finish when:
•	the client ends the relationship with the agency
•	the agency ends the relationship with the client.
If it is not clear whether the agency or the client has ended the relationship, the support period is assumed to have ended if no assistance has been provided to the client for a period of 1 month. In such a case, the date the support period ended is the last contact with the client.	
Support period with accommodation	A support period in which a support type of SAAP/CAP accommodation was provided and/or a date of SAAP/CAP accommodation was provided.	
Supported accommodation	Accommodation owned, managed or arranged and paid for by a SAAP agency. The accommodation may be provided at the agency or may be purchased using SAAP funds—at a motel, for example.	
Target group	See Primary target group.	
Total demand for accommodation	The total demand for accommodation refers to accommodation requested from a SAAP agency, whether that request was met or not. It includes accommodation that was newly starting, accommodation that was continuing from a previous day as well as unmet requests for accommodation.	
Turn-away—proportion of people requiring new SAAP accommodation 	Calculated as the average daily percentage of people who could not be accommodated relative to all people requiring immediate new SAAP accommodation. It measures the proportion of people seeking SAAP accommodation who were turned away on an average day during the Demand for Accommodation Collection period and provides an indication of a person’s likelihood of obtaining SAAP accommodation.	
Turn-away—proportion of total demand for SAAP accommodation	Calculated as the average daily percentage of people who could not be accommodated relative to all people who required immediate new SAAP accommodation or who were continuing their accommodation from a previous day. It provides a measure of the overall ability of SAAP to meet the expressed demand for accommodation on an average day during the Demand for Accommodation Collection period.	
Type of support/service	The Client Collection specifies 34 distinct types of services (or support) for clients and 17 distinct types of services (or support) for accompanying children and allows agencies to record other types not listed on the data form. 
For clients, this report presents individual service or support types and includes a subtotal for six distinct groupings. The major classifications for clients are:
•	housing or accommodation—SAAP or CAP accommodation; assistance to obtain or maintain short-term accommodation; assistance to obtain or maintain medium-term accommodation; and assistance to obtain or maintain independent housing
•	financial or employment—assistance to obtain or maintain a government allowance; employment and training assistance; financial assistance or material aid; and financial counselling and support
•	personal support—incest or sexual assault support; domestic or family violence support; family or relationship support; emotional support; and assistance with problem gambling
•	general support and advocacy—living skills or personal development; assistance with legal issues or court support; advice or information; retrieval, storage or removal of personal belongings; and advocacy or liaison on behalf of client
•	specialist services—psychological services; specialist counselling services; psychiatric services; pregnancy support; family planning support; drug or alcohol support or intervention; physical disability services; intellectual disability services; culturally specific services; interpreter services; assistance with immigration issues; and health or medical services
•	basic support and services not elsewhere specified (n.e.s.)—meals; laundry or shower facilities; recreation; transport; and other support.
For accompanying children, this report presents individual service or support types and includes a subtotal for six distinct groupings. The major classifications for accompanying children are: 
•	accommodation—SAAP or CAP accommodation
•	school liaison and child care—school liaison; and child care
•	personal support—help with behavioural problems; sexual or physical abuse support; skills education; and structured play or skill development
•	general support and advocacy—access arrangements; advice or information; and advocacy
•	specialist services—specialist counselling; culturally specific services; and health or medical services
•	basic support and services not elsewhere specified (n.e.s.)—meals; showers or hygiene; recreation; transport; and other support.
Note that support for accompanying children is recorded on only one parent’s/guardian’s form when a couple presents to an agency.
For further information, see Appendix 3 for the form and the collectors manual (AIHW 2005a) for the definitions.	
Unmet need	An unmet need occurs when a SAAP agency worker assesses that a client needs a support service during their support period, and that service is not provided or referred.	
Valid alpha code	This is an alpha code that is given with informed consent, and contains only letters from the alphabet or the numeral ‘2’ (to indicate a short name) and ends in either M or F to indicate the sex.	
Valid consent	Refers to a valid statistical linkage key.	
Valid date of birth	For the purposes of the National Data Collection, a valid date of birth is one which is provided with informed consent and has:
•	the day, month and year of birth completed and not estimated
•	the day and month of birth completed and not estimated, and the year of birth completed (either estimated or not estimated).	
