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Who is homeless in NSW

As the following data show, the homeless population in NSW is relatively young, has an increasing proportion of women, an over-representation of Indigenous people, and a high proportion of people with complex needs. Note that the main sources of data for the following discussion are the 2001 Census data as reported by Chamberlain and Mackenzie, and AIHW statistics regarding SAAP clients.

Age

As shown in Table 3.5, an estimated 43% of the NSW homeless population in 2001—nearly 11 500 people—were aged less than 25 years. Yet according to the census data, only 34% of the general population is younger than 25 years.²⁶ Nine per cent of homeless people were children under 12 years of age who were homeless with at least one adult, and another 35% were people aged between 12 and 24 years of age.

Table 3.5: Number and percentage of homeless people (excluding marginal caravan park residents) by age, and percentage female in each age group, NSW 2001

	N	% of homeless population	% who are female
Under 12	2357	9	48
12–18	6242	23	52
19–24	2895	11	47
25–34	4880	18	38
35–44	3783	14	29
45–54	2879	11	27
55–64	1977	8	28
65 or older	1663	6	27
Total	26 676	100	39

Source: Chamberlain and Mackenzie, Counting the Homeless 2001: NSW, extracted from Tables 3.5 and 3.6, pp. 27–8.

Comparing data from the first national census of youth homelessness in 1994 and 2001 Census data examined by the same criteria, Chamberlain and Mackenzie estimate that the number of homeless teenagers in Australia increased by 8.4% between 1994 and 2001.²⁷

Where homeless young people are accommodated

In 2002–03, SAAP supported 9990 children who were homeless with their parents. Eighty-eight per cent of these children were aged 12 years or younger.²⁸ In addition, SAAP supported a further 5550 clients under the age of 20. Unaccompanied people aged between 18 and 20 made up 22% of the total adult population of SAAP clients. A further 15% of all SAAP clients were aged between 20 and 24 years.²⁹

Relevant literature and consultations for the current study suggest that many homeless teenagers are accommodated, at least in the early stages of homelessness, with family members and friends.³⁰ For instance, in their study of youth homelessness, Mackenzie and Chamberlain estimated that 80% of homeless school and TAFE students in NSW were staying temporarily with other households or moving around. A further 18% were in SAAP accommodation, such as refuges, hostels, transitional housing or community placements. Two per cent were ‘on the streets’.³¹ Students make up 42% of an estimated 6242 homeless youth (aged 12–18 years) in NSW.³² Chamberlain and Mackenzie observe that:

When homeless teenagers drop out of the education system, many become long-term unemployed. Most of these young people remain homeless for a period, and some make the transition to chronic homelessness.³³

It appears that as young people become more entrenched in homelessness, accommodation status changes. For instance, Project i, a five-year study conducted in Melbourne, reports on the living arrangements of 403 homeless young people aged 12–20 years, only 8% of whom had been out of home for less than one month. Forty-two per cent had been away from home for 4–6 months and 31% for longer than 12 months. The study has found:

• 26% of participants were staying at friend’s houses
• 7% were living on the streets
• 36% were staying at youth refuges
• 32% were living in medium term or transitional housing
• 4% were staying in hotels/motels.³⁴

Perhaps most telling was the fact that 57% had been living at the same place for less than a month.³⁵

In consultations, Shelter NSW described young people seeking backpacker accommodation, in preference to staying in boarding houses.³⁶ However, inner-city homelessness workers said that backpacker accommodation in Inner Sydney tend to refuse entry to people with identification indicating they are Sydney residents.³⁷

Gender

On Census night 2001, women and girls made up nearly 40% of the homeless in NSW.³⁸ However, the proportion of homeless females in each age group decreases until the 35–44 age group, and then plateaus out. Thus, while there were roughly equal numbers of homeless males and females under the age of 25, approximately 70% of those aged 35 and over are male (see Table 3.5).

Other data support this observation. In 2002–03, nearly 70% of female SAAP clients and 56% of male SAAP clients in NSW were aged 34 years or less.³⁹ Similarly, in 2002–03, the Homeless Person’s Information Centre (HPIC) (a statewide information and referral service for homeless people) received more calls from male clients (56%) than female clients (44%). However, approximately half (49%) the calls from clients aged under 18 were from girls, whereas over 70% of the calls from people over the age of 50 were from men.⁴⁰

Where men and women are accommodated

The spread across different forms of accommodation appears to differ slightly for women and men when they are homeless. On Census night 2001 in NSW, 50 % of homeless women and nearly 40% of homeless men were found to be staying temporarily with family and friends (see Table 3.6). Seventeen per cent of homeless women and 13% of men were accommodated in SAAP accommodation. Approximately 10% of homeless men and women were living in improvised dwellings.⁴¹

Table 3.6: Where homeless men and women were

	Males (N=16 272)	Females (N=10 404)
	%	%
Boarding house	36	20
Friends/relatives	39	50
SAAP	13	17
Improvised dwellings	11	10
Total NSW	100	100

Source: Chamberlain & MacKenzie, Counting the Homeless, 2001: NSW, p. 29.

