needs of clients in the supported accommodation assistance

Improving the lives of Australians

Occasional Paper No. 28

Needs of clients in the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program

Report on the High and complex needs census, 2008

AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF HEALTH AND WELFARE

iii

CONTENTS

ContentsExecutive summary v

1 Introduction 11.1 Background 21.2 The High and complex needs census 3

2 Census methods and participants 52.1 SAAP agencies in scope for the census 52.2 Census methods 52.3 Census materials 62.4 SAAP agency participation 72.5 SAAP client participation 8

3 Support needs of SAAP clients 133.1 Needs of clients and level of support required 133.2 Specific circumstances of clients with identified needs 253.3 Level of support required and agencies’ ability to meet existing needs 323.4 Referral patterns and barriers 393.5 Overall assessment of level and complexity of support needs 42

4 Discussion 454.1 Overview of findings 454.2 Limitations of data 484.3 The validity of the assessment form 48

AppendixesAppendix A: Steering Committee members 53Appendix B: High and complex needs census assessment form 55Appendix C: Correlations between needs areas 73

Endnotes 75

References 77

NEEDS OF ClIENTS IN ThE SuPPORTED ACCOmmODATION ASSISTANCE PROgRAm

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List of tablesTable 1: SAAP agency participants in the High and complex needs census by state/territory and

the number of clients reported on, 2008 8Table 2: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by age and sex, 2008 9Table 3: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by Indigenous status, 2008 10Table 4: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by number of accompanying children, 2008 10Table 5: SAAP High and complex needs census accompanying children by age group, 2008 11Table 6: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by familiarity with the client and length of time

known to the agency, 2008 11Table 7: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs, 2008 14Table 8: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs and age and sex, 2008 16Table 9: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs and Indigenous status, 2008 23Table 10: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs and state/territory

of agency, 2008 24Table 11: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs and specific

circumstances, 2008 26Table 12: SAAP High and complex needs census accompanying children by child age and specific

circumstances, 2008 31Table 13: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by extent to which agency can meet need,

need area identified and level of support required, 2008 33Table 14: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs that can be met by

the agency by state/territory of agency, 2008 38Table 15: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs and referral intention, 2008 39Table 16: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs and barriers to accessing

required services, 2008 41Table 17: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs and overall rating of level

and complexity of current needs, 2008 43Table 18: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by overall rating of the level and complexity of

their current needs and state/territory of agency, 2008 44Table 19: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified need pathways, 2008 47Table 20: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by overall rating of level and complexity of

need and average number of needs areas identified, 2008 49Table 21: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by assessed complexity level and predicted

complexity level 50

Appendix tablesTable C1: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by average level of need, 2008 73Table C2: SAAP High and complex needs census clients’ correlations between ratings of extent of

support needs 74

List of figuresFigure 1: Distribution of the number of identified needs areas 13Figure 2: SAAP High and complex needs census clients’ overall ratings of level and complexity of

current needs, 2008 42Figure 3: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by need for assistance and level of support

required, 2008 45

v

ExECuTIvE SummARy

Executive summary

This report outlines the results of an investigation into the support needs of clients receiving assistance through the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP). The information collected identifies the major areas of need of clients, measures the level of support required for those needs and collects information on whether these needs can be met directly by agencies, whether the client will be referred to another service and describes barriers that might exist for these clients in accessing other services. This study builds on previous work conducted by Thomson Goodall Associates (TGA 2003) and has used a modified version of their assessment form.

In this study, all SAAP agencies (except day support and information/referral services) were asked to complete an assessment form for all clients they assisted in a designated week in June 2008. Nine hundred and thirty-two agencies returned information on 10,683 clients. Ninety per cent of clients had been known to the agency for more than a week and 78 per cent were known either well or very well. Only 7 per cent had been known for less than a week and were known not well or not at all.

This project was commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, Mission Australia and the New South Wales Department of Community Services.

Needs of clients

Of the 13 areas of need investigated, clients had a need for assistance, on average, in five areas. The most common need for assistance was in relation to housing (84 per cent of clients), followed by money management/finances (54 per cent), exposure to/effects of violence (48 per cent), accessing services (45 per cent) and access to social supports (41 per cent).

The most common circumstances reported for all clients were currently homeless (reported for 51 per cent of clients), family/domestic violence (36 per cent), no available affordable housing and at risk of homelessness (both 34 per cent) and persistent difficulty managing budgets (32 per cent).

Females were more likely than males to have needs relating to exposure to/effects of violence, parenting/caring and accompanying children, and less likely to require support for alcohol and other drug use and challenging behaviour issues.

Younger people were more likely to have support needs relating to challenging behaviour than older clients, but less likely to have needs related to disability and physical health and self care.

