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 and in Victoria it was 22 per cent (Table 1). Nationally, 19 per cent of the homeless were in SAAP accommodation, but in Victoria it was 31 per cent. There were fewer people staying temporarily with other households in Victoria than there were nationally (36 per cent compared with 45 per cent), and there were fewer people in improvised dwellings, tents or sleeping out (11 per cent compared with the national figure of 16 per cent). The census was carried out in August, when people sleeping rough hide away to escape the cold, so there could have been undercounting in this category.
| Australia N |
Australia % |
Victoria N |
Victoria % |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boarding houses | 21 596 | 20 | 4457 | 22 |
| SAAP accommodation/THM | 19 849 | 19 | 6436 | 31 |
| Friends and relatives | 46 856 | 45 | 7414 | 36 |
| Improvised dwellings, sleepers out | 16 375 | 16 | 2204 | 11 |
| 104 676 | 100 | 20 511 | 100 | |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.
4 Age distribution
The age profile of the homeless population in Victoria was significantly younger than the age profile of the national population (Table 2). Sixty-three per cent of the homeless in Victoria were aged 34 or younger, compared with the national figure of 58 per cent. One-fifth (19 per cent) of the homeless in Victoria were teenagers aged 12 to 18 (mainly on their own). Fourteen per cent of the homeless were children under 12 who were with one or both parents. Another 12 per cent were young adults aged 19 to 24, and 18 per cent were adults aged 25 to 34. Altogether, 37 per cent of the homeless in Victoria were aged 35 or older, compared with the national figure of 42 per cent.
| Australia N |
Australia % |
Victoria N |
Victoria % |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| under 12 | 12 133 | 12 | 58 | 2794 | 14 | 63 |
| 12-18 | 21 940 | 21 | 3896 | 19 | ||
| 19-24 | 10 504 | 10 | 2512 | 12 | ||
| 25-34 | 15 804 | 15 | 3643 | 18 | ||
| 35-44 | 13 981 | 13 | 42 | 2872 | 14 | 37 |
| 45-54 | 12 206 | 12 | 2128 | 10 | ||
| 55-64 | 10 708 | 10 | 1468 | 7 | ||
| 65 or older | 7400 | 7 | 1198 | 6 | ||
| 104 676 | 100 | 20 511 | 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 Victoria men outnumbered women, 55 to 45 per cent. In Victoria, there were more females in the 12-to-18 age group and roughly equal numbers of males and females in the 19-to-24 and under-12 age groups. However, from age 25 onwards men typically outnumbered women, about 60 per cent 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 | 45 | 51 | 56 | 60 | 65 | 61 | 58 | 55 |
| Female | 48 | 55 | 49 | 44 | 40 | 35 | 39 | 42 | 45 |
| 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 Victoria, 0.6 per cent of people identified as Indigenous at the 2006 Census. Table 4 shows that Indigenous people were 1.4 per cent of those staying with other households, 1.7 per cent of the boarding house population, 2.6 per cent of people in improvised dwellings, tents or sleeping rough, and 8.3 per cent of persons in SAAP. Indigenous people were overrepresented in all sections of the homeless population in Victoria.
| Boarding house (N=4457) % |
Friends / relatives (N=7414) % |
SAAP (N=6436) % |
Improvised dwellings (N=2204) % |
All* (N=20 511) % |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Indigenous | 98.3 | 98.6 | 91.7 | 97.4 | 96.2 |
| Indigenous | 1.7 | 1.4 | 8.3 | 2.6 | 3.8 |
| 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.
7 Melbourne
The Melbourne statistical division comprises 16 subdivisions (Map 2). This analysis groups them into four areas which are referred to as the 'City Core', the 'Inner City Ring', the 'Outer City Ring' and the 'Frankston-Dandenong Corridor'.
The City Core is the subdivision of Inner Melbourne. It has a population of 271 000 and includes the central business district, the City of Port Phillip, the City of Yarra, and part of the City of Stonnington (Prahran).
