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Latest ABS 2006 Census data "Counting the Homeless"
download report on homelessness figures here. Posted 15 Sep 08.

Youth Homelessness 2006 Report (Humanities & Social Sciences Collection (E-LIBRARY).
Download report from Informit here. Posted 15 January 2009.

Counting the Homeless 2006 Released 9th July 09 Tasmanian Summary Report.
Download report here.
 

To date there is no regional breakdown of homelessness data for Tasmania from 2006,
but there is 2001 data available in the report below:

Counting the Homeless in Tasmania - Analysis of the 2001 Census by David MacKenzie and Chris Chamberlain.
Download report here. Posted 5 February 2009.

WEBSITES
Homeless Information Portal
A new website designed for the Homeless and Drug and Alcohol Sectors. See www.hip.org.au.

National Homelessness Information Clearinghouse
See www.homlessnessinfo.net.au

Who can become homeless?
Homelessness can affect all members of the Tasmanian community including the young or old, families or single people, Aboriginal people or people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, resulting in great social and economic costs to the individual, and the community as a whole.


The effects of homelessness
Homelessness creates instability, leaves people vulnerable to chronic unemployment and ill health, and with limited or no ability to participate in the social and economic life of their community. Homelessness means that members of our community are living without their most fundamental human rights.


What is the size of Tasmania’s homeless population?
ABS Census Counting the Homeless, 2006 Report - Summary of Results for Tasmania (Released Sep 08).
In 2006 approximately 2 507 people were homeless in Tasmania (across all categories of homelessness), a rate of 52.6 people who were homeless per 10 000 population. This is only a slight increase on the 2001 figure of 2 415 people who were homeless (a rate of 52.4 per 10 000 population). Nationally, the number of people who were homeless increased from 99 900 in 2001 to 105 000 in 2006, while the rate of homelessness per 10 000 population stayed the same (at 53 per 10 000 population in both 2001 and 2006).

The table below shows the number and proportion of people in each category of homelessness in Tasmania in 2001 compared to 2006. The table shows that in 2006 the majority of the Tasmanian homeless population were staying with friends or family (50%) or in crisis accommodation shelters (25%). The proportion of people who were primary homeless and the proportion staying in Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP)-funded crisis accommodation increased between 2001 and 2006, while the proportion staying with friends and relatives and in boarding houses declined. The same pattern was reflected in the national figures.

*Calculated from the percentages – no actual figures were published in the Chamberlain/Mackenzie report for Tasmania for each category.

• Tasmania’s rate of homelessness (52.6  per 10,000 population) was fourth highest of all States and Territories (and equal to South Australia) in 2006. This ranking has not changed since 2001, when Tasmania also had the fourth highest rate of homelessness.

• The proportion of Tasmanian families who were homeless in 2006 and accommodated in SAAP was 52% (238 families). This was slightly higher than the Australian figure of 50%.
  
• The number of homeless youth aged 12 to 18 years declined in Tasmania between 2001 and 2006, from 1 008 to 770. This reflects a national decline in youth homelessness, outlined in the Chamberlain and MacKenzie report Youth Homelessness 2006, released earlier this year. Chamberlain and MacKenzie attribute this decline mainly to an increase in early intervention services targeting homeless and at risk youth since 2001.
  
  Source:  Chamberlain, C, and MacKenzie, D, 2008 Counting the Homeless, 2006, Commonwealth of Australia, ABS cat. no. 2050.0; and Chamberlain, C, and MacKenzie, D, 2008 Youth Homelessness in Australia 2006.
  

Who is Homeless in Tasmania? This page still to be updated, for now see the latest SAAP data report: Homeless People in SAAP National Data Collection Annual Report 2006-07 including Tasmanian Supplementary Tables. Released 31 July. See here for report.The following statistics are from 2002-03.

• Male (43.2%)
  Female (56.8%)
  
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (8.8%)
  

Overall, Indigenous clients were over-represented as SAAP clients relative to their population size: approximately 3.2 % of Tasmanians were estimated to be Indigenous Australians in 2002 - 2003, compared with 8.8% of SAAP clients in 2002-2003.


Most common reasons for homelessness

• Eviction/previous accommodation ended (14.5%)
  Usual accommodation unavailable (14%)
  Domestic and family violence (13.5%)
  Relationship/family breakdown (10%)
  
• Financial difficulty (10%)

The most common reasons for each client group becoming homeless are:

• Male alone, aged under 25		Usual accommodation unavailable (20.9%) Eviction/accommodation ended (19%)
• Male alone, aged 25 or over	Financial difficulty (14.3 %) Eviction/accommodation ended (13.4%)
• Female alone, aged under 25	Relationship/relationship breakdown (18.6%) Usual accommodation unavailable (15.5%)
• Female alone, aged 25 or over	Domestic violence (26%) Sexual abuse (16.9%)
• Couple with no children	Eviction/accommodation ended (22.6%) Financial difficulty (22.4%)
• Couple with children	Usual accommodation unavailable (19.8%) Eviction/accommodation ended (18.7%)
• Male with children	Eviction/accommodation ended (22.8%) Usual accommodation unavailable (18.3%)
• Female with children	Domestic and Family Violence (37.8%) Eviction/accommodation ended (11.4%)

What can be done to address homelessness?

Addressing and preventing homelessness requires improvement in a range of social policy areas such as housing, income, employment, heath, social security and a prevention of violence and discrimination. Lasting solutions in all these policy areas are needed to prevent, reduce and alleviate homelessness in Tasmania.

The work of Shelter Tasmania is to promote the importance of affordable housing for all in our community. Also to provide a structure that enables the vision and objectives of the organisation to reflect the needs of homeless people and people who live in poverty and low incomes.
Endnotes (1.) This information, including the definition of homelessness was extracted from Chamberlain C & Mackenzie, D (2003) Counting the Homeless 2001. Canberra, The Australian Bureau of Statistics, cat. no. 2050.0. See www.abs.gov.au
2.) See SAAP National Data Collection Annual Report 2002-3 (Tasmanian Supplementary Tables) see www.ahihw.gov.au