Valid statistical linkage key (SLK)	For the purposes of the National Data Collection, a valid SLK comprises a valid alpha code and valid date of birth that were supplied for a support period where the client gave informed consent.
Note that in 2006–07 the edits and rules surrounding the determination of a valid SLK were tightened. This was done to further strengthen the reliability of the linkage key.	
Valid unmet request for accommodation	An unmet request for accommodation is valid if the agency cannot offer accommodation because:
•	insufficient accommodation is available 
•	the agency is a referral agency with no vacancies on the books
•	the type of accommodation requested is not provided by the agency
•	there are insufficient staff to provide support
•	facilities for special needs are not available.
See also invalid unmet request and Section A2.2.1.	

Appendix 3	Collection forms

References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2007. Australian demographic statistics, December quarter 2007. ABS cat. no. 3101.0. Canberra: ABS.
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2005a. SAAP National Data Collection Agency collectors manual July 2005. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2005b. Australia’s welfare 2005. Cat no. AUS 65. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2007. Australia’s welfare 2007. Cat no. AUS 93. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2009a. Homeless people in SAAP: SAAP National Data Collection annual report 2007–08 Australia. SAAP NDC report series 13. Cat. no. HOU 191. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2009b. Demand for SAAP accommodation by homeless people 2007–08: summary. SAAP NDC report series 13. Cat. no. AUS 114. Canberra: AIHW.
Chamberlain C & MacKenzie D 2008. Australian census analytical program: counting the homeless 2006. ABS cat. no. 2050.0. Canberra: ABS. 
Griffin J 2008. Reducing unmet demand in SAAP: pointers from the evidence base. Parity, 21(4) National Homelessness Conference: Adelaide 2008—National conference edition. Victoria: Council to Homeless Persons.

List of tables
Table 3.1:	SAAP/CAP accommodation required by clients in closed support periods: state 
and territory, by provision, Australia, 2007–08	8
Table 3.2:	SAAP/CAP accommodation required by clients in closed support periods: client 
group, by provision, Australia, 2007–08	8
Table 3.3:	SAAP/CAP accommodation required by clients in closed support periods: primary 
target group of agency, by provision, Australia, 2007–08	9
Table 3.4:	SAAP/CAP accommodation required for accompanying children in closed 
accompanying child support periods: state and territory, by provision, Australia, 
2007–08	10
Table 3.5:	SAAP/CAP accommodation required for accompanying children in closed 
accompanying child support periods: client group, by provision, Australia, 
2007–08	10
Table 3.6:	SAAP/CAP accommodation required for accompanying children in closed
accompanying child support periods: primary target group of agency, by provision, Australia, 2007–08	10
Table 4.1:	Unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: main reason why request was not met, 
by state and territory, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008	15
Table 4.2:	Unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: main reason why request was not met, 
by requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008	16
Table 4.3:	Unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: main reason why request was not met, 
by primary target group of agency, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 
2008	17
Table 4.4:	Valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: when accommodation was 
required, by state and territory, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 
2008	18
Table 4.5:	Valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: when accommodation was 
required, by requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 
2008	18
Table 4.6:	Valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: when accommodation was 
required, by primary target group of agency, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 
14–20 May 2008	19
Table 4.7:	Valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: one-off assistance, by state and 
territory, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008	19
Table 4.8:	Referrals for accommodation made in valid unmet requests for immediate 
SAAP accommodation, by state and territory, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 
and 14–20 May 2008	20
Table 4.9:	Referrals for accommodation made in valid unmet requests for immediate 
SAAP accommodation, by requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 
and 14–20 May 2008	20
Table 4.10:	Referrals for accommodation made in valid unmet requests for immediate SAAP accommodation, by primary target group of agency, Australia, 21–27 November 
2007 and 14–20 May 2008	21
Table 5.1:	People with a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation, by when 
accommodation was required and state and territory, Australia, 21–27 November 
2007 and 14–20 May 2008	26
Table 5.2:	People with a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation, by when 
accommodation was required and requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 
2007 and 14–20 May 2008	27
Table 5.3:	People with a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation, by when 
accommodation was required and primary target group of agency, Australia, 
21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008	28
Table 5.4:	People with a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation, by when 
accommodation was required and sex, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 