The Inner City Ring (population 1.34 million) includes five subdivisions which have a boundary with the City Core. The subdivisions are Western Melbourne, Moreland, Northern Middle Melbourne, Boroondara and Southern Melbourne.
The Outer City Ring includes seven subdivisions with a population of 1.597 million. The subdivisions are Melton-Wyndham, Hume, Northern Outer Melbourne, Eastern Middle Melbourne, Eastern Outer Melbourne, the Yarra Ranges and South Eastern Outer Melbourne.
The Frankston-Dandenong Corridor includes the Greater Dandenong, Frankston City and Mornington Peninsula subdivisions. It has 380 000 people.
Table 5 shows that there were 3490 homeless people in the City Core, where the rate of homelessness was 129 per 10 000. The City Core had eight per cent of Melbourne's population, but 24 per cent of its homeless people. It is usual to find a higher rate of homelessness in the inner suburbs of capital cities. This is the case in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and Perth. People often gravitate to the inner city, where services for homeless people have traditionally been located.
| City Core | Inner City Ring | Frankston- Dandenong |
Outer City Ring | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | 3490 | 5047 | 1530 | 4501 | 14 568 |
| Rate | 129 | 38 | 40 | 28 | 41 |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.
In the Inner City Ring, there were 5047 homeless people and the rate was 38 per 10 000. There were 4501 homeless people in the Outer City Ring, where the rate was 28 per 10 000. The rate was 40 per 10 000 in the Frankston-Dandenong Corridor, where there were 1530 homeless people.
Altogether, there were 11 078 homeless people in suburban Melbourne, compared with 3490 in the City Core. The provision of certain homeless services in suburban areas assists people in the early stages of homelessness, including those at risk, and reduces the move to the inner city.
8 Western Victoria
There are four statistical divisions in Western Victoria: Barwon, Central Highlands, Western District and Wimmera (Map 1).
| Three urban subdivisions |
Eight rural subdivisions |
Total | Melbourne | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | 975 | 1005 | 1980 | 14 568 |
| Rate | 35 | 37 | 36 | 41 |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.
There were 1980 homeless people in Western Victoria, where the rate of homelessness was 36 per 10 000, compared with 41 per 10 000 in Melbourne (Table 6). The rate of homelessness was 35 per 10 000 in the three urban subdivisions (Geelong, Warrnambool and Ballarat), which was similar to the rate in the eight rural subdivisions (37 per 10,000) (Table 6). There were 465 homeless people in Geelong, 399 homeless people in Ballarat and 111 in Warrnambool.
9 Eastern Victoria
There are two statistical divisions covering Eastern Victoria (Map 1). They are Gippsland and East Gippsland. There were 962 homeless people in Eastern Victoria and the rate was 40 per 10 000, slightly higher than the rate in Western Victoria (36 per 10 000) and similar to the rate in metropolitan Melbourne (41 per 10 000). There were 285 homeless people in the La Trobe Valley subdivision and 260 in East Gippsland Shire.
| Eastern Victoria | Western Victoria | Melbourne | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number | 962 | 1980 | 14 568 |
| Rate | 40 | 36 | 41 |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.
10 Northern Victoria
There are four statistical divisions in Northern Victoria (Map 1): Loddon, Goulburn, Ovens-Murray and Mallee. Table 8 shows that there were 1176 homeless people in the four urban subdivisions, where the rate of homelessness was 54 per 10 000. In the nine rural subdivisions, there were 1825 homeless people and the rate was 56 per 10 000. There were 315 homeless people in Bendigo, 306 in Wodonga, 300 in Mildura and 255 in Shepparton.
| Four urban subdivisions | Nine rural subdivisions | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number | 1176 | 1825 | 3001 |
| Rate | 54 | 56 | 55 |
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2006; SAAP Client Collection 2006; National Census of Homeless School Students 2006.