During 2002, an estimated 13 boarding houses in the then South Sydney Council area closed down (particularly smaller places with up to six rooms), with approximately 137 beds lost. This pattern appears set to continue.⁴² Unfortunately, there is no available data on where people who were accommodated in boarding houses have moved to since the 2001 census, but Table 3.6 appears to suggest that these closures would have affected more homeless men than women.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people

There are no current reliable data on the numbers of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender homeless people in NSW. Census and SAAP data do not separately identify people by these criteria. However, there are some Australian studies that examine the link between homelessness and sexual identity, particularly among young people.

A 1995 report for TwentyTen Youth Service estimated that there were between 5000 and 6250 homeless gay, lesbian and bisexual youth in Australia. However, this estimate was calculated using research undertaken in the United States, which found that one in four gay and lesbian young people stated they were forced to leave home because of their sexuality.⁴³

A more recent study of homeless youth in Melbourne found that few of the 399 respondents self-identified as gay (1%) or lesbian (1%). However, 14% thought of themselves as bisexual or were undecided about their sexuality. Eighty per cent of respondents indicated that they were attracted to the opposite sex only. After comparing these figures to studies of ‘housed’ youth, Rossiter et al. report “these data indicate that young people attracted to the same sex and/or both sexes are over-represented among the homeless population”.⁴⁴

Studies on homelessness among gay, lesbian and bisexual youth suggest that sexuality is one of the issues that prompts gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth to leave home. Other factors include family violence, alcohol and drug use within the family, sexual assault and/or poverty.⁴⁵ Consultations for the current study also indicate that transgender people face particular social and legal issues that draw them into and sustain homelessness.⁴⁶

Families

High unemployment rates over the past few decades, coupled with decreasing affordability of housing, has placed many families at greater risk of homelessness. The increasing family homelessness rate also reflects the incidence of family violence, with many women and children becoming homeless as a result of escaping domestic violence. The impacts of homelessness are significant, with adults and children who are homeless experiencing poorer health, education and connection to other family and community.⁴⁷

Family homelessness has been described as an ‘emerging’ issue in Australia,⁴⁸ with one study noting that “families with children are the fastest growing group among Australia’s homeless”.⁴⁹ Families include couples with children, women with children and, less commonly, men with children.

Excluding marginal residents of caravan parks, families made up 9% of all homeless households⁵⁰ in Australia on Census night 2001, but nearly one-quarter (23%) of the entire homeless population in this country.⁵¹ In NSW, 2357 children under the age of 12 were identified as homeless in the company of at least one adult.⁵²

Where homeless families are accommodated

According to the 2001 Census data, one in five homeless families in Australia were living in improvised dwellings or sleeping rough (including in cars). Just over 40% were in SAAP accommodation and a further 28% were doubling up with other family or friends. Eleven per cent were living in boarding houses.⁵³ Given the similarities in the distribution of the homeless population in Australia and in NSW (see Table 3.1), the distribution of homeless families across accommodation types in NSW may reflect this nationwide pattern.

There are no available data on the numbers of families living as marginal residents of caravan parks in NSW. The Parks and Village Service (PAVS) reports that, anecdotally the number varies considerably from park to park.⁵⁴ A report on child care for families in caravan parks stated that:

… families lived in sub standard conditions in caravans where they eat, sleep and socialise in one room with no privacy for parents and exposing children to unnecessary stress. Poor standards in shared amenities (toilets and showers, laundries), inadequate or non existent physical safety provisions were commonly observed. Caravans do not provide adequate protection from inclement weather, heat, humidity, rain and cold, nor were there community facilities such as community rooms or play areas for families to use.⁵⁵

In NSW in 2002–03, approximately 17% of all SAAP support periods to adults were to adults (usually mothers) with accompanying children.⁵⁶ In some rural areas, approximately one-third of support periods provided by SAAP were to adults with children (predominately women with children).⁵⁷ However, these figures do not represent all families seeking SAAP assistance. AIHW reports that couples with or without children and single adults with children seeking immediate accommodation through SAAP were more likely than single people to be turned away from SAAP services in Australia. The most likely reason for this was reported to be that there was insufficient accommodation at the SAAP agency where the request was made.⁵⁸

Indigenous Australians

The rate of homelessness among Indigenous Australians⁵⁹ in NSW is 110 per 10 000 compared to 40 per 10 000 for the non-Indigenous population. Five per cent of homeless people in NSW on Census night 2001 identified as Indigenous Australians, compared with 2% of the general NSW population. Indigenous people were over-represented in all sectors of the homeless population, but most prominently in SAAP (10% of people in SAAP) and among those living in improvised dwellings (8%).⁶⁰

