Counting the homeless 2006: Australian Capital Territory

1 Definition of homelessness

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) uses the cultural definition of homelessness to enumerate the homeless population on census night (Chamberlain and MacKenzie 1992). This definition distinguishes between people in primary, secondary and tertiary homelessness.

Primary homelessness describes the situation of all people without conventional accommodation, such as people living on the streets, sleeping in parks, squatting in derelict buildings, living in improvised dwellings (such as sheds, garages or cabins), and using cars or railway carriages for temporary shelter.

Secondary homelessness describes the situation of people who move frequently from one form of temporary shelter to another. On census night, all people staying in emergency or transitional accommodation provided under the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) are considered part of this category. Secondary homelessness also includes people residing temporarily with other households because they have no accommodation of their own, and people staying in boarding houses on a short-term basis, operationally defined as 12 weeks or less.

Tertiary homelessness describes the situation of people who live in boarding houses on a medium to long-term basis, operationally defined as 13 weeks or longer. Residents of private boarding houses are homeless because their accommodation does not have the characteristics identified in the minimum community standard (Chamberlain and MacKenzie 1992): they do not have a separate bedroom and living room; they do not have kitchen and bathroom facilities of their own; their accommodation is not self-contained; and they do not have security of tenure provided by a lease.

2 Overcounting and undercounting

Chapter 2 summarises how the national homeless count enumerated the homeless population using census and other data sets. It contains a discussion of how there can be both overcounting and undercounting of homeless people. Undercounting is most likely in the census category 'improvised homes, tents and sleepers out', and overcounting is more likely in boarding houses because of misclassification.

The problem of establishing reliable figures is compounded by the fact that the homeless population changes over time. There will always be people who are entering and leaving homelessness, as well as people moving between different locations. The challenge is to identify patterns in the population data that might inform the policy process.

3 Accommodation on census night

Across Australia, people staying temporarily with other households accounted for 45 per cent of the homeless on census night, and for 47 per cent of the homeless in the Australian Capital Territory (Table 1). Nationally, 19 per cent of the homeless were in SAAP accommodation, but in the Australian Capital Territory it was 39 per cent. Twenty per cent of the homeless were in boarding houses nationally, but in the Australian Capital Territory it was eight per cent. Only six per cent of the homeless were in improvised dwellings or sleeping rough in the Australian Capital Territory, compared with the national figure of 16 per cent. However, the census was carried out in August when people sleeping rough are likely to hide away to escape the cold, so there could have been undercounting in this category.

Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.

4 Age distribution

The age profile of the homeless population in the Australian Capital Territory was significantly younger than the age profile of the national homeless population. Seventy-six per cent of the homeless in the Australian Capital Territory were aged 34 or younger, significantly above the national figure of 58 per cent (Table 2). In the Australian Capital Territory, 22 per cent of the homeless were children under 12, almost twice the national figure of 12 per cent. Another 22 per cent of the homeless in the Australian Capital Territory were teenagers aged 12 to 18 (mainly on their own) and 16 per cent were young adults aged 19 to 24.

Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.

5 Males and Females

In 2006, men outnumbered women in Australia's homeless population 56 to 44 per cent (Table 3), but in the Australian Capital Territory women outnumbered men 53 to 47 per cent. In the Australian Capital Territory, the proportion of women in the homeless population was higher than the proportion of men in the 12 to 18, 19 to 24, 25 to 34, 55 to 64, and 65 and above age groups. It is not clear why the Australian Capital Territory was different from the other states, but women were often overrepresented in the younger age groups, and the age profile of the homeless population was younger in the Australian Capital Territory than in other states.

Table 3: Percentage of males and females by age group

Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.

6 Indigenous and Non-Indigenous

In the Australian Capital Territory, 1.25 per cent of people identified as Indigenous at the 2006 Census. Table 4 shows that Indigenous people made up 3.8 per cent of people in improvised dwellings, 4.3 per cent of people staying with other households, 14.8 per cent of people in boarding houses, and 19.7 per cent of people in SAAP. Indigenous people were overrepresented in all sections of the homeless population in the Australian Capital Territory.

Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.

* Figures have been adjusted for missing data on Indigenous status, except in 13 cases where there was inadequate information to make the adjustment.

7 Geographical distribution

Homeless people move around in Canberra and we would expect the number of homeless people to fluctuate in the different statistical subdivisions. Despite this, Table 5 shows a distinct geographical pattern in Canberra on census night. There were 381 homeless people in North Canberra (the 'inner suburbs'), where the rate of homelessness was 90 per 10 000. In the remainder of Canberra there were 983 homeless people and the rate of homelessness was 35 per 10 000. It is common to find a higher rate of homelessness in the inner suburbs of the capital cities. This is the case in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart. Homeless people gravitate to the inner suburbs, especially if they are coming from interstate.

Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.

Table 6 shows that 38 per cent of the homeless in North Canberra were in SAAP accommodation and another 38 per cent were staying with friends and relatives. Twelve per cent were in boarding houses and 12 per cent were in improvised dwellings or sleeping rough. In contrast, half (51 per cent) of the homeless in suburban Canberra were staying with other households and 40 per cent were in SAAP. There was a smaller proportion (six per cent) in boarding houses in suburban Canberra, as well as a smaller proportion (three per cent) in improvised dwellings or sleeping rough.

Table 6: Number of people in different sectors of the homeless population, North Canberra and Remainder of Canberra

Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.