Indigenous clients were more likely than other clients to have needs related to alcohol and drug use, and parenting/caring, but less likely to have needs related to mental health issues and access to social supports.

Level of support required

Where clients were identified as having a support need in a specific area, at least 30 per cent in each area were reported as having a high support need with the exception of three areas (physical health and self care, accessing services and access to social supports). Across all areas, between 40 and 50 per cent of clients with a need in a particular area were thought to require a medium level of support and 10 to 25 per cent were thought to require a low level of support.


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Complexity of need

Agencies assessed 90 per cent of clients to have overall needs that were high and/or complex at varying levels and 16 per cent of clients were thought to have needs that were very high and/or complex. Further analysis of the data suggests that clients with needs in four or more areas are likely to be considered to have high and/or complex needs.

Agencies’ ability to meet needs and barriers accessing other services

Across all needs areas, the highest proportions of clients were reported to be able to have their needs met to some extent. The areas in which agencies reported that they were least able to directly meet their clients’ needs were mental health issues (42 per cent), disability (38 per cent), and physical health and self care (33 per cent). These are areas of assistance that are likely to require specialist intervention.

Client referral

Across all areas, the intention to refer clients with specific needs that could not be met in full by the reporting agency was high. This ranged from 83 per cent of clients with a need related to challenging behaviour to 95 per cent of clients with a housing need.

Barriers to accessing services

Across all areas of need, between 32 per cent and 54 per cent of clients whose need could not be met by the reporting agency were not expected to face barriers in accessing other services.

For those clients who were anticipated to face barriers accessing other services, waiting lists were the major barrier identified for clients who needed assistance with housing, physical health/self care, parenting/caring and accompanying children. For clients who needed support relating to accessing services, the major barrier identified was limited access to transport. In all remaining areas (money management/finances, alcohol and other drug use, mental health issues, disability, exposure to/effects of violence, challenging behaviour, personal safety and wellbeing and access to social supports) the main barrier identified was that the client does not want to access services.

Housing was identified as the area in which clients were both most likely to have a need for assistance and in which they were least likely to have that need met. Thirty-five per cent of all clients had a need for housing and were expected to face barriers of some kind in accessing other services that might address this need.

The data in this report provides a useful starting point for further research and analysis, and information about data limitations and the validity of the assessment form is presented.

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INTRODuCTION

1 Introduction

The Supported Accommodation and Assistance Program (SAAP) has been Australia’s major program response to homelessness. The program is funded jointly by the Australian Government and state and territory governments and provides transitional supported accommodation and related support services to help people who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, to achieve optimal self-reliance and independence. SAAP is now incorporated into the National Affordable Housing Agreement and funding for specialist homeless services will continue under the agreement. In 2007–08, 1,562 agencies were provided with direct funding through SAAP, and they provided substantial assistance to an estimated 202,500 people, including 76,900 accompanying children (AIHW 2009). Agencies that receive SAAP funding adopt a range of support models and provide support to clients directly (for example, crisis accommodation, supporting clients in private rental arrangements) and/or assist clients to obtain appropriate assistance through other SAAP or mainstream agencies (for example, referral to public housing or health/dental services). These services clearly recognise that the diverse needs of clients, in most cases, amount to more than an absence of safe, secure and adequate accommodation.

Despite the high level of service provision offered through SAAP, agencies still face a large demand for assistance. This leads to a significant number of potential clients being turned away each day from SAAP agencies (see, for example, AIHW 2008). This is suspected to have resulted in a situation where the profile of clients assisted by SAAP agencies have an increasing need for support and greater complexity of needs. Although it is also acknowledged that some clients with high needs are not successful in obtaining assistance through SAAP because their support needs would exceed the capacity of services to respond (for example, some alcohol/drug issues, mental health issues, some challenging or disruptive behaviours; see, for example, Erebus Consulting Partners 2004 and NYC 2008).

Additionally, a recent government discussion paper, Which way home? A new approach to homelessness, claims that the current system fails some population groups, and aims to stimulate discussion on alternative models for the provision of services to improve outcomes (Australian Government 2008).

Therefore, in this environment there has emerged a considerable interest in increasing the understanding of: the needs of clients seeking assistance through services that support homeless people; whether the needs of this client population, as a whole, are becoming greater and/or more complex; and whether existing models of service provision are best suited to serving these needs.

This report presents the findings of the High and complex needs census of clients attending SAAP agencies in a designated week in June 2008. The project aimed to describe the major needs of clients receiving assistance in that week and to quantify the likely level of support they would require (from SAAP agencies or other service providers) to meet these needs.

This report is organised around four sections:

Section 1 outlines the background to the project.

Section 2 describes the census methods and participants.

Section 3 provides information on the needs of SAAP clients, the likely level of support required, and looks at referral patterns and barriers to referral.