Chamberlain and Mackenzie warn that these figures may underestimate Indigenous homelessness. This is because the figures are based on the census question about ‘usual address’. However, as Indigenous people more commonly move between homes within their extended family network, ‘home’ and ‘usual address’ have a broader cultural meaning.⁶¹

Where Indigenous homeless people are living

Excluding marginal caravan park residents, 42% of homeless Indigenous people in NSW were living in Greater Sydney (compared to 59% of non-Indigenous homeless people). Nine per cent of Indigenous homeless people are in North Western NSW (compared to 2% of Non-Indigenous homeless people), a further 9% in the Mid-North Coast (6% non-Indigenous), 8% in the Hunter (7% of non-Indigenous) and 7% in Northern NSW (3% non-Indigenous).⁶²

When marginal residents of caravan parks are included, the proportion of Indigenous homeless people living in Sydney (compared to outside Sydney) drops to one-third. Of the 554 Indigenous marginal residents of caravan parks, 41% are living in the Mid-North Coast or Richmond Tweed areas.

In 2002–03, 17% of SAAP clients in NSW identified as Indigenous. It is noteworthy that nearly two-thirds of this client group were women. Yet less than half (approximately 46%) of non-Indigenous SAAP clients are female.⁶³ Australia-wide, Indigenous Australians represented 22% of all SAAP clients with accompanying children, and were more likely than other cultural groups to be accompanied by four or more children.⁶⁴

Refugees and other recent immigrants

Eighty-five per cent of clients in NSW SAAP services in 2002–03 were born in Australia.⁶⁵ As a point of comparison, 71% of the general population in NSW is Australian born.⁶⁶ The smaller proportion of overseas-born clients in SAAP than overseas persons in the general population may indicate that fewer overseas-born people are homeless and/or overseas-born homeless people do not access SAAP services and are accommodated differently while homeless (e.g. with family and friends or on the street).

In consultations for this project, concerns were raised about homelessness among people residing in Australia without permanent residency status or citizenship. This includes people on Temporary Protection Visas and people recently arrived from New Zealand who are unemployed or unable to work.

Foley and Beer’s recent study on housing and homelessness among newly arrived Australian residents reported that young refugees are six times more likely to be homeless than other young people in Australia.⁶⁷ Foley and Beer also found that discrimination by property managers and overcrowding in poor quality private rental accommodation is the common experience of many recently arrived refugees, with anecdotal evidence suggesting that many refugees end up homeless, or at risk of homelessness, after facing housing difficulties.⁶⁸

People with a history of substitute care as children

There appears to be some evidence indicating an increased risk of homelessness in adulthood for people who have experienced substitute care in childhood. For example, the 1989 HREOC Inquiry into Homeless Children (issuing the Burdekin report), on the basis of previous studies together with evidence presented to the inquiry, found:

A period of time spent in a child welfare or juvenile justice institution, or otherwise detached by the welfare system from the natural family, seems to increase significantly a child’s chances of becoming homeless.⁶⁹

More recently, a 2004 Senate committee inquiry about people who experienced institutional or out of home care as children reported that “evidence to this Committee [regarding homelessness among care leavers] … told very similar stories to those reported by Burdekin”.⁷⁰ However, while there is strong anecdotal evidence of the over-representation of care leavers in the homeless population, there is no statistical information available about what happens to people when they leave state care or about the proportion of homeless people who have a history of substitute care as children.⁷¹

People recently released from prison

Some research suggests a strong association between homelessness and re-incarceration. In a recent study Baldry et al. followed the post-release experiences of 194 ex-prisoners in NSW and 145 ex-prisoners in Victoria. The incidence of homelessness among the NSW sample increased from 20% at the pre-incarceration stage to 38% at six months post-release. At nine months post-release it decreased again to 28%, as people moved in and out of homelessness. Interestingly, the homelessness rate of the Victorian participants reduced from 12 to 8% in the same nine-month period. Based on the data collected, Baldry et al. estimated that up to half of the NSW participants experienced episodes of homelessness in that nine-month period.⁷²

It should be noted that Baldry et al. used Chamberlain and Mackenzie’s primary level as their definition of homelessness. The researchers commented that if all three levels had been included in the definition, “most of the sample, especially in NSW, would be homeless”.⁷³ Indeed, the study found high levels of involuntary transience were the common experience of most participants, and that this was the factor most predictive of re-incarceration.⁷⁴ The study also identified Indigenous female ex-prisoners and sole parents as the most disadvantaged of the study’s participants.⁷⁵ The Law and Justice Foundation of NSW will shortly be conducting a separate study into the legal needs of prisoners and people recently released from prisons in NSW.