Labour force status
In 2021–22, the majority of clients (52% or 650 clients) who identified as current or former members of the ADF with known labour force status were unemployed, while two-fifths of clients (38% or 485 clients) were not in the labour force. Fewer than 1 in 10 clients (8.5%) were employed when they first presented to a SHS agency (Supplementary table ADF.6).
Selected vulnerabilities
SHS clients in general can face additional vulnerabilities that make them more susceptible to experiencing homelessness, in particular family and domestic violence, a current mental health issue and problematic drug and/or alcohol use.

The length of support for clients who identified as current or former members of the ADF received increased from a median of 53 days of support in 2017–18 to 63 days in 2021–22. These clients had an average of 2.8 support periods per client in 2021–22.
The proportion of clients receiving accommodation increased from 36% in 2017–18 to 39% in 2021–22 for a median of 29 nights per client in 2021–22 (Supplementary table CLIENTS.46).
Changes over time since 2017–18
The total number of clients who identified as current or former members of the ADF who received support from SHS agencies increased by an average of 1.9% annually over the 5 years from 1,300 clients in 2017–18 to 1,400 in 2021–22 (Supplementary table HIST.ADF). The number of female veterans increased by an average of 4.4% per year over the period, compared with 0.5% for males. This compares to an average decrease of 1.4% per year between 2017–18 and 2021–22 for all SHS clients (Supplementary table HIST.CLIENTS).
New and returning clients
Around one-third of clients who identified as current or former members of the ADF in 2021–22 were new (31% or 435 clients), less than the proportion of new clients within the total SHS population (37%) (Supplementary tables CLIENTS.2 and CLIENTS.40). One in 5 new clients were aged 35–44 years (22%), and an additional 1 in 5 (21%) were aged 45–54 years.
Around 960 (69%) clients returned to SHS agencies for assistance in 2021–22. Males were more likely to be aged 45–54 (29% or around 170 clients), while females were more likely to be aged 35–44 (27% around 105).
SHS agencies provide a range of support services. For clients who identified as current or former members of the ADF receiving SHS support in 2021–22 (Supplementary tables ADF.4 and ADF.5):
- The main reason for seeking assistance was housing crisis (23% or around 325 clients), followed by inadequate or inappropriate dwelling conditions (14% or 200 clients). This is generally consistent with most other SHS clients in 2021–22.
- Clients currently experiencing homelessness and those at risk of homelessness identified housing crisis as the main reason for seeking assistance (25% or around 175 clients and 21% or almost 140 clients respectively).
- Clients at risk of homelessness were more likely to report family and domestic violence as a main reason for seeking assistance (18%) than clients presenting as homeless (6.2%).
- For clients whose main reason for seeking assistance was not housing crisis, clients at risk of homelessness were more likely to report financial difficulties as a main reason for seeking assistance (16%) than clients presenting as homeless (9.1%).
Services needed and provided
In 2021–22, the provision of support services to clients varied based on their identified need on presentation (Figure ADF.3, Supplementary table ADF.2):
- Advice/information was most likely to be needed by clients (87% or around 1,200 clients) and was provided to 99% of those who needed it.
- Two-thirds (67%) clients needed accommodation and it was provided to 59% of those who needed it.
Compared with the general SHS population, clients who identified as current or former members of the ADF were more likely to need:
- advocacy liaison (67% compared with 53% in the general SHS population)
- material aid/brokerage (49% compared with 36%)
- assistance to sustain tenancy or prevent tenancy failure or eviction (44% compared with 32%).