Section 4 discusses the findings in a broader context, describes the limitations of the data and investigates the validity of the assessment form used in the census.


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1.1 Background

The SAAP National Data Collection

Since 1996, SAAP agencies have reported data on clients to the SAAP National Data Collection Agency (NDCA), based at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). This has enabled annual national reports to be collated that describe:

demographic information on clients

administrative information such as whether the person is attending alone, as one of a couple, and/or with child(ren), and whether a case management plan is agreed

income and labour force information for clients before and after their support period

housing and living arrangements for clients before and after their support period

presenting reasons for seeking assistance and the support provided to clients (including accommodation periods and other support provided directly by the agency and referrals to other services)

information about children who may be accompanying the client.

Despite the wealth of information collected about clients supported by SAAP agencies through the National Data Collection, the current data collection requests only limited information on the circumstances associated with the client’s needs and does not directly quantify the level of support associated with an identified need. As a result, specific projects focusing on clients of SAAP with potentially high needs have been commissioned.

Previous work investigating the extent and complexity of clients’ needs

The two previous major investigations that have been conducted in this area are Appropriate responses for homeless people whose needs require a high level and complexity of service provision (Ecumenical Housing Inc and Thomson Goodall Associates Pty Ltd (TGA) 1999) and People who are assisted by SAAP services and require a high level and complexity of service provision: an enhanced assessment and measurement framework (TGA 2003).

The first report, Appropriate responses for homeless people whose needs require a high level and complexity of service provision, was commissioned because of concern about changes in the profile of clients seeking assistance through SAAP. With a particular concern that SAAP agencies had not established adequate linkages with other services (within and outside SAAP) to effectively assist clients with specialist needs.

Using SAAP NDCA data, the consultants developed a typology of need based on the intensity and multiplicity of the needs reported that was then applied to the data. They highlight that, in terms of providing information on clients’ needs, the data collected through the SAAP National Data Collection is limited in this regard. It concluded that some further data relating specifically to client needs was required and that it was important that this was based on a consistent assessment tool to ensure ability to aggregate data to all levels of interest.

As a result, Thomson Goodall Associates (TGA) were commissioned to develop and test an instrument for measuring need and complexity among SAAP clients that could be used systematically by SAAP agencies nationally, and therefore used to report on needs at different levels of aggregation (for example, at an agency level, state wide, nationally). The instrument developed was based on areas of need identified through literature reviews, review of assessment tools, a pilot test process and consultations with the SAAP sector and others (TGA 2003).

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INTRODuCTION

Their measurement form captured information on clients who required intensive and/or ongoing support across 12 areas:

housing

exposure to and effects of violence

money management and finances

health and self care

accessing appropriate services

access to social supports

behaviour that is challenging to others

personal safety and wellbeing

mental health issues

alcohol and other drug use

disability issues

children (accompanying adults).

The form also captured information about the indicators of the client’s need, the agency’s assessment of the likelihood that the client could be assisted with that issue outside of the SAAP sector, and on a range of barriers that clients might experience when accessing services outside SAAP. Thomson Goodall Associates emphasise that the form was designed to measure needs but does not assess needs and therefore cannot be used alone for case planning or related purposes.

1.2 The Highandcomplexneedscensus

This current project (the High and complex needs census of SAAP clients) extends the work undertaken by TGA. The project systematically collected information about the needs of clients assisted by SAAP agencies in a one-week period by using a revised version of the instrument developed by TGA.

All materials and procedures were developed by the AIHW project team under the guidance of a Steering Committee who were responsible for all decision making (see below). The decisions of the Steering Committee were informed by their consultations with peak bodies and service providers through advisory groups, perceived deficiencies of the previous instrument and by the results of two pilot tests (described later in this section). Wherever appropriate, definitions and processes used in the SAAP National Data Collection were adopted for this data collection. The final census materials and procedures are described in Section 2.

The final instrument used in the High and complex needs census was based on the measurement form proposed by TGA. The major difference between the form used in this census and the form proposed by TGA was that the TGA form asked agencies to report only on clients’ needs that would require intensive and/or ongoing support. Whereas the assessment form used in the current project asks agencies to record information about any areas for which the client has any need (including a low need for support).

The assessment form used in the High and complex needs census also collected information on needs relating to parenting/caring, circumstances experienced by individual accompanying children, and the inclusion of information about referral intentions related to all needs.



Pilot tests

Two pilot tests were conducted prior to the census—the first in November–December 2007 and the second in March 2008. The first pilot test involved 15 SAAP agencies and was used to test the newly developed training materials and as a first test of the revised assessment tool. As a result of this pilot test the assessment tool underwent improvements, one of which involved the inclusion of an extra need area—parenting/caring.

