Clients with disability
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Key findings Client characteristics Clients’ needs and main reason for assistance Housing situation and outcomesKey findings and insights
In 2023–24:
- SHS agencies assisted around 8,300 clients with disability; around 3,800 of these were experiencing homelessness when they first presented to the agency.
- SHS clients with disability made up 2.9% of all SHS clients.
- The rate of clients with disability was 3.1 per 10,000 people in the general population, an increase from 2.9 in 2018–19.
- Clients with disabilities were most likely to be living alone and not part of a family group.
- Three in 5 clients (aged 10 years and over) were currently experiencing a mental health issue and nearly a third were experiencing family and domestic violence.
More information about people with disability experiencing housing issues, and the policy landscape and government response is available in Clients with disability.
Disability is a challenging concept to measure and there are numerous definitions. The SHSC disability questions aim to establish whether a client has any difficulty and/or need for assistance with 3 core activities (self-care, mobility and communication). These questions are asked of all Specialist homelessness services (SHS) clients.
For the purposes of this report, people who identified that they have a limitation in core activities (and who also reported that they always or sometimes needed assistance with one or more of these core activities) are described as having disability. The term ‘severe or profound core activity limitation’ is used in the report to refer to this subgroup of people with disability.
Data for clients with disability who required assistance may not be comparable across age groups due to differences in the interpretation of the SHSC disability questions. This issue mainly relates to young children, and therefore any comparisons between age groups should be made with caution.
Further details about measuring disability in the SHSC and the definition of a client with severe or profound core activity limitation are provided in the Technical notes.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) supports people with a permanent and significant disability which affects their ability to take part in everyday activities. It is jointly governed and funded by the Australian and participating states and territory governments. Further details about the NDIS are provided in the Technical notes.
NDIS participation indicator
The NDIS participation indicator was introduced into the Specialist Homelessness Services Collection (SHSC) from 1 July 2019. A participant in the NDIS is an individual who reports they are receiving an agreed package of support through the NDIS. The NDIS question is asked of all clients at the start of a support period from a SHS agency. Data are only available for support period(s) starting from 1 July 2019 onwards.
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants
A person can be identified as being a SHS client with severe or profound disability but not be a participant in the NDIS. This may be because the client did not meet the NDIS eligibility criteria, has not applied for the NDIS or has a pending application. These clients may still be receiving disability support under other programs provided by Australian and state/territory governments.
In 2023–24, 5.8% (around 14,300 clients) of SHS clients were NDIS participants, ranging from 3.1% of clients in the Northern Territory to 8.2% in Tasmania (Supplementary table CLIENTS.17). There was a high level of not stated responses for this measure: around 31,700 clients in 2023–24 (Supplementary table CLIENTS.17) which was an improvement on the previous reporting period.
Of the 8,300 SHS clients with disability, 2,900 (35%) indicated that they received support from the NDIS.
Further details about the NDIS indicator are provided in the Technical notes.
Client characteristics
SHS clients with disability were most likely to be aged 35–64 years (40%); living alone (40%); and more likely to be female (51%) than male (49%) in 2023–24.
Around 60% of SHS clients with disability (aged 10 and over) had a current mental health issue, 29% reported experiencing family and domestic violence, and 14% reported experiencing problematic drug and/or alcohol use; almost 300 had all three of these vulnerabilities.
Figure DIS.1: Key demographics, SHS clients with disability, 2023–24
Dashboard shows the number of SHS clients with a disability, by sex, by states and territories, by vulnerabilities, by Indigenous status, and by living arrangements.
Service use patterns
The length of support clients with disability received decreased in 2023–24 to a median of 86 days, down from 88 days in 2022–23. The median number of nights accommodated also decreased, from 49 in 2022–23 to 46 in 2023–24 (Supplementary table CLIENTS.48).
New or returning clients
In 2023–24, more than 1 in 3 (35% or 2,900) clients with disability were new clients (Supplementary table CLIENTS.2 and CLIENTS.42). Clients with disability were about equally as likely as all SHS clients to have previously received SHS assistance at some point since the collection began in 2011 (65% compared with 64% for all SHS clients).
