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 2021–22 is compared with the end of their last period of support in 2021–22. As such, this information does not cover any changes to their housing situation during their support period.
While overall housing outcomes generally reflect trends towards more favourable housing, experiences of homelessness, particularly rough sleeping, were more common for clients with problematic drug and/or alcohol use both at the start and end of SHS support compared with other client groups.
For people with problematic drug and/or alcohol use in 2021–22, over half (59% or 7,900 clients) were experiencing homelessness at the start of support; nearly 2,300 (17%) had no shelter or were in an improvised/inadequate dwelling. By the end of support, 51% of clients were housed (Supplementary table SUB.3).