Data source – Specialist Homelessness Services Collection
The Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) Collection (SHSC) commenced on 1 July 2011. Data are provided by over 1,700 government-funded agencies that deliver homelessness services to people in need of support. These data are based on interactions between clients and service providers and are collected at fixed points in time:
- at the start of a support period
- at the end of every month during a support period
- at the end of a support period.
SHS Agencies provide these data to the AIHW every month. For detailed information about the SHSC see Specialist Homelessness Services Collection.
More information about the SHS data
The following resources may assist in interpreting the SHSC data:
- SHS National Minimum Data Set – describes the collection and usage attributes of the data, including definitions of the variables collected.
- SHS data quality statements – published annually and provide key insights into the coverage, relevance and accuracy of the data.
- SHS Collection Manual– provides a ‘user friendly’ guide to collecting data for agency workers including how the questions are structured.
- SHS annual report – summary report on clients and services provided within a financial year. These reports provide useful information on the characteristics of clients and of their service use, including for key client groups and are accompanied by interactive data cubes.
- SHS monthly data – high level summary data released quarterly on the number of clients receiving support each month.
- SHS client pathways reports – using longitudinal data, examine the characteristics and experiences of a group of SHS clients and provides valuable insights into the support profile of vulnerable client groups over time.
- SHS client group summaries – collate evidence from across the AIHW website for different client groups.