A profile of homelessness for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had four times the rate of homelessness compared to other Australians (191 per 10,000 compared with 49 per 10,000 in the 2006 Census). Homeless Indigenous Australians were more likely to sleep rough, or in improvised dwellings and shelters, than non-Indigenous Australians (27% compared with 15%). Indigenous people are overrepresented as clients of specialist homelessness services - while 2.5% of Australians were Indigenous, and 9% of homeless Australians were Indigenous, about 17% of people assisted by specialist homelessness services in 2008-09 were Indigenous.