Older clients
Key findings: Older clients, 2021–22
Australia’s homeless population has aged rapidly. In 2006, about 12,500 people experiencing homelessness were aged 55 or older, increasing to about 14,600 in 2011 and about 18,700 in 2016 (ABS 2018a). The trend highlights the growing homelessness problem over time among Australia’s ageing population.
The lack of affordable housing in recent times has left many Australians at risk of homelessness. Older Australians have increasingly experienced rental stress, amid the increasing costs of housing and renting across Australia, with around one per cent of rental listings in Australia being considered affordable (rent costs less than 30% of their income) for a single person and couple on the age pension (Anglicare Australia 2022; AIHW 2022). Although Commonwealth Rent Assistance assist many older people with the costs of renting, more than 2 in 5 older people receiving this payment were considered to be in rental stress. Without affordable housing, many more older Australians may be at risk of or experience homelessness.
For some older people experiencing homelessness, homelessness has been an on and off – or ongoing – feature of their lives. With some entering homelessness again in later life, and others ageing into later life while homeless (Peteresen et al. 2014). For these older people, negative experiences (such as mental health issues, addiction, and prison time) and lifelong struggles were often common to their pathways into homelessness (Petersen et al. 2014).
Yet for other older people, this was not the case. Instead, their lives were fairly ‘conventional’, with many raising families and working (typically low paid) for most of their lives (Petersen et al. 2014). Among these older people (often older women), a major setback – such as the breakdown of a marriage, loss of a job, the death of a partner or the development of an illness – and a lack of savings led them toward their very first experience of homelessness (Canham et al. 2021; Kushel 2020).
Although homelessness is traumatising for all who experience it, experiencing homelessness in later life poses additional health risks and challenges (Scutella et al. 2014). Health problems are far more common among older people experiencing homelessness (Om et al. 2022; Nilsson et al. 2018). The harsh living conditions and reduced access to healthcare that often comes with homelessness can trigger, magnify or worsen health problems (Parsell et al. 2018). Older people experiencing homelessness are not only more likely to live with more disabilities, chronic diseases, complex health problems and geriatric symptoms but also die earlier (Canham et al. 2020; Humphries and Canham 2021; Nilsson et al. 2018).
Older SHS clients are defined as clients aged 55 years and over. For further information, see Technical notes.
Older women
The experience of homelessness has become increasingly widespread among older women, growing by over 30% between 2011 and 2016 to about 6,900 older women (ABS 2012, ABS 2018). While the shortage of affordable housing and the ageing population has contributed to the rising number of older people experiencing homelessness generally, lower lifetime earnings and savings is especially relevant to many older women’s experiences of homelessness. Given women are more likely to take leave from the workforce and return to paid employment on a part-time or casual basis, the amount of wealth accumulated is generally lower compared to men (Cameron 2013; Power et al. 2018).
Client characteristics
Figure OLDER.1: Key demographics, older SHS clients, 2021–22
This interactive image describes the characteristics of around 25,300 older clients who received SHS support in 2021–22. Most were female, aged 55–64. Around one fifth were Indigenous. Victoria had the greatest number of clients and the Northern Territory had the highest rate of clients per 10,000 population. The majority of clients had previously been assisted by a SHS agency since July 2011. Most were at risk of homelessness at the start of support. Most were in major cities.
This interactive bar graph shows the number of older clients also experiencing additional vulnerabilities, including family and domestic violence, having a current mental health issue and problematic drug and/or alcohol use. The graph shows both the number of clients who experiencing a single vulnerability only, as well as combinations of vulnerabilities, and presents data for each state and territory.
This interactive stacked horizontal bar graph shows the services needed by older clients and their provision status. Advice/information was the most needed and most provided service. Long term housing was the least provided service.
This interactive Sankey diagram shows the housing situation (including rough sleeping, couch surfing, short term accommodation, public/community housing, private housing and Institutional settings) of older clients with closed support periods at first presentation and at the end of support. The diagram shows clients’ housing situation journey from start to end of support. Most clients started and ended support in private housing.
