Dwelling type at beginning of support
In 2020–21, of the 6,300 SHS clients who were leaving care and stated their dwelling type at the beginning of support (Supplementary table LCARE.6):
- more than 1,700 clients (28%) were living in independent housing (house/townhouse/flat)
- nearly 1,200 (19%) were staying in a psychiatric hospital or unit
- around 1,000 (17%) were staying in a hospital (excluding psychiatric).
New or returning clients
In 2020–21, of the more than 6,300 SHS clients leaving care (Supplementary table CLIENTS.38):
- Around 35% (nearly 2,200 clients) were new to SHS services and 65% (more than 4,100 clients) were returning clients, having previously been assisted by a SHS agency at some point since the SHSC began in July 2011.
- Nearly half 50% (more than 650 clients) of the clients under 18 were returning clients while approximately 65% (around 820 clients) of clients who were aged 18–24 were returning clients. These age groups include young people who may have left foster care or other out-of-home care arrangements.
- The proportion of clients who had previously been assisted by SHS agencies was similar for males and females (almost 65% males, compared with around 66% females).
Selected vulnerabilities
Clients leaving care may face challenges that make them more vulnerable to experiencing homelessness, more specifically, family and domestic violence, a current mental health issue and problematic drug and/or alcohol use.

Service use patterns
The length of support clients leaving care received increased in 2020–21 to a median of 75 days, an increase from 62 days in 2016–17. The average number of support periods was 2.0 per client. The proportion of clients receiving accommodation was 45% for a median of 55 nights of accommodation (Supplementary table CLIENTS.44).
Main reasons for seeking assistance
In 2020–21, the main reasons for seeking assistance among clients leaving care were (Supplementary table LCARE.4):
- housing crisis (15% or more than 950 clients)
- transition from other care arrangements (13% or over 800 clients)
- inadequate or inappropriate dwelling conditions (11% or more than 700 clients).
Clients leaving care who were at risk of homelessness at first presentation were more likely to identify mental health issues (10% of those at risk, compared with 6.2% experiencing homelessness) and family and domestic violence (9.5%, compared with 5.8% experiencing homelessness) as their main reason for seeking assistance (Supplementary table LCARE.5).
Clients leaving care who were experiencing homelessness at first presentation were more likely to report transition from other care arrangements (19%, compared with 10% at risk) or transition from foster care and child safety residential placements (11%, compared with 4.5% at risk) as their main reason for seeking assistance.
Services needed and provided
Similar to the overall SHS population, clients leaving care needed general services which were provided by SHS agencies including advice/information, advocacy/liaison on behalf of client and other basic assistance.
Clients leaving care were more likely than all SHS clients to need services including (Supplementary tables LCARE.2, CLIENTS.23):
- living skills/personal development (33%, compared with 18%), with 91% receiving this service
- transport (25%, compared with 15%), with 91% receiving this service
- assistance with challenging social/behavioural problems (23%, compared with 12%), with 87% receiving this service
- mental health services (approximately 20%, compared with 8.9%), with 54% receiving this service and a further 18% referred
- health/medical services (19%, compared with 9.3%), with 59% receiving this service and a further 22% referred.