Specialist homelessness services annual report 2024–25

This chapter presents the characteristics, service use patterns and housing outcomes of older SHS clients. Older clients are defined as SHS clients aged 55 years and over. 

In 2024–25, older clients made up 11% of all SHS clients; an increase from 6.1% of clients in 2011–12. Older clients may be particularly vulnerable to homelessness and recurrent periods of homelessness (Brown et al. 2016; Om et al. 2022). Experiences of financial instability and disruptive life events including eviction, divorce, job loss, the death of a loved one or a health crisis combined with a lack of savings or social support can place older clients at a greater risk of homelessness later in life (Brown et al. 2016; Om et al. 2022). 

For further information, see Technical notes, and Older clients.

Client characteristics

To compare selected characteristics and experiences across the SHS client groups presented in this report, please refer to the Client group comparison visualisations.

Labour force

In 2024–25:

• there were more older clients not in the labour force (48% or 14,300 clients) than clients who were unemployed (44% or 13,100) (Supplementary table OLDER.7).

Living arrangements

In 2024–25, of the 30,700 older clients with known living arrangement at first presentation to a SHS agency (Supplementary table CLIENTS.45):

• most (19,800 clients) were living alone; higher for males (73% of older male clients) than females (57%)
• around 1 in 10 (11% or 3,400 clients) were living with other family.

Service use patterns

The average number of support periods per older SHS client has remained consistent at 1.6 support periods per client each year from 2020–21 to 2024–25 (Supplementary table CLIENTS.48).

In 2024–25, the length of support older clients received increased to a median of 49 days, up from 41 days in 2020–21.  This is lower than the median for all SHS clients (58 days in 2024–25).

The median number of nights accommodated increased, from 24 nights  in 2020–21 to 29 nights in 2024–25; lower than the median for all SHS clients (34 nights in 2024–25). 

Client needs and main reason for assistance

Main reasons for seeking assistance

The main reasons older SHS clients sought assistance was different for those experiencing homelessness compared with those presenting to services at risk of homelessness in 2024–25.

In 2024–25, among the 12,200 older clients experiencing homelessness, the main reasons for seeking assistance were (Supplementary tables CLIENTS.12 and OLDER.6):

• inadequate or inappropriate dwelling conditions (24% or 2,900 clients)
• housing crisis (24% or 2,900 clients)
• housing affordability stress (12% or 1,500 clients).

In 2024–25, among the 18,100 older clients at risk of homelessness, the main reasons for seeking assistance were:

• housing crisis (22% or 4,000 clients)
• financial difficulties (18% or 3,200 clients)
• housing affordability stress (13% or 2,300 clients)

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.

Services most commonly needed by older SHS clients during 2024–25 were (Figure OLDER.2, Supplementary table OLDER.2):

• long-term or housing (43% of older clients or around 13,500 clients), with 1,000 clients provided this service
• assistance to sustain tenancy or prevent tenancy failure or eviction (34%, 10,800 clients), with 9,100 clients provided this assistance
• material aid/brokerage (33%, 10,600 clients), with 9,200 clients provided this assistance.

Housing situation and outcomes

This section highlights changes in clients’ housing situation between the start and end of support. That is, the place they were living before and after receiving assistance from a SHS agency. The data includes only clients who ceased receiving SHS support during the financial year and were no longer receiving ongoing support from a SHS agency. 

Specifically, it compares clients’ housing at the start of their first support period in 2024–25 with the end of their last support period in 2024–25. It does not capture changes that occurred during a support period, nor changes throughout the year between different support periods.

In 2024–25, older SHS clients were more likely than other clients to be living in public or community housing at the start of support (20% compared with 14% of all clients) and at the end of support (29% compared with 22% of all clients) (Supplementary tables OLDER.3 and CLIENTS.31).

In 2024–25, of the approximately 8,600 older clients who were known to be experiencing homelessness at the start of support (Figure OLDER.3, Supplementary table OLDER.3):

• around 5,500 clients were homeless when support ended 
• almost a quarter (24% or 2,000 clients) were rough sleeping when support ended, a greater proportion than any other client group.
• around 1,500 were in public/community housing when support ended.

In 2024–25, of the approximately 13,700 older clients who were known to be at risk of homelessness at the start of support (Figure OLDER.3, Supplementary table OLDER.3):

• Most clients maintained their housing situation when support ended; around 7,200 clients maintained private housing and around 4,000 clients maintained public/community housing.
• Fewer than 1 in 16 clients (6%) were experiencing homelessness when support ended, a smaller proportion than any other client group.