14–20 May 2008	29
Table 5.5:	People with a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation, by when 
accommodation was required and age, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 
14–20 May 2008	30
Table 5.6:	People with a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation, by when 
accommodation was required and country of birth, Australia, 21–27 November 
2007 and 14–20 May 2008	31
Table 5.7:	People with a valid unmet request for SAAP accommodation, by when 
accommodation was required and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, 
Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008	31
Table 7.1:	Adults and unaccompanied children turned away, by state and territory, 
Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008	37
Table 7.2:	Adults and unaccompanied children turned away, by requesting group, 
Australia,  21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008	38
Table 7.3:	Adults and unaccompanied children turned away, by primary target group 
of agency, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008	39
Table 7.4:	Adults and unaccompanied children turned away each day, Australia, 
21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008	40
Table 8.1:	Accompanying children turned away, by state and territory, Australia, 
21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008	43
Table 8.2:	Accompanying children turned away, by requesting group, Australia, 
21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008	44
Table 8.3:	Accompanying children turned away, by primary target group of agency, 
Australia,  21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008	45
Table 8.4:	Accompanying children turned away each day, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 
and 14–20 May 2008	46
Table 9.1:	Total people turned away, by state and territory, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 
and 14–20 May 2008	50
Table 9.2:	Total people turned away, by requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 
and  14–20 May 2008	51
Table 9.3:	Total people turned away, by primary target group of agency, Australia, 
21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008	52
Table 9.4:	Total people turned away each day, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 
14–20 May 2008	53
Table 10.1:	SAAP closed support periods with accommodation: mean and median length of accommodation, by state and territory, Australia, 2007–08	59
Table 10.2:	SAAP closed support periods with accommodation: mean and median length of accommodation, by client group, Australia, 2007–08	59
Table 10.3:	SAAP closed support periods with accommodation: mean and median length of accommodation, by primary target group of agency, Australia, 2007–08	59
Table A2.1:	SAAP Client Collection: agency participation rates and records returned with 
informed consent and valid consent, by state and territory and primary target 
group for 2007–08, and by reporting period, Australia	63
Table A2.2:	SAAP Client Collection: records returned with informed consent and valid 
consent for accompanying children, by state and territory and primary target 
group of agency, Australia, 2007–08	64
Table A2.3:	SAAP Demand for Accommodation Collection: agency participation rates 
and records returned, by state and territory and primary target group for 
21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008, and by reporting period, Australia	66

List of figures
Figure 2.1: Relationships between estimates of the homeless population and SAAP
Figure 3.1: Provision of SAAP/CAP accommodation required by clients, by client group, Australia,  2007–08 (per cent closed support periods)
Figure 4.1: Valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: main reason why request was not met, by state and territory, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
Figure 4.2: Valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: main reason why request was not met, by requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
Figure 4.3: Valid unmet requests for SAAP accommodation: main reason why request was not met, by primary target group of agency, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average)
Figure 5.1: Possible outcomes of valid requests for SAAP accommodation
Figure 7.1: Turn-away for adults and unaccompanied children who required immediate accommodation, by requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average number of adults and unaccompanied children requiring new accommodation)
Figure 7.2: Demand for immediate SAAP accommodation for adults and unaccompanied children, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average number and per cent of total demand for accommodation)
Figure 8.1: Demand for immediate SAAP accommodation for accompanying children, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average number and per cent of total demand for accommodation)
Figure 9.1:	Turn-away for people who required immediate accommodation, by requesting group, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (per cent daily average number of people requiring new accommodation)
Figure 9.2: Demand for immediate SAAP accommodation for total people, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average number and per cent of total demand for accommodation)
Figure 10.1: SAAP closed support periods with accommodation: mean and median length of accommodation for clients who were accommodated for at least 1 day, by client group, Australia, 2007–08 (number of days)
Figure A1.1: Demand for SAAP accommodation summary diagram for requests and total people, Australia, 21–27 November 2007 and 14–20 May 2008 (daily average)