The second pilot test involved 47 SAAP agencies and was conducted to test the revised assessment tool, the revised training materials and the proposed operational processes. The results of the second pilot test led to operational aspects being simplified and improved (for example, consent requirements and answers being sent out with the training workbook), reordering of the need areas to ensure a logical flow, and improvement and adjustment of specific need areas.

Project management

This project was jointly funded by Mission Australia, the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, and the New South Wales Department of Community Services. The project was undertaken by staff of the Housing and Homelessness Unit of the AIHW.

The project was overseen by a project Steering Committee, which was comprised of representatives of the funding agencies, the Queensland Department of Communities and the AIHW (in an advisory role). The membership of the Steering Committee is outlined in Appendix A.

Steering Committee members also convened two advisory groups to assist them in their role. The advisory group convened by FaHCSIA was comprised of: Housing Tasmania, Department of Communities (WA), Department of Communities (Qld), Department of Human Services (Vic) and a community member. The advisory group convened by Mission Australia was comprised of: Homelessness NSW, NSW Women’s Refuge Movement Resource Centre, and the Youth Accommodation Association.

The project was conducted between March 2007–November 2008.

Consent and confidentiality

The project was approved by the AIHW Ethics Committee on the basis that clients were informed about why the information was being collected and that they give their consent. That is, an ‘opt in’ methodology identical to that used in the SAAP National Data Collection was adopted. A consent information sheet was developed for service providers and their clients to assist in gaining consent from clients (see Section 2.3).

The confidentiality of data reported through the census is protected under the provisions of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Act 1987. Copies of the confidentialised unit record file are also held by Mission Australia (NSW data only) and FaHCSIA (national data).

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CENSuS mEThODS AND PARTICIPANTS

2 Census methods and participants

2.1 SAAP agencies in scope for the census

All SAAP-funded agencies (excluding agencies classified as day support or telephone information/referral) were invited to participate in the census; in total 1,441 agencies. Day support programs1 and telephone information/referral services2 typically have large numbers of clients who they assist for just a short period of time. These programs were excluded from the census because of the limited amount of information about individual clients that would usually be collected by agencies providing these services, and the unreasonable burden it would place on agencies if an assessment form were required for all clients of these agencies. Agencies that operate multiple programs (including a day support or telephone information/referral program) were asked not to report information on clients assisted under these programs.

2.2 Census methods

Agencies that were in scope for the census were contacted by the AIHW approximately three weeks prior to the census week (in late May 2008), with a letter and flyer to inform agencies of the forthcoming census and give them an indication of the requirements of the census. Approximately one week later (in early June 2008) the census package was mailed to all agencies.

The census package consisted of:

client assessment forms

a guidelines and definitions booklet

a distance training workbook

a cover letter describing the census process

a summary instruction sheet

a consent information sheet

a summary form return sheet

a return postal envelope.

Agencies were sent sufficient assessment forms such that they could complete a form for all new and ongoing SAAP clients who received support or assistance from the agency over the seven-day period (16–22 June 2008) with a maximum of one form per client per agency. Estimates of the numbers of forms required by each agency were derived from the SAAP National Data Collection for an equivalent period in 2007. Agencies were invited to contact the project team if they required additional forms, or to download additional copies from the census website.

Where agencies were, for any reason, unable to complete the forms in respect of clients seen in the specified census period, they were asked to complete the forms in an alternative census period, that is, any seven-day period within a reasonable time of the nominal census dates. As a result, a number of participating agencies conducted the census in an alternative seven-day period during June or July 2008.



Agencies were asked to return the assessment forms by 10 July 2008. Agencies that had not responded by this date were sent a reminder letter and asked to return forms or to confirm that they would not be participating, and to indicate the main reason why they would not be participating.

All data entry and analysis was undertaken by staff of the AIHW.

Support to participating agencies

Staff of the AIHW provided telephone and email support to participating agencies via a 1800 number and a generic email address that could be accessed by all team members.

Information about the project was also available from the census website that was available for the duration of the project. This website explained the purpose of the collection, the requirements of the collection and answers to frequently asked questions. Agency staff could also access electronic copies of all materials sent to them via the website.

2.3 Census materials

The client assessment form

The final assessment form asked agencies to report whether clients have a current need for assistance in 13 areas of interest:

housing

money management/finances

alcohol and other drug use

mental health issues

disability

exposure to/effects of violence

challenging behaviour

personal safety and wellbeing

physical health and self care

accessing services

access to social supports

parenting/caring

accompanying children.

The census form was designed to be completed by agency staff on behalf of clients and was not designed to be completed with clients present. Staff were asked to use their best judgement in completing the form based on what they knew about the client from personal knowledge or documented information. As the form was based on existing knowledge about the client, the form could be completed retrospectively (that is, some weeks after the census collection period) as long as consent was obtained from the client.

