What are the reasons clients seek assistance?
The reasons people seek assistance from specialist homelessness services are many and varied. While family and domestic violence may be a reason for people to seek assistance, it may not be the only reason, nor is it necessarily identified as the main reason.
Whilst the majority of domestic and family violence clients sought assistance for that specific reason from specialist homelessness services, there were often additional reasons that led to them seeking assistance. These vary greatly in terms of the reasons why clients may be homeless or at risk, as well as the level and type of support they require to overcome barriers to stable housing.
Clients may seek support due to a lack of affordable housing options. Others may be experiencing housing crises such as an eviction or other personal circumstances, such as mental health issues or problematic drug and alcohol use making finding and/or retaining housing difficult.
In this analysis, we examine the reasons clients experiencing family and domestic violence, and those who have not, sought assistance from homelessness services.
Key findings
- Of those clients experiencing domestic and family violence, approximately 60% identified this as the main reason for seeking assistance from specialist homelessness services, followed by 'housing crises' (6%).
- Comparatively, of those clients not experiencing domestic and family violence, approximately 1 in 5 identified 'financial difficulties' as the main reason for seeking assistance, followed by 'housing crises' (16%).
- Among domestic and family violence client groups, young women presenting alone, Indigenous women and men were the most likely to identify housing affordability issues as a reason for seeking assistance.
Do reasons for seeking assistance differ?
The pathways into homeless can be many and diverse, and the reasons clients seek assistance from homelessness agencies can highlight those groups who may be at increased risk of falling into homelessness.
Of those clients who reported experiencing domestic and family violence, approximately 60% identified this as the main reason for seeking assistance from specialist homelessness services. 'Housing crises' was the next highest main reason for seeking assistance (6%), followed by 'relationship/family breakdown' (4%) (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Domestic and family violence clients, by top five main reasons for seeking assistance, 2011–12 to 2013–14
Source: AIHW Specialist Homelessness Services Data Repository.
The numbers of clients citing a range of financial and housing affordability reasons for seeking assistance is also substantial.
Comparatively, where clients did not report experiencing domestic and family violence, approximately 1 in 5 (19%) identified 'financial difficulties' as the main reason for seeking assistance from specialist homelessness services, followed by 'housing crises' (16%), and 'inadequate/inappropriate dwelling conditions' (12%) (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Other clients, by top five main reasons for seeking assistance, 2011–12 to 2013–14
Source: AIHW Specialist Homelessness Services Data Repository.
Do reasons for seeking assistance differ across domestic and family violence cohorts?
Domestic and family violence was the main reason for seeking assistance for the majority of women with children, women from non-English speaking backgrounds and older women. Young women presenting alone, Indigenous women and men were less likely to identify domestic and family violence as their main reason for seeking assistance and more likely than the other domestic and family violence cohorts to indicate housing crisis as their main reason for seeking assistance.
Table 1 illustrates that just over 7 in 10 (72%) women with children, 3 in 4 (76%) women from non-English speaking backgrounds and almost 4 in 5 (78%) older women sought assistance from specialist homelessness services primarily because of domestic and family violence. Around half (54%) of Indigenous women, just under half (49%) of young women presenting alone and only 30% of men identified family and domestic violence as their main reason for seeking assistance.
Housing crises was the next highest reason for seeking assistance among the family and domestic violence cohorts. A housing crisis may occur where a person has been formally evicted from their accommodation, or has been asked to leave their accommodation by house mates or other people they are currently living with. After family and domestic violence, men and young women presenting alone were the most likely to report a housing crisis as their main reason for seeking assistance (14% and 8% respectively). For both these groups, relationship breakdown also factored more strongly as a main reason for seeking assistance (10% and 12% respectively) than for the other groups examined.
When all reasons for seeking assistance are considered, housing crisis features quite strongly across all groups examined as reason for seeking assistance, as does housing affordability. Almost half of men (47%), around one-third of young women presenting alone (35%) and Indigenous women (33%) identified a housing crisis as being a reason for seeking assistance. These 3 groups are also more likely than others to identify housing affordability as a reason for seeking assistance, with just over 1 in 4 men (27%) and just over 1 in 5 (22%) young women presenting alone and Indigenous women indicating this as being an issue.
Seeking assistance for problematic drug and alcohol use was relatively low among the female cohorts; however, 23% of men identified problematic drug use as a reason for seeking assistance and 17% identified problematic alcohol use as a reason for seeking assistance. For problematic drug use, this equated to more than double the proportion of Indigenous women, just under double the proportion of young women presenting alone and almost 6 times the proportion of women with children who sought assistance for this reason. For problematic alcohol use, this was over 3 times the proportion for young women presenting alone and almost 6 times the proportion for women with children.
| Presenting reasons | Women with children | Young women presenting alone | Indigenous women | NESB women | Older women | Men |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How many? | 45,404 | 23,805 | 19,601 | 17,021 | 7,126 | 15,361 |
| MAIN presenting reason – Domestic violence | 72% | 49% | 54% | 76% | 78% | 30% |
| MAIN presenting reason – Housing crisis | 6% | 8% | 7% | 4% | 3% | 14% |
| ALL presenting reasons – Housing crisis | 23% | 35% | 33% | 18% | 10% | 47% |
| ALL presenting reasons – Housing affordability | 18% | 22% | 22% | 14% | 7% | 27% |
| ALL presenting reasons – problematic drug use | 4% | 12% | 10% | 1% | 1% | 23% |
| ALL presenting reasons – problematic alcohol use | 3% | 5% | 10% | 1% | 2% | 17% |
| ALL presenting reasons – mental health issues | 11% | 18% | 15% | 8% | 9% | 30% |
Note: Groups are not mutually exclusive, clients may belong to more than 1 group.
Source: AIHW Specialist Homelessness Services Data Repository.
What does this tell us?
For those clients that indicated experiencing domestic and family violence on presentation to specialist homelessness services, it is expected that the majority would seek assistance for reasons of domestic and family violence. In comparison, for those clients who did not indicate experiencing domestic and family violence, financial difficulties was the most common main reason for seeking support.
Across all cohorts that indicated experiencing domestic and family violence, older women, women from non-English speaking backgrounds, and women with children were the most likely to indicate domestic and family violence as their main reason for seeking assistance (78%, 76% and 72%, respectively). For those least likely to indicate this as the main reason for seeking assistance, (men and young women presenting alone) there were other primary reasons for these groups to seek help, indicating a higher likelihood of comorbidities being present.
For men and young women presenting alone, housing crises and affordability issues factor strongly as reasons for seeking assistance. These groups are also the most likely to be living without tenure on presentation. This indicates that their housing is precarious and that housing is their primary concern at the time of presentation.
Problematic drug and alcohol use factors strongly as a reason men seek assistance. This is also reflected in the needs identified for men, with one fifth (20%) expressing a need for drug and alcohol services, the highest of all domestic and family violence cohorts and double the proportion of the next highest group, Indigenous women.
To sustain adequate housing tenure, young women presenting alone who have experienced domestic and family violence must rely on a stable family or relationship environment. Relationship and family breakdown was the main reason for seeking assistance from SHS for 1 in 10 young women presenting alone.
If you are experiencing domestic or family violence or know someone who is, please call 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or visit the 1800RESPECT website.