PERSONS IN SUPPORTED ACCOMMODATION FOR THE HOMELESS
To estimate the number of people in supported accommodation for the homeless on Census night in 2006, first, ABS included all persons in dwellings identified by the Census Area supervisors and collectors as non-private dwellings and classified by the building owner / manager as 'hostels for the homeless, night shelter, refuge'. ABS then added people who were in dwellings flagged as being supported accommodation using the Census list and green sticker strategies.
(To estimate the number of people in supported accommodation for the homeless on Census night in 2001, although the list and green sticker strategies were used, the data was not retained, and data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) collection on the number of clients and accompanying children accommodated on Census night were used. See 'Key differences between methodology employed for estimating homelessness for different Census years - Persons in supported accommodation for the homeless' for more information.)
Imputed records were not removed from this group because of the certainty of the nature of the dwellings and the irrelevance of other personal characteristics to ascertain homeless for people staying in SAAP properties. See 'Imputed records' for more information.
To align this group with the ABS definition of homelessness, the rules apply the element security of tenure in the dwelling with lack of accommodation alternatives. The vetting process to allocate people to the short supply of supported accommodation is unlikely to provide supported accommodation for those people who have alternatives.
Some supported accommodation, such as some transitional housing, may not meet the definition of homelessness because the tenants have security of tenure in the dwelling. However, information in the Census cannot distinguish the transitional housing properties that have security of tenure. The ABS will investigate the possibility of separately identifying these in future Censuses.
Rules for estimating Persons in supported accommodation for the homeless
The following table presents the rules that are applied to identify the persons who were most likely to be homeless on Census night and staying in supported accommodation for the homeless. The rules start with the Census non-private dwelling category of 'hostels for the homeless, night shelter, refuge' and adds persons who were in a dwelling flagged as being supported accommodation through the 'list' and 'green sticker' strategies. It also removes any overlaps that occur with the 'Persons in improvised dwellings, tents, sleepers out' that were already identified as homeless.
Print Page
Print All