Where clients were thought to have a need for support, the agency worker was asked to identify specific circumstances that related to that need from the lists provided for each need area, and to identify the level of support that would be required to meet that client’s need in that area. Agency workers were also asked

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to report whether the support need could be met by their agency, whether they planned to refer the client to another service for assistance with this need, and what barriers (if any) there might be to the client accessing these other services.

Information was also collected on the number and ages of any children accompanying the client. Where a two-parent (or guardian) family received assistance the information about accompanying children was recorded on one client form only. This is consistent with the procedure for reporting data on accompanying children in the SAAP National Data Collection and ensured that information about children was not double counted.

In addition, the client assessment form collected some basic demographic information about clients (sex, date of birth and Indigenous status), some information about how well the client was known to the agency and for how long, and asked agency staff to provide an overall rating of the person’s needs in terms of the extent and complexity of their current needs.

The assessment form is reproduced in full in Appendix B.

guidelines and definitions booklet

All agencies were provided with a guidelines and definitions booklet that outlined the background to the collection, the requirements of the collection, information about the assessment form and further guidelines on terms used on the assessment form.

Distance training workbook

A distance training workbook was provided to all agencies as part of the census package to familiarise SAAP agency staff with the client assessment form and the requirements for the collection. This workbook included multiple choice exercises and three fictional case studies for which agency staff were invited to complete an assessment form, familiarise themselves with the form and assess their understanding of the data collection. The expected answers for the case studies and multiple choice exercises were provided at the back of the training workbook to allow agency staff to check their answers.

Agencies were asked to return the workbook (if completed) to the AIHW when they returned their agency’s completed client assessment forms, so that the extent of use of the training workbook could be assessed.

Two hundred and sixty-five completed workbooks were returned from 210 agencies (22 per cent of all agencies that returned materials as part of the census). Information on the number of staff involved in completing the workbook was not collected, nor was information on the number of staff involved in completing the assessment forms for clients.

Consent information sheet

A consent information sheet was developed to assist SAAP agencies to obtain client consent. The information on this sheet outlined what data were being collected and why. The information sheet clarified that the data would be used for statistical purposes only and would not affect the services the client received from the SAAP agency. It also clarified that participation was voluntary, and that clients could consent to participate in the survey overall, but request that some information not be reported. The consent information sheet could either be read to clients or provided directly to clients.

2.4 SAAP agency participation

SAAP agency response rate

The effective response rate for the collection was 70 per cent.3 Of the 1,441 agencies that were thought to be in scope for this project and were sent a census package, 927 agencies (64 per cent) returned at least



one assessment form, although 17 of these agencies returned forms where no clients had provided consent to participate. Additionally, 22 agencies that believed they were in scope for the census, but that were not included on the original mailing list, returned assessment forms. Therefore, assessment forms were returned by 949 agencies, although the analyses outlined in the following sections are based on the information returned by the 932 agencies that returned one or more completed assessment forms for clients who provided consent.

Five hundred and fourteen agencies (36 per cent) from the original mailing list did not participate. Of these agencies, 48 did not participate because they did not assist any SAAP clients in the census week, and a further 49 considered themselves out of scope because they were no longer SAAP-funded or the agency was closed on a temporary or permanent basis, or the agency could not be contacted. Eighty-three agencies gave other reasons—most of which related to staff burden: no reason was given by the remaining 334 agencies.

State/territory of participating SAAP agencies

The distribution by state/territory of agencies that returned at least one assessment form where consent was given is outlined in Table 1.

Table 1: SAAP agency participants in the High and complex needs census by state/territory and the number of clients reported on, 2008

NSW Vic. Qld WA SA Tas. ACT NTNot

stated Australia

Number

Participating agencies 241 279 155 86 74 28 31 26 12 932

Participating clients 3,398 2,965 1,666 584 1,089 388 319 190 84 10,683

Per cent

Participating agencies 25.9 29.9 16.6 9.2 7.9 3.0 3.3 2.8 1.3 100.0

Participating clients 31.8 27.8 15.6 5.5 10.2 3.6 3.0 1.8 0.8 100.0

2.5 SAAP client participation

In total, 10,683 forms were returned (where the client had consented) from the 932 participating agencies (see Table 1). This represented an average of 11.5 forms per agency.

It should be noted that the client population for this census differs to the population reported on in the SAAP National Data Collection (for example, in Homeless people in SAAP 2007–08, AIHW 2009). The High and complex need census population was those clients assisted in SAAP agencies over a one-week period in June 2008. In the National Data Collection, agencies report data on clients who have been accommodated or are supported by the agency in the reporting period (whether that support period is ongoing or not) and most analysis is based on support periods (rather than individual clients). While the scopes of these collections are not directly comparable, where appropriate, some data from the SAAP National Data Collection are provided in this section for comparison.

