Specialist homelessness services annual report 2023–24

First Nations people were a national priority cohort in the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, superseded by the National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness (NASHH) that came into effect on 1 July 2024 (CFFR 2024). See the Policy overview page for more information on First Nations people, the policy landscape and government response.

Around 366,300 First Nations clients have been supported by homelessness agencies since the Specialist Homelessness Services Collection (SHSC) began in July 2011. The number of First Nations clients has steadily increased over this time. It is important to note that changes in the number of First Nations clients over time may be a genuine increase, however, may also reflect improved data about Indigenous status among SHS clients. That is, there has been a substantial decrease in the proportion of SHS clients with ‘not stated’ Indigenous status, from 15% of SHS clients (35,600 clients) in 2011–12 to 2.8% (8,000) in 2023–24.

Client characteristics

Figure INDIGENOUS.1: Key demographics, Indigenous SHS clients, 2023–24

Selected attributes

Of the 78,300 First Nations clients in 2023–24, most had experienced family and domestic violence (40% of all First Nations clients), a current mental health issue (25%) and/or were young people presenting alone to SHS agencies (16%) (Table INDIGENOUS.1). First Nations clients made up around one-third of SHS clients on care and protection orders (35% of the cohort of SHS clients), young people presenting alone (33%) and clients with problematic drug or alcohol use (33%).

Source: Specialist Homelessness Services Collection, Supplementary tables CLIENTS.43 and INDIGENOUS.1.

Note: Sum of client group types will not add to the total, as clients may be in more than one client group type.

Service use patterns

In 2023–24, First Nations SHS clients received a median of 60 days of support (an increase from 47 days in 2019–20), an average of 1.8 support periods per client, and a median of 19 nights of accommodation (Supplementary table CLIENTS.48).

New or returning clients

In 2023–24, around 71% of First Nations SHS clients were returning clients, that is, they had received SHS support at some point since the collection began in July 2011; higher than the proportion of returning non-Indigenous clients (61%) (Supplementary table INDIGENOUS.7).

Clients’ needs and main reason for assistance

Main reasons for seeking assistance

First Nations clients most commonly sought assistance from SHS agencies in 2023–24 for the following main reasons (Supplementary table INDIGENOUS.8):

• family and domestic violence (25% or 19,000 clients)
• housing crisis (17% or 13,000)
• inadequate or inappropriate dwelling conditions (14% or 11,100).

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 other specialised service. 

Services most commonly needed by First Nations clients during 2023–24 were (Figure INDIGENOUS.2, Supplementary table INDIGENOUS.3):

• short-term or emergency accommodation (49% or 38,100 clients), higher than the proportion of non-Indigenous clients (36%), with 24,500 clients provided this assistance
• material aid/brokerage (37% or 28, 600 clients), with 25,600 clients provided this assistance.

For some general services, needs were higher for First Nations clients when compared with non-Indigenous clients, including meals (28% compared with 10%), laundry/shower facilities (20% compared with 6.5%), and transport (25% compared with 13%).

Figure INDIGENOUS.2: Indigenous clients, by services needed and provided, 2023–24

Housing situation and outcomes

Outcomes presented here highlight the changes in clients’ housing situation at the start and end of support. That is, the place they were residing before and after they were supported by a SHS agency. The information presented is limited only to clients who have stopped receiving support during the financial year, and 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 housing situation during a support period.

By the end of support, many clients have achieved or progressed towards a more positive housing solution. That is, the number and/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 First Nations clients who were known to be experiencing homelessness at the start of support (around 25,500 clients) (Figure INDIGENOUS.3, Supplementary table INDIGENOUS.4):

• Around one-third (7,700 clients) were housed by the end of support; almost one-fifth (4,500 clients) in public/community housing.
• Fewer were experiencing homelessness when support ended (15,900 clients), mostly either couch surfing (6,000 clients) or in short-term accommodation (5,900 clients). 
• Around 2,900 clients were in private housing at the end of support.

In 2023–24, of those First Nations clients who were known to be at risk of homelessness at the start of support (27,300 clients):

• Most clients maintained their housing situation at the end of support; around 13,300 clients maintained public/community housing and around 7,500 clients maintained private housing.

Figure INDIGENOUS.3: Housing situation for Indigenous clients with closed support, 2023–24