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Where do homeless people live in NSW

Census and SAAP data indicate that people become and remain homeless throughout NSW, with pockets of high homelessness rates in city, suburban, regional, coastal and rural locations. The distribution of homeless people in NSW has significant implications for potential models of legal service delivery to this group of clients. As Chamberlain and MacKenzie note:

Most people become homeless in outer suburbs, regional centres and country towns. The provision of early intervention services in these areas assists people in the early stages of homelessness, including those at risk, and reduces the move to the inner city.¹⁶

Homelessness in Sydney

Sixty-three per cent of the NSW population live in Greater Sydney.¹⁷ However 58% of those designated as homeless in the 2001 Census live in Greater Sydney. When marginal residents of caravan parks are included as part of the homeless population, only 51% of the homeless in NSW live in the Greater Sydney area (see Table 3.3).

Table 3.3: Number of homeless people and rate per 10 000 of population, excluding and including marginal caravan park residents, NSW, 2001

	Sydney	Hunter & Illawarra	Rural & remote	Coastal	NSW total*
Homeless	15 456	3527	3365	4085	26 676
Rate per 10 000	39	37	46	61	42
Caravan park residents	1541	1516	1108	2716	6881
TOTAL	16 997	5043	4473	6801	33 557
Rate per 10 000 incl. caravan park residents	43	53	61	102	53
% OF TOTAL	50.7	15	13.3	20.3	100

* No geographical information on 243 people

Source: Chamberlain & MacKenzie, Counting the Homeless 2001: NSW, Table 7.9, p. 57.

Census data indicate that there is a very high rate of homelessness in the city core (164 per 10 000). However, about 70% of homeless people in Greater Sydney (more than 10 775 people) are living in suburban Sydney, but outside the central and inner-city area. When marginal residents in caravan parks are included in the picture, 72% of the homeless in Greater Sydney live in suburban areas (see Table 3.4).

In contrast to the city core, approximately half of the homeless people (including marginal residents of caravan parks) in the outer city and growth corridor areas are living with family or friends. A sizeable minority remain in boarding houses or SAAP accommodation in these areas.

Table 3.4: Geographic distribution of homeless people and marginal residents of caravan parks in Greater Sydney, by accommodation type, 2001

	Core N=4681	Ring N=4475	Ring N=4904	Corridor N=2937	Sydney N=16 997
	%	%	%	%	%
Boarding house	56	51	17	11	36
SAAP	21	10	10	12	13
Friends/relatives	16	36	52	44	37
Improvised dwelling/rough sleepers	17	3	5	8	6
Caravan park	0	0	16	26	9
Total	100	100	100	100	100
Rate per 10 000	164	47	26	36	43

City Core = City of Sydney, Botany Bay, Leichhardt, Marrickville, South Sydney

Inner City Ring = Lower Northern Sydney, Eastern Suburbs, Inner Western and Central Western Sydney (Auburn, Holroyd and Parramatta)

Outer City Ring = St George–Sutherland; Blacktown; Canterbury–Bankstown; Fairfield–Liverpool; Central Northern Sydney; Northern Beaches

Growth corridors: Outer Western Sydney (Penrith, Blue Mountains); Outer South Western Sydney (incl. Campbelltown); Gosford Wyong Growth Corridor.

Source: Chamberlain & MacKenzie, Counting the Homeless 2001: NSW, Tables 4.3 and 4.5, pp. 42–3.

The figures also indicate that there are many people sleeping rough in outer suburban areas. While they are dispersed over a greater geographic area, there are similar numbers of people sleeping rough in outer suburban and growth corridor areas (475 people) than in the city core and inner city (454 people).¹⁸

Finally, there are more than 1500 people living as marginal residents of caravan parks in the Greater Sydney area—slightly more than are accommodated in SAAP services in these areas.

Homelessness in regional and rural NSW

While there are more homeless people in Sydney than in other regions of the State, the rate of homelessness per head of population is very high in some rural and regional locations. The homeless rate for coastal NSW¹⁹ (excluding marginal caravan park residents) is 61 per 10 000 (see Table 3.3), compared with 39 per 10 000 in Greater Sydney. However, the distribution and accommodation of the homeless population within these areas vary considerably. For instance, in Tweed Heads 80% of the homeless were with family or friends, but in Lismore only 45% were accommodated in this way. In Coffs Harbour 27% were living in improvised dwellings or sleeping rough.²⁰

When marginal residents of caravan parks are included, the rate of homelessness for coastal NSW rises to 102 per 10 000. This is perhaps not surprising as 40% of all marginal caravan park residents were living in coastal NSW.²¹ Tweed Heads had the highest number of marginal residents of caravan parks in this area (452 people), while a further 200 were living in each of Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie. Following is a description of residential parks in the Tweed area:

In Tweed Heads there are “about 30” caravan parks. Some cater exclusively for tourists, but others rent out vans to poor people in the off-season. Rents are increased in the summer and marginal tenants are forced to move on. Local informants identified four parks which mainly provide accommodation for poor people and emergency accommodation. They were said to be ‘very run down’.²²

While the above overview describes different rates and types of homelessness in NSW, it has not described homelessness in each part of the State. This information is available in Chamberlain and Mackenzie’s report, Counting the Homeless 2001: NSW.²³ The purpose of describing a portion of these data has been to demonstrate that homelessness is a statewide issue, and that the way homeless people are accommodated may vary from area to area. This heterogeneity should be taken into account when considering the legal needs of homeless people in this State.

The transient homeless population

As stated earlier, mobility in and out of housing and other accommodation is a feature of homelessness. However, in addition to people moving from place to place within one area, people move in and out of Sydney and between other locations within NSW and interstate. Shelter NSW described young people in particular moving between country locations, where there is cheap accommodation but no work (e.g. the North Coast), to inner suburban parts of Sydney where there is work, but accommodation is very expensive.²⁴ This is consistent with the experience of the Northern Rivers Legal Centre, which describes a similar pattern, particularly among people with mental illnesses or alcohol and other drug issues.²⁵ Unfortunately, there are no reliable statistics available on the numbers of transient homeless people in NSW.