Consent rate

Agencies were asked to return forms on behalf of all clients, including blank forms representing clients who did not consent. In addition to the 10,683 clients who consented to their information being included in the census, a further 1,587 forms were returned for clients who did not provide consent to have any information reported about them, representing 13 per cent of all returned forms. This figure is likely to underestimate the real rate of non-consenting clients as some agencies reported that they would not be participating because no clients provided consent, while other agencies may not have returned forms for clients who did not consent.

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Agencies were not asked to report information about the reasons why consent was not obtained, though some agencies that completed the forms retrospectively for clients assisted in the census week reported that they could not contact clients to obtain consent, and therefore, had to report that consent was not obtained. Others reported that it was difficult to obtain consent from clients who were not fluent in English or who had severe mental health issues.

Characteristics of participating clients

Demographic characteristics

Sixty-five per cent of clients who participated in the census were female (6,938 clients) and 34 per cent were male (3,629 clients). Just over 20 per cent of all clients (2,189 clients) were aged less than 20 years and a further 51 per cent were aged 20 to 39 years (see Table 2). The average age of all clients (excluding accompanying children) was 31 years.

These figures are similar to the 2007–08 SAAP NDCA client collection where the profile of clients was 62 per cent female and 38 per cent male; 21 per cent of clients were aged under 20 years; 52 per cent of clients were aged 20 to 39 years; and the average age of clients was 31 years (AIHW 2009).

Fifteen per cent of clients (1,608 clients) were of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin (see Table 3). This was similar to the rate reported in the 2007–08 SAAP NDCA client collection of 18 per cent Indigenous people overall (AIHW 2009).

Table 2: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by age and sex, 2008

Number Per cent

Age (years) Male FemaleNot

stated Total Male FemaleNot

stated Total

Under 15 57 72 1 130 1.6 1.0 0.9 1.2

15–19 704 1,342 13 2,059 19.4 19.3 11.2 19.3

20–24 509 1,174 19 1,702 14.0 16.9 16.4 15.9

25–29 313 875 13 1,201 8.6 12.6 11.2 11.2

30–34 379 851 11 1,241 10.4 12.3 9.5 11.6

35–39 420 867 20 1,307 11.6 12.5 17.2 12.2

40–44 371 671 14 1,056 10.2 9.7 12.1 9.9

45–49 306 384 13 703 8.4 5.5 11.2 6.6

50–54 181 228 4 413 5.0 3.3 3.4 3.9

55–59 142 133 2 277 3.9 1.9 1.7 2.6

60–64 81 73 0 154 2.2 1.1 – 1.4

65 and over 90 95 0 185 2.5 1.4 – 1.7

Not stated 76 173 6 255 2.1 2.5 5.2 2.4

Total (number) 3,629 6,938 116 10,683 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Mean age (years) 32 30 – 31

Median age (years) 32 28 – 29

Note: ‘–’ Not applicable.



Table 3: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by Indigenous status, 2008

Number Per cent

Indigenous status Male FemaleNot

stated Total Male FemaleNot

stated Total

Aboriginal origin only 420 1,076 14 1,510 11.6 15.5 12.1 14.1

Torres Strait Islander origin only

16 46 0 62 0.4 0.7 – 0.6

Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin

13 21 2 36 0.4 0.3 1.7 0.3

Neither Aboriginal nor Torres Strait Islander origin

3,102 5,674 93 8,869 85.5 81.8 80.2 83.0

Not stated 78 121 7 206 2.1 1.7 6.0 1.9

Total 3,629 6,938 116 10,683 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0


Children accompanying clients

Information was also obtained about children accompanying SAAP clients. An accompanying child is aged under 18 years and has a parent/guardian who is attending a SAAP agency. The child may accompany the client at any time during their support period and/or receive assistance directly as a consequence of their parent/guardian’s support period. Note that children or young people who are assisted by SAAP agencies independently (that is, who are not accompanied by a parent/guardian) are treated as clients in their own right.

Thirty-nine per cent of clients (4,149 clients) had information about accompanying children recorded on their form (see Table 4). It should be noted that as information about the children was only reported on one of the parents’ forms this data collection is likely to underestimate the actual number of clients who had responsibility for accompanying children (more information about this issue is provided in Section 3.1). The information reported on accompanying children totals 8,639 children, indicating that clients who had accompanying children had, on average, 2.1 children.

Table 4: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by number of accompanying children, 2008

Number of accompanying children Number of clients Per cent of clients

None 6,534 61.2

1 1,699 15.9

2 1,222 11.4

3 672 6.3

4 399 3.7

5 92 0.9

6 or more 65 0.6

Total 10,683 100.0

Over 40 per cent of accompanying children (3,728 children) were aged under 5 years and a further 27 per cent (2,356 children) were aged 5 to 9 years (see Table 5). Again, this age profile for children is consistent with that reported for the 2007–08 SAAP NDCA client collection where 44 per cent of accompanying children were aged under 5 years and a further 29 per cent were aged 5 to 9 years (AIHW 2009).

