Main reason for greatest need
Many of the newly allocated households in social housing were assisted because they were either experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness (see above box on the definition of Assessing greatest need). Of the 20,400 newly allocated households in public housing:
- 35% were greatest need households experiencing homelessness at the time of allocation
- 27% were greatest need households at risk of homelessness
- 24% were not considered to be in greatest need (Supplementary tables PRIORITY.9 and PRIORITY.S5).
The main reasons for greatest need have varied over time. In 2017–18, of the 15,600 newly allocated public households in greatest need where the main reason was known (Table PRIORITY.1.1):
- half (50%, or 7,200 households) were households experiencing homelessness, down from a peak of 60% (or 9,100) in 2013–14
- 39% were to households at risk of homelessness (or 5,600 households); an increase from 34% in 2014–15
- of those at risk of homelessness, 3,100 reported the main reason for their greatest need was that their life or safety was at risk in their accommodation. Over 1,500 households reported a health condition aggravated by housing as their main reason (Supplementary tables PRIORITY.3 and PRIORITY.S5).
In 2017–18, the main reason for greatest need amongst new SOMIH households was similar, albeit comparatively small household numbers (around 400 new greatest need household allocations) with (Table PRIORITY.1.2):
- 43% of households (where the main reason was known) reporting homelessness as the main reason for greatest need, a decrease from a peak of 53% in 2015–16
- 40% at risk of homelessness, down from a peak of 47% in 2013–14 (Supplementary tables PRIORITY.3 and PRIORITY.S5).
Complete data on reasons for greatest need for community housing were not available due to data quality issues. Based on the available data in 2017–18, of the new households in community housing in greatest need where the main reason was known (Table PRIORITY.1.3):
- almost 4,700 (43%) households were experiencing homelessness, an increase from 3,100 in 2013–14
- around 6,100 (57%) households were at risk of homelessness, an increase from 2013–14 (53%, or 3,400 households) (Supplementary tables PRIORITY.3 and PRIORITY.S5).
Table PRIORITY.1.1: Number of newly allocated households(a) in greatest need(b), by main reason for greatest need, 2011–12 to 2017–18 (Public housing)
Year
|
Homeless
|
Total at risk of homelessness
|
Other
|
Not stated(c)
|
Total new greatest need households
|
2011–12
|
8,602
|
5,680
|
1,154
|
350
|
15,786
|
2012–13
|
9,130
|
5,632
|
1,310
|
339
|
16,411
|
2013–14
|
9,058
|
5,248
|
600
|
283
|
15,256
|
2014–15
|
8,950
|
5,185
|
1,114
|
421
|
15,670
|
2015–16
|
8,122
|
4,827
|
661
|
1,662
|
15,272
|
2016–17
|
7,836
|
5,675
|
1,240
|
818
|
15,569
|
2017–18
|
7,181
|
5,554
|
1,556
|
1,279
|
15,570
|
Table PRIORITY.1.2: Number of newly allocated households(a) in greatest need(b), by main reason for greatest need, 2011–12 to 2017–18 (SOMIH(d))
Year
|
Homeless
|
Total at risk of homelessness
|
Other
|
Not stated(c)
|
Total new greatest need households
|
2011–12
|
219
|
143
|
69
|
—
|
431
|
2012–13
|
262
|
216
|
73
|
1
|
552
|
2013–14
|
209
|
201
|
17
|
9
|
436
|
2014–15
|
204
|
192
|
43
|
—
|
439
|
2015–16
|
235
|
173
|
37
|
4
|
449
|
2016–17
|
179
|
187
|
52
|
1
|
419
|
2017–18
|
170
|
158
|
69
|
—
|
397
|
Table PRIORITY.1.3: Number of newly allocated households(a) in greatest need(b), by main reason for greatest need, 2011–12 to 2017–18 (Community housing(e))
Year
|
Homeless
|
Total at risk of homelessness
|
Other
|
Not stated(c)
|
Total new greatest need households
|
2011–12
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
9,742
|
2012–13
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
8,482
|
2013–14
|
3,056
|
3,435
|
n.a.
|
2,816
|
9,307
|
2014–15
|
3,361
|
4,158
|
n.a.
|
3,228
|
10,747
|
2015–16
|
4,264
|
4,359
|
n.a.
|
2,472
|
11,095
|
2016–17
|
4,189
|
5,025
|
n.a.
|
1,681
|
10,895
|
2017–18
|
4,662
|
6,094
|
n.a.
|
2,154
|
12,910
|
n.a. Not available
(a) Whether the household was a new allocation for housing assistance in the financial year.
(b) A descriptor applying to a low-income household if, at the time of allocation, household members were subject to one or more circumstances (refer to description above for more information).
(c) Where the greatest need reason is unknown or not provided.
(d) Excludes Tas and NT data as greatest need information was not available.
(e) Includes greatest need households where the homeless indicator was known. Greatest need reason (apart from homeless) is not available for community housing. From 2015–16, Qld only reports households who were still receiving assistance at 30 June of the financial year. Excludes NT data which were not available.
Note: Only the main greatest need reason is reported.
Source: AIHW National Housing Assistance Data Repository. Supplementary table PRIORITY.S5.
Special needs
Households seeking assistance from social housing providers often have members with special needs. Some households may have multiple special needs. The definition of special needs is different for different social housing programs.
Assessing special need
For public housing, special needs households include those with:
- a member with disability,
- a main tenant younger than 25 years or older than 75, or
- one or more members who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
As SOMIH is an Indigenous targeted program, Indigenous households in SOMIH are not considered special needs households. For SOMIH, special needs households are only those that have:
- a member with disability or
- a main tenant under 25 years or over 50.
Source: SCRGSP 2019.
In 2017–18, there were 12,400 new public housing households with special needs. Of these:
- over half (52%, or 6,500 households) had at least one member with disability
- 2 in 5 (42%, or 5,200 households) had at least one Indigenous member
- 1 in 5 (22%, or 2,700 households) had a main tenant aged under 25 (Supplementary table PRIORITY.5).
In 2017–18, of the 500 newly allocated SOMIH households with special needs:
- over half (54%, or 300 households) contained a main tenant aged 50 and over
- 3 in 10 (30%, or 170 households) had a main tenant aged under 25 years
- almost one-quarter (23%, or 130 households) contained at least one member with disability (Supplementary table PRIORITY.5).
SOMIH includes data for the Northern Territory for the first time in 2017–18.
Greatest and special needs
Greatest needs and special needs categories are not mutually exclusive and tenants may fit into a number of categories within each group or across groups (Figure PRIORITY.3). Households with members that have both greatest and special needs may be some of the most vulnerable households and may require high levels of care and support.
In 2017–18, where the need was stated:
- over half (55%, or 9,800) of newly allocated households in public housing were both greatest and special needs households
- 3 in 10 (29%, or almost 200) newly allocated households in SOMIH were both greatest and special needs households (Supplementary table PRIORITY.S4).
The following diagram displays for public housing and SOMIH, the proportion of newly allocated households that were greatest need, special needs, both greatest and special needs or neither.