Summary
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, 20 per cent of the homeless were in boarding houses on census night; in Queensland, it was also 20 per cent (Table 1). The percentage of people staying temporarily with other households in Queensland was larger than the national figure (49 per cent compared with 45 per cent), and there were more people in improvised dwellings, tents or sleeping out (19 per cent compared with 16 per cent). Nationally, 19 per cent of the homeless were in SAAP accommodation, but in Queensland it was 12 per cent.
Australia N |
Australia % |
Queensland N |
Queensland % |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
Boarding houses | 21 596 | 20 | 5438 | 20 |
SAAP accommodation | 19 849 | 19 | 3233 | 12 |
Friends and relatives | 46 856 | 45 | 12 946 | 49 |
Improvised dwellings, sleepers out | 16 375 | 16 | 5165 | 19 |
104 676 | 100 | 26 782 | 100 |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.
4 Age distribution
In Queensland, the age profile of the homeless population was older than the national profile. Forty-nine per cent of the homeless in Queensland were aged 35 or older, significantly above the national figure of 42 per cent (Table 2). More than one-third (36 per cent) of the homeless in Queensland were aged 45 or older, up from 28 per cent in 2001 (Chamberlain and MacKenzie 2004a, p. 27).
Nonetheless, a majority (51 per cent) of homeless people in Queensland were in the younger age groups. Sixteen per cent of the homeless were teenagers aged 12 to 18 (mainly on their own). Eleven per cent of the homeless were children under 12 who were with one or both parents. Another 10 per cent were young adults aged 19 to 24, and 14 per cent were adults aged 25 to 34.
Australia N |
Australia % |
Queensland N |
Queensland % |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
under 12 | 12 133 | 12 | 58 | 2914 | 11 | 51 |
12-18 | 21 940 | 21 | 4469 | 16 | ||
19-24 | 10 504 | 10 | 2624 | 10 | ||
25-34 | 15 804 | 15 | 3820 | 14 | ||
35-44 | 13 981 | 13 | 42 | 3471 | 13 | 49 |
45-54 | 12 206 | 12 | 3464 | 13 | ||
55-64 | 10 708 | 10 | 3667 | 14 | ||
65 or older | 7400 | 7 | 2353 | 9 | ||
104 676 | 100 | 26 782 | 100 |
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), and in Queensland men outnumbered women, 58 to 42 per cent. In this state, there were roughly equal numbers of males and females in the two youngest age cohorts, but from age 25 onwards men typically outnumbered women, about 60 to 40 per cent.
Table 3: Percentage of males and females by age group
Under 12 % |
12-18 % |
19-24 % |
25-34 % |
35-44 % |
45-54 % |
55-64 % |
65+ % |
All % |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Male | 52 | 46 | 53 | 57 | 63 | 64 | 61 | 64 | 56 |
Female | 48 | 54 | 47 | 43 | 37 | 36 | 39 | 36 | 44 |
100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Under 12 % |
12-18 % |
19-24 % |
25-34 % |
35-44 % |
45-54 % |
55-64 % |
65+ % |
All % |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Male | 52 | 49 | 56 | 58 | 64 | 62 | 59 | 68 | 58 |
Female | 48 | 51 | 44 | 42 | 36 | 38 | 41 | 32 | 42 |
100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.
6 Indigenous and Non-Indigenous
In Queensland, 3.5 per cent of people identified as Indigenous at the 2006 Census. Table 4 shows that Indigenous people made up 3.7 per cent of people staying with other households, 8.4 per cent of persons in boarding houses, 10.2 per cent of those in the improvised dwellings category and 21.9 per cent of people in SAAP. Indigenous people were overrepresented in all sections of the homeless population in Queensland.
Boarding house (N=5438) % |
Friends or relatives (N=12 946) % |
SAAP (N=3128) % |
Improvised dwellings (N=5165) % |
All* (N=26 677) % |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Non-Indigenous | 91.6 | 96.3 | 78.1 | 89.8 | 91.9 |
Indigenous | 8.4 | 3.7 | 21.9 | 10.2 | 8.1 |
100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
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 105 cases where there was inadequate information to make the adjustment.
7 Brisbane
There were 2070 homeless people in Inner Brisbane and the rate of homelessness was 246 per 10 000 of the population (Table 5). Inner Brisbane had nine per cent of Brisbane City's population but 38 per cent of its homeless people. Homeless people often gravitate to the inner city, where services for homeless people have traditionally been located.
Inner Brisbane | Northwest Inner | Southeast Inner | Northwest Outer | Southeast Outer | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | 2070 | 774 | 616 | 1047 | 888 | 5395 |
Rate | 246 | 44 | 41 | 33 | 39 | 56 |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.
In Southeast Inner and Northwest Inner Brisbane, there were 616 and 774 homeless people respectively, and the rates of homelessness were 41 and 44 per 10 000.
In Southeast Outer and Northwest Outer Brisbane there were 888 and 1047 homeless people and the rates of homelessness were lower than in the other subdivisions (39 and 33 per 10 000).
Altogether, there were 3325 homeless people in suburban Brisbane. The provision of services in suburban areas assists people in the early stages of homelessness, including those at risk, and reduces the move to the inner city.
Beaudesert Shire Pt A |
Caboolture Shire |
Ipswich City |
Logan City | Pine Rivers Shire |
Redcliffe City |
Redland Shire |
Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | 125 | 663 | 540 | 537 | 312 | 182 | 242 | 2601 |
Rate | 30 | 50 | 39 | 31 | 22 | 36 | 19 | 32 |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.