Clients’ needs and main reason for assistance
Nearly one-quarter (23%) of SHS clients with disability identified housing crisis as the main reason for seeking SHS services in 2023–24.
One-fifth of clients with disability (19%) identified family and domestic violence as the main reason for seeking assistance in 2023–24. Family and domestic violence was more commonly identified as a main reason for seeking assistance by clients at risk of homelessness than those experiencing homelessness.
Main reasons for seeking assistance
For clients with disability presenting at risk of homelessness in 2023–24, the most common main reasons for seeking assistance were (Supplementary table DIS.6):
- housing crisis (23%)
- family and domestic violence (21%)
- inadequate or inappropriate dwelling conditions (10%).
For clients presenting experiencing homelessness, the most common main reasons for seeking assistance were:
- housing crisis (24%)
- inadequate or inappropriate dwelling conditions (20%)
- family and domestic violence (15%).
Services needed and provided
Services provided to clients range from the direct provision of accommodation, such as a bed in a shelter, to more specialised services such as counselling and legal support. These services are generally either provided to the client directly by the agency or the client is referred to another SHS agency or specialised service.
The top 6 needs reported by clients with disability were related to housing (provision of long-term housing and short-term or emergency housing) and general services related to information and advocacy (advice/information, other basic assistance, advocacy/liaison and material aid/brokerage) (Figure DIS.2, Supplementary table DIS.2).
In 2023–24 (Figure DIS.2, Supplementary tables CLIENTS.24 and DIS.2):
- Clients with disability were more likely to need help with living skills/personal development (19%), health/medical services (14%) and assistance for trauma (14%) than all SHS clients (16%, 7.8% and 12%, respectively).
- Almost two-thirds (63% or 5,200) of clients with disability needed accommodation-related assistance, mostly long-term housing (45%) or short term or emergency accommodation (41%). A smaller proportion of all SHS clients needed accommodation-related assistance (58%).
- One in 7 clients with disability (14% or around 1,200) needed health/medical services. Most (around 930) of these clients either received the services or were referred elsewhere for services.
- Over 1 in 5 clients with disability (22% or 1,800) needed assistance for family and domestic violence and about 1,600 clients (89%) with these identified needs were provided with assistance.
Figure DIS.2: Clients with disability, by services needed and provided, 2023–24
Stacked bar chart shows assistance for long-term accommodation was the most common service needed and the least provided.
Housing situation and outcomes
Of clients with a disability who were experiencing homelessness at the start of support, a greater proportion ended support in public/community housing than any other client group, other than children on a care and protection order.
Outcomes presented here highlight the changes in clients’ housing situation at the start and end of support. That is, changes in the place they were residing before and after they were supported by a SHS agency. The information presented is limited to those clients who were no longer receiving ongoing support from a SHS agency. In particular, information on client housing situations at the start of their first period of support during 2023–24 is compared with the end of their last period of support in 2023–24. As such, this information does not cover any changes to their housing situation during their support period.
By the end of support, many clients with disability had achieved or progressed towards a more stable housing situation. That is, the number or proportion of clients ending support in public/community housing or private housing had increased compared with the start of support.
In 2023–24, of those who were known to be experiencing homelessness at the start of support (around 2,400 clients) (Figure DIS.3 and Supplementary table DIS.3):
- fewer clients were known to be homeless when support ended (around 1,300).
- at the end of support, clients were mostly either in short-term accommodation (around 590 clients), public/community housing (460 clients) or couch surfing (around 425 clients).
- by the end of support, around 1 in 3 (34% or 800) clients were housed in public/community or private housing.
In 2023–24, of those who were known to be at risk of homelessness at the start of support (around 2,900 clients):
- almost 4 in 5 (2,200 clients) were housed in public/community or private housing by the end of support; mostly in private housing (1,400 clients).
- most clients maintained their housing situation at the end of support; around 1,300 clients maintained private housing and around 640 clients maintained public/ community housing.
Figure DIS.3: Housing situation for clients with disability with closed support, 2023–24
Sankey diagram shows the most common housing situation at the start and end of support for clients with a disability was private or other housing.
National Disability Insurance Scheme (2021) Understanding the NDIS, NDIS website, accessed13 September 2024.