11


Table 5: SAAP High and complex needs census accompanying children by age group, 2008

Child age (years) Number of accompanying children Per cent of accompanying children

0–4 3,728 43.2

5–9 2,356 27.3

10–14 1,814 21.0

15–17 644 7.5

Not stated 97 1.1

Total 8,639 100.0

Familiarity with clients

Agencies were asked to provide information on how well and for how long the clients were known to their agency. Ninety per cent of clients (9,616 clients) had been known to the agency for more than a week and 78 per cent (8,381 clients) were known either well or very well (Table 6). Seven per cent of clients (770 clients) had been known by the agency for less than a week and considered to be known not well or not at all.

This level of familiarity between SAAP workers and clients suggests that people accessing SAAP services are doing so either for prolonged periods, or for multiple support periods. This in turn indicates that experiences of homelessness for those accessing SAAP agencies are not short term.

Table 6: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by familiarity with the client and length of time known to the agency, 2008

How well the client is known to the agency

Length of time known to agency

Less than one week More than one week Not stated Total

Number

Very well 18 4,535 12 4,565

Well 77 3,717 22 3,816

Not well 569 1,202 8 1,779

Not at all 201 146 1 348

Not stated – 16 159 175

Total 865 9,616 202 10,683

Per cent

Very well 0.2 42.5 0.1 42.7

Well 0.7 34.8 0.2 35.7

Not well 5.3 11.3 0.1 16.7

Not at all 1.9 1.4 0.0 3.3

Not stated – 0.1 1.5 1.6

Total 8.1 90.0 1.9 100.0


13

SuPPORT NEEDS OF SAAP ClIENTS

3 Support needs of SAAP clients

3.1 Needs of clients and level of support required

Respondents were asked to report whether the client currently had a need for assistance in each of the 13 needs areas identified on the assessment form. Over half of the census population (52 per cent) were reported to have support needs in five or more areas. Figure 1 presents information on the distribution of the number of needs areas identified for clients.

The average number of needs areas identified for all clients was 5.0. The average number of needs areas identified for males was 4.7 and 5.1 for females. However, it is likely that the needs of males relating to accompanying children have been underestimated (see discussion below regarding the collection of data about accompanying children). When needs relating to accompanying children were excluded from the analysis an average of 4.6 needs areas were identified for males and an average of 4.8 needs areas were identified for females.

Figure 1: Distribution of the number of identified needs areas

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

131211109876543210

Number of needs identified

Num

ber o

f clie

nts

The most commonly reported area of need was housing with 84 per cent of clients (8,919 clients) needing assistance in this area (see Table 7). The predominance of housing needs is not surprising given the nature of the SAAP program and, in fact, this figure is likely to underestimate clients’ needs for housing assistance, as some agencies accommodating clients on a medium or long-term basis did not record housing needs for their clients.



The next most common areas in which clients had a current need for assistance were money management and finances (54 per cent of clients; 5,736 clients), exposure to/effects of violence (48 per cent of clients; 5,075 clients), accessing services (45 per cent of clients; 4,775 clients) and access to social supports (41 per cent of clients; 4,342 clients).

Table 7: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs, 2008

Need area

Client need identified in

this area

No client need

identified in this area

Client need in this area is not yet assessed Not stated Total

Number

Housing 8,919 1,710 20 34 10,683

Money management/finances 5,736 4,481 424 42 10,683

Alcohol & other drug use 3,268 6,868 492 55 10,683

Mental health issues 3,628 6,451 548 56 10,683

Disability 2,226 8,100 293 64 10,683

Exposure to/effects of violence 5,075 5,047 502 59 10,683

Challenging behaviour 2,347 7,883 388 65 10,683

Personal safety & wellbeing 3,627 6,643 344 69 10,683

Physical health & self care 3,300 6,991 327 65 10,683

Accessing services 4,775 5,610 230 68 10,683

Access to social supports 4,342 5,921 351 69 10,683

Parenting/caring 3,135 7116(a) 243 189 10,683

Accompanying children 2,930 1,219 – 6,534(b) 10,683

Per cent

Housing 83.5 16.0 0.2 0.3 100.0

Money management/finances 53.7 41.9 4.0 0.4 100.0

Alcohol & other drug use 30.6 64.3 4.6 0.5 100.0

Mental health issues 34.0 60.4 5.1 0.5 100.0

Disability 20.8 75.8 2.7 0.6 100.0

Exposure to/effects of violence 47.5 47.2 4.7 0.6 100.0

Challenging behaviour 22.0 73.8 3.6 0.6 100.0

Personal safety & wellbeing 34.0 62.2 3.2 0.6 100.0

Physical health & self care 30.9 65.4 3.1 0.6 100.0

Accessing services 44.7 52.5 2.2 0.6 100.0

Access to social supports 40.6 55.4 3.3 0.6 100.0

Parenting/caring 29.3 66.6 2.3 1.8 100.0

Accompanying children 27.4 11.4 – 61.2 100.0

(a) Includes clients with no children.(b) Includes all clients with no accompanying children.Note: ‘–’ Not applicable.

15


The areas in which clients were least likely to have a current need for assistance were disability (21 per cent of clients; 2,226 clients) and accompanying children (27 per cent of clients; 2,930 clients). The data on needs relating to accompanying children may, however, be unreliable as:

Respondents were not asked directly if the client had a need for assistance relating to their accompanying children, and this information, therefore, had to be derived. For this purpose, it was assumed that a client had a need for assistance in relation to their accompanying children if they identified at least one of the listed circumstances as being applicable to at least one accompanying child, and reported a level of support. It should be noted that this methodology will result in an overestimation of the number of clients with needs relating to accompanying children as it is possible that a child (or children) of a client might have circumstances that apply to them, and respondents may have reported that clients only required a low level of support (since a non-response was not a valid option) but that client does not require any assistance in supporting their children in relation to that circumstance.

Where a couple with children received assistance, the children were recorded on only one form (usually the mother’s). Since we have no way of analysing data from family units, this will have underestimated the number of clients (and particularly males) presenting with accompanying children.

Taking the above points into consideration, some caution must be exercised when interpreting the data on needs relating to accompanying children.

Need for support by demographic characteristics

Some differences in the needs of population groups by age, sex and Indigenous status were apparent (see Table 8). Females, who comprised 65 per cent of the client population, were more likely than males to have needs related to exposure to/effects of violence (80 per cent of clients with a need in this area were female), parenting/caring (85 per cent), and accompanying children (93 per cent). Although, as discussed previously, it is likely that males’ needs in this area have been underrepresented. However, females were less likely than males to have needs related to alcohol and other drug use (48 per cent of clients with a need in this area were female) and challenging behaviour (50 per cent).

Clients with a current need for assistance relating to challenging behaviour and personal safety and wellbeing were younger than the total client population. Thirty per cent of clients with a need in the area of challenging behaviour were under the age of 20 years. Twenty-four per cent of clients with a need in the area of personal safety and wellbeing were aged 20 years or under. In the parenting/caring need area the majority of clients (68 per cent of those clients with a need in this area) were aged between 20–39 years. Disability was a need area for older clients, with 40 per cent of clients with a need in this area being aged 40 years and over compared to 26 per cent of the total client population.

Indigenous clients were more likely than non-Indigenous clients to have needs related to alcohol and other drug use (35 per cent of Indigenous clients compared to 30 per cent for non-Indigenous clients), parenting/caring (35 per cent compared to 28 per cent) and accompanying children (31 per cent compared to 27 per cent; see Table 9). Indigenous clients were less likely to have needs for support relating to mental health (26 per cent of clients of Indigenous origin compared to 35 per cent for non-Indigenous clients) and access to social supports (34 per cent compared to 42 per cent).

The proportion of clients within each state and territory reporting specific needs was fairly consistent (see Table 10). Across all jurisdictions, housing needs were reported most often, and for most states and territories this was followed by needs related to money management/finances, with the exception of South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory where needs relating to exposure to/effects of violence were reported more commonly. In half of the jurisdictions, the least common need reported related to disability; however, in Queensland and South Australia the least common support need reported related to challenging behaviour, for the Australian Capital Territory it related to accompanying children and in the Northern Territory the least common needs related to mental health issues and challenging behaviour. Variation in reporting across states and territories is likely to reflect, in part, the organisation of SAAP-funded services in different ways and differing access to other (non-SAAP) services.



Tabl

e 8:

SA

AP H

igh

and

com

plex

nee

ds c

ensu

s cl

ient

s by

iden

tified

nee

ds a

nd a

ge a

nd s

ex, 2

008

U

nder

15

year

s15

–19

year

s20

–24

year

s25

–29

year

s30

–34

year

s35

–39

year

s40

–44

year

s45

–49

year

s50

–54

year

s55

–59

year

s60

–64

year

s65

+

year

sN

ot

stat

edTo

tal

Num

ber

Hou

sing

Mal

e25

613

433

282

338

387

332

271

158

126

6975

583,

167

Fem

ale

391,

173

990

711

698

699

532

312

167

8854

7112

05,

654

Not

sta

ted

112

1512

1016

1310

32

00

498

Tota

l65

1,79

81,

438

1,00

51,

046

1,10

287

759

332

821

612

314

618

28,

919

Mon

ey m

anag

emen

t/fin

