Client geography
Key findings and insights
- The highest rate of SHS clients who were experiencing or at risk of homelessness were in the Northern Territory - Outback (628.7 clients per 10,000 population or 6,400 clients) and Western Australia - Outback (North) (554.0 clients per 10,000 or around 5,500 clients) regions.
- The lowest rate of clients were in the Sydney - Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury (14.3 clients per 10,000 population) and Sydney - Ryde (16.8 clients per 10,000) regions.
- In three-fifths of SA4 regions (when clients’ housing situation and SA4 were known), the majority of SHS clients were at risk of homelessness; in the remaining two-fifths of regions, the majority of clients in those regions were experiencing homelessness.
- The highest proportion of clients experiencing homelessness was in the Perth - Inner (79%) region and the highest proportion of at risk clients was in the Sydney - Ryde (North) (78%) region.
Where people live can shape their risk and experience of homelessness (Parkinson et al. 2019). In Australia, market changes can influence the availability of housing options within an area (Wood et al. 2014). At September 2023, the national rental vacancy rate was at a record low of 1.1%, in regional areas it was 1.2% and 1.0% in the capital cities (CoreLogic 2023). An insight into the local regions where people lived during their experience of housing instability or homelessness can help inform region-specific policy development and interventions (Semborski et al. 2022).
This section provides an overview of clients supported by Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) across Australia based on the client’s location prior to receiving SHS support. The rate at which people access SHS can vary geographically due to service availability and region-specific housing factors such as housing availability and affordability. The rate of SHS clients within a region is an indicator of service response and does not necessarily reflect the total number of people experiencing unstable housing situations within a region.
This section examines people seeking SHS support based on where the person lived in the week before presenting to a SHS agency, as reported at the first support period during 2023–24.
Client location is classified to Statistical Area 4 (SA4) based on the 2021 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) and are assigned to only one region for the financial year (ABS 2021). The allocated location may not reflect the region of a client’s permanent address, as clients who move may nominate the location of their temporary accommodation rather than their previous more permanent location.
A total of 88 SA4s are reported in this section, which excludes non-geographic codes and Other Territories. For an analysis of the remoteness of agency location, please see the Service geography section in this report. See Technical notes for more details.
Regional profile of SHS clients
The rate of SHS clients in Northern Territory - Outback region was 1.4 times the overall rate for Northern Territory and 5.4 times the national rate. The lowest rate of SHS clients was in the Sydney - Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury area.
Younger clients (aged 15–24) tended to be in Sydney SA4 regions; higher proportions of older clients aged 55 or older were in Tasmanian SA4 regions.
In 2023–24, SHS agencies assisted nearly 280,100 clients across Australia, representing a rate of 105.1 clients per 10,000 population nationally (Supplementary table CLIENTS.1). The location where clients were living the week before support was unknown for around 21,500 clients; these are therefore excluded from the following analyses.
Within each state and territory, the highest rate of SHS clients were in the SA4 regions (Figure CLIENTLOC.1):
- New South Wales: Far West and Orana (267.9 clients per 10,000 population)
- Victoria: North West (286.7)
- Queensland: Queensland - Outback (313.7)
- Western Australia: Western Australia - Outback (North) (554.0)
- South Australia: South Australia - Outback (214.7)
- Tasmania: Hobart (125.0)
- Northern Territory: Northern Territory - Outback (628.7)
The rate of people receiving SHS services varied by region. Four regions with the highest number of SHS clients were located in Victoria (Figure CLIENTLOC.1):
- Melbourne - West (Victoria) (14,100 clients or 152.8 per 10,000 population)
- Melbourne - South East (9,980 clients, or 109.0 per 10,000 population)
- Melbourne - Inner (9,600 clients, or 142.0 per 10,000 population)
- Latrobe - Gippsland (7,700 clients, or 251.2 per 10,000 population).
Figure CLIENTLOC.1: Clients by age and sex, Statistical Area 4 (SA4), 2023–24
Dashboard shows an interactive map of Australia with Northen Territory Outback having the highest rate of SHS clients per 10,00 ERP.
Source: Specialist Homelessness Services Collection. Supplementary table CLIENTLOC.1.
Across the 88 SA4 regions, females made up the majority of clients in all but four SA4 regions, the highest being in Western Australia - Wheat Belt (79%) and Bunbury (78%) (Supplementary table CLIENTLOC.1). The regions where male clients made up the majority of clients tended to be the inner-city areas of state capitals, were Melbourne - Inner (53%), Perth - Inner (53%), Adelaide - Central and Hills (52%) and Sydney - City and Inner South (52%).
The age profile of clients receiving SHS assistance varied by geographic area across Australia in 2023–24 (Supplementary table CLIENTLOC.1):
- Areas with high proportions of clients aged 0–9 were Ipswich (26%) and Perth - North West (26%).
- Areas with high proportions of young clients aged 15–24 were Sydney - North Sydney and Hornsby (34%) and Sydney - Sutherland (34%).
- The area with the greatest proportion of older clients (55 years and over) occurred in Hobart (17.7% of clients) in Tasmania.
Housing situation
Among clients whose housing status and location was known at the beginning of their first support period in 2023–24, around 114,300 clients were experiencing homelessness at the start of support (Supplementary table CLIENTLOC.1).
The housing situation of clients varied by geographic region (Figure CLIENTLOC.1):
- The top 15 SA4s with the highest number of clients experiencing homelessness at the start of support accounted for around one-third (34%) of all clients experiencing homelessness.
- Clients at risk of homelessness at the start of support made up the majority of clients in 53 of the 88 SA4 regions.
- The highest number of clients experiencing homelessness at the start of support were in Melbourne - West (4,500), Melbourne - Inner (4,500) and Melbourne - South East (3,400).
- The highest proportion of clients experiencing homelessness at the start of support was in Perth - Inner (79% or 1,700 clients); the highest proportion of clients at risk of homelessness was in Sydney - Ryde (78% or 260 clients).
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021) ‘Statistical Area Level 4’, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3, ABS website, accessed 24 September 2024.
CoreLogic (2023) Vacancy rates reach new record lows despite rental growth easing, CoreLogic website, accessed 24 September 2024.
Parkinson S, Batterham D, Reynolds M and Wood G (2019) ‘The changing geography of homelessness: a spatial analysis from 2001 to 2016’, AHURI Final Report 313, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute Limited, doi: 10.18408/ahuri-5119601.
Semborski S, Winn JG, Rhoades H, Petry L and Henwood BF (2022) ‘The application of GIS in homelessness research and service delivery: A qualitative systematic review’, Health & Place, 2022 May;75:102776, doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102776.
Wood G, Batterham D, Cigdem M and Mallett S (2014) ‘The spatial dynamics of homelessness in Australia 2001–11’, AHURI Final Report No.227, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute Limited.