Increased pressure on homelessness support services due to family violence

Specialist homelessness services in Australia are seeing a significant increase in client numbers due to domestic and family violence, according to a new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The report, Specialist homelessness services 2015–16, shows that national client numbers reached over 279,000 in 2015–16 (up from nearly 256,000 in 2014–15). Of those, 106,000 (38%) sought support due to domestic and family violence. This is a 33% increase since 2011–12, and a 14% increase since 2014–15.

The report shows that growth in the number of clients seeking support due to domestic and family violence outpaced growth in overall client numbers. Close to half of clients experiencing domestic and family violence in 2015–16 were single parents, and over three-quarters were female.

AIHW spokesperson Anna Ritson said: “It is important to note that increases in client numbers generally reflect the increased availability and accessibility of services, not necessarily a change in the underlying level of homelessness or domestic and family violence in Australia. And for over 20% of clients, mental health, medical issues or substance use were among the reasons for seeking specialist homelessness support.”

Overall, Indigenous clients continued to be over represented among clients of homelessness services, with 1 in 4 clients (or about 61,700) identifying as Indigenous.

Housing affordability continues to be a significant factor for those accessing homelessness services—around 60% of clients identified housing affordability and financial difficulties as a reason for seeking assistance, and this has remained fairly steady for the past 3 years.

The report also shows that an increasing proportion of clients are now aged over 45.

“Clients in this age group now represent around 1 in 5 of all clients—an increase of 6,500 clients compared with the previous year,” Ms Ritson said.