Table 6 shows that there were 2601 homeless people in the seven subdivisions covering outer suburban Brisbane. These include traditional 'working class' areas such as Ipswich and Logan, the rural subdivision of Beaudesert, as well as the growth corridors of Caboolture and Pine Rivers.
There were 663 homeless people in Caboolture, 540 homeless people in Ipswich, 537 in Logan, and 312 in Pine Rivers (Table 6). The rate of homelessness was highest in Caboolture (50 per 10 000) and lowest in Redland (19 per 10 000). In four subdivisions (Beaudesert, Ipswich, Logan and Redcliffe) the rate was between 30 and 39 per 10 000.
8 Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast
There were 2289 homeless people on the Gold Coast and the rate of homelessness was 47 per 10 000 (Table 7). Ninety per cent of the homeless were in Gold Coast East and Gold Coast West. There were 1328 homeless people in Gold Coast East where the rate of homelessness was 77 per 10 000 and 726 homeless people in Gold Coast West where the rate was 30 per 10 000.
Gold Coast North | Gold Coast East | Gold Coast West | Gold Coast SD Bal | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | 178 | 1328 | 726 | 57 | 2289 |
Rate | 35 | 77 | 30 | 41 | 47 |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.
There were 1658 homeless people in Sunshine Coast (Table 8), where the rate of homelessness was 60 per 10 000. The rate was 50 per 10 000 in the urban subdivision of Sunshine Coast, where there were 1040 homeless people, but it was 93 per 10 000 in Sunshine Coast SD Balance, where there were 618 homeless people.
Sunshine Coast | Sunshine Coast SD Balance | Total | |
---|---|---|---|
Number | 1040 | 618 | 1658 |
Rate | 50 | 93 | 60 |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.
9 Regional and Remote
Chapter 6 examines three statistical divisions in western Queensland: South West, Central West and North West. Then it examines the West Moreton and Darling Downs statistical divisions which cover much of regional South East Queensland.
There were 211 homeless people in South West and 187 in Central West, although the rates of homelessness were 85 and 172 per 10 000 respectively (Table 9). In North West, there were 643 homeless people and the rate was 208 per 10 000. The main concentration was in Mount Isa where there were 356 homeless people.
South West | Central West | North West | |
---|---|---|---|
Number | 211 | 187 | 643 |
Rate | 85 | 172 | 208 |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.
West Moreton has two statistical subdivisions: Upper West Moreton (population 18 600) and Lower West Moreton (population 50 000). Darling Downs has two subdivisions: Toowoomba (population 114 500) and Darling Downs SD Balance (population 99 300).
The rate of homelessness was 101 per 10 000 in Upper West Moreton and there were 187 homeless people (Table 10). The rate was lower in Darling Downs (63 per 10 000), but there were 623 homeless people. The rate was 48 per 10 000 in Lower West Moreton (242 homeless people) and 46 per 10 000 in Toowoomba (530 homeless people).
Upper West Moreton |
Lower West Moreton |
Total | Toowoomba | Darling Downs SD Bal |
Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | 187 | 242 | 429 | 530 | 623 | 1153 |
Rate | 101 | 48 | 63 | 46 | 63 | 54 |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.
10 Coastal Queensland
Chapter 7 investigates the distribution of the homeless population in the five statistical divisions which stretch from the Sunshine Coast to the tip of Cape York ('coastal Queensland'). Table 11 shows that coastal Queensland had 12 216 homeless people and that the rate of homelessness was 120 per 10 000. In Wide Bay-Burnett, Fitzroy and Northern the rate was about 100 per 10 000. The rate increased to 134 per 10 000 in the Far North and to 167 in the Mackay statistical division.
Wide Bay-Burnett |
Fitzroy | Mackay | Northern | Far North | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | 2716 | 1941 | 2506 | 1949 | 3104 | 12 216 |
Rate | 107 | 103 | 167 | 99 | 134 | 120 |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.
There was also an 'urban' and a 'rural/remote' pattern. There were 5073 homeless people in the major cities, where the rate of homelessness was 91 per 10 000 (Table 12), double the rate in the Brisbane statistical division. There were 7143 homeless people in the rural/remote subdivisions where the rate was 154 per 10 000 (Table 13), more than three times the rate in the Brisbane statistical division.
Bundaberg | Hervey Bay | Rockhampton | Gladstone | Mackay | Townsville | Cairns | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | 443 | 426 | 476 | 316 | 692 | 1329 | 1391 | 5073 |
Rate | 74 | 88 | 69 | 74 | 95 | 93 | 113 | 91 |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.
The rate of homelessness in each coastal city was always lower than the rate in the corresponding rural/remote subdivision, but there were also significant differences between the cities (Table 12). The rate of homelessness was 69 per 10 000 in Rockhampton and it was 74 per 10 000 in Bundaberg and Gladstone. The rate increased to about 90 per 10 000 in Hervey Bay, Townsville and Mackay, and to 113 per 10 000 in Cairns. There were 1391 homeless people in Cairns, 1329 in Townsville and 692 in Mackay, with smaller numbers in the other regional centres.
Wide Bay- Burnett SD Bal. |
Fitzroy SD Balance |
Mackay SD Balance |
Northern SD Balance |
Far North SD Balance |
Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | 1847 | 1149 | 1814 | 620 | 1713 | 7143 |
Rate | 126 | 150 | 235 | 116 | 158 | 154 |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.
In Northern SD Balance, the rate of homelessness was 116 per 10 000 and in Wide Bay-Burnett SD Balance the rate was 126 (Table 13). The rate increased to 150 per 10 000 in Fitzroy SD Balance and to 158 in Far North SD Balance. The rate was highest in Mackay SD Balance where it was 235 per 10 000.