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Appendix 1

SAAP definitions

Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP)

SAAP is a joint program of the Commonwealth and the States that funds non-government organisations to provide ‘a safety net’ of services to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. SAAP services include homeless persons’ hostels, women’s refuges and youth crisis accommodation. The following definitions are drawn from the glossary provided in AIHW’s National Data Collection annual reports on homeless people in SAAP.1

‘SAAP client’

A person aged 18 years or older, or a person of any age not accompanied by a parent or guardian, who:

• receives support or assistance from a SAAP agency which entails generally 1 hour or more of a worker’s time, either with that client directly or on behalf of that client, on a given day; or
• is accommodated by a SAAP agency; or
• enters into an ongoing support relationship with a SAAP agency.

‘SAAP support period’

A support period commences when a client begins to receive support and/or supported accommodation from a SAAP agency. The support period is considered to finish when:

• the client ends the relationship with the agency; or
• the agency ends the relationship with the client.

If it is not clear whether the agency or the client has ended the relationship, the support period is assumed to have ended if no assistance has been provided to the client for a period of one month. In such a case, the date the support period ended is one month after the last contact with the client.

‘Accompanying child’

A person aged under 18 years who accompanies a client to a SAAP agency during a support period or who requires and/or receives assistance from a SAAP agency as a result of their parent or guardian being a client of the same agency. An accompanying child may or may not require or receive assistance.