SHS system overview
Homelessness and being at risk of homelessness is associated with social and economic disadvantage. To support people experiencing housing insecurity, governments across Australia fund specialist homelessness services (SHS) to deliver a wide range of supports. These services are delivered by non-government organisations, including agencies that specialise in supporting particular groups (such as children and young people or those experiencing family and domestic violence), as well as agencies offering more general assistance to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
For more details on government policy responses, see Policy Framework.
Specialist homelessness services
A specialist homelessness service is an agency that receives government funding to provide accommodation, related support, or both to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. All SHS agencies are required to participate in the Specialist Homelessness Services Collection (SHSC).
SHS agencies vary in size and in the types of support they deliver. Across Australia, they provide prevention and early intervention services, as well as crisis and post-crisis assistance. Some agencies focus specifically on people experiencing homelessness, while others offer a broader range of housing support and services.
While accommodation is commonly the main funded service provided by SHS agencies, support can also include a wide range of other services. These range from short-term or basic assistance – such as information, meals or access to shower and laundry facilities –through to more specialised services such as financial advice, counselling and professional legal services (see Glossary for a complete list of service types).
Organisations not directly funded by governments also provide a wide range of support services to people in need; however, they are not required to provide data to the SHSC. Similarly, some SHS agencies may deliver services beyond the agreed scope of SHS funding, and these are also excluded from the SHSC.
The Specialist Homelessness Services Collection
Around 1.8 million clients have been supported by Specialist Homelessness Services since the collection began on 1 July 2011.
SHSC data describes the services and support provided to people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness. Each month, data from around 1,800 SHS agencies across Australia are provided directly to the AIHW. State and territory governments determine the services delivered through the SHS-funded agencies, so models of support differ between jurisdictions.
All SHSC agencies report standardised data about the clients they support each month to the AIHW, as specified by the SHS National Minimum Dataset (NMDS). Information is collected about client’s characteristics and circumstances when they first present to an agency. Additional data on the assistance provided and changes in clients’ circumstances are collected at the end of the month in which services are received, and again when contact with the client has ceased.
The SHSC provides a comprehensive picture of the specialist homelessness services clients receive and the outcomes achieved (Figure OVERVIEW.1). The SHSC data describes the service response to people experiencing housing insecurity. While the data do not capture the full extent of homelessness in the community, SHSC data on emergency and supported accommodation contribute to Australia’s broader homelessness profile.
Figure OVERVIEW.1: Conceptual framework of the Specialist Homelessness Services Collection
The data collected by agencies are based on periods of support provided to clients. Data related to support periods vary in terms of their duration, the number of times a client and an SHS agency or worker have contact within that period, and the reasons that support ends. Some support periods are relatively short – and are likely to have begun and ended in 2024–25. Others are much longer and may have been ongoing from the previous year and/or were still ongoing at the end of 2024–25.
Further information about the collection and information about the quality of the data obtained through the SHSC for 2024–25 is available in Technical notes.
Figure OVERVIEW.2: Specialist homelessness agencies and clients by jurisdiction, 2024–25
Notes:
- Clients may access services in more than one state or territory, therefore the Australia total will be less than the sum of jurisdictions.
- The agency count includes only those agencies that provided support periods with a valid Statistical Linkage Key (SLK).
Source: Specialist Homelessness Services Collection. Supplementary tables OVERVIEW.2 and CLIENTS.1.
SHS agencies vary in terms of the number of clients assisted, with some agencies assisting less than 100 clients per year and others assisting more than 1,500 people. Some agencies are represented by a larger ‘parent’ organisation while others are individual stand-alone agencies. The number of clients agencies assist (agency size) reflects the type and complexity of services provided, and differing state and territory service delivery models. Agency size is also influenced by specific jurisdictional factors such as the size and geographical distribution of their population.
In 2024–25, about half of all agencies assisted fewer than 100 clients (880 agencies or 49%) (Figure OVERVIEW.3). Agencies assisting a large number of clients (more than 1,500 clients) exist in all jurisdictions.
Specialist Homelessness Services and service delivery
Each state and territory manages their own system for the assessment, intake, referral and ongoing management of SHS clients. The key delivery systems operating in Australia are summarised in Box OVERVIEW.1. While presented as three distinct models, these systems reflect a range of approaches that jurisdictions may use to coordinate entry for SHS clients.
Changes in the service delivery and associated responses implemented by states and territories can influence the SHSC data between jurisdictions in a single period but also within a jurisdiction over time.
Box OVERVIEW.1
Community sector funding and support
- Assessment and intake: managed by individual SHS providers, consistent with state or territory policies.
- Referral: clients are referred to other SHS providers if their needs cannot be met by the initial SHS provider.
- Coordination: May be supported by a coordinating service.
Central information management
- Assessment, intake and referral: can be managed by any SHS provider using a state or territory central information management tool.
- Function: The central system helps identify appropriate services and displays service availability or vacancies across all SHS providers.
Central intake
- Assessment, intake and referral: managed by one or more designated ‘central intake’ agencies.
- Prioritisation: Central intake agencies prioritise access to services and refer clients only when services and/or vacancies are available.
- Information sharing: A central information management tool may be used to share data between SHS providers.
Once a person contacts an SHS agency, or a central intake service, they may receive specialist homelessness support directly or be referred to another agency for a specific service (Figure OVERVIEW.4). In some cases, a client may neither receive a service nor be referred elsewhere, leaving their needs unmet. These unmet needs are recorded to help assess the sector’s capacity to respond to client demand.
An Unassisted request for service is an instance where a person(s) approaches an agency and is unable to be provided with any assistance (see Data presentation and derivations). Limited data are collected on these occasions. The unassisted requests data does not reflect that some people may seek support from multiple different agencies on the same day, or that clients unassisted on one day may receive support on another day.
Figure OVERVIEW.4: Access to and delivery of Specialist Homelessness Services
Services provided by specialist homelessness agencies in all states and territories can be categorised as ‘accommodation services’ (including direct provision, referral, or support to maintain housing) or ‘services other than accommodation’.
The proportion of SHS clients receiving accommodation services versus other services varied across states and territories in 2024–25 (Figure OVERVIEW.5):
- Around two-thirds of clients in the Australian Capital Territory (68%), Queensland (66%), and Tasmania (66%) received accommodation services.
- The highest proportions of clients receiving services other than accommodation were in South Australia (54%), followed by New South Wales (50%) and Victoria (49%).
This variation likely reflects differences in client demand, service delivery models (including services provided by non-SHS agencies), and available housing options across jurisdictions (pathways out of homelessness) (Supplementary table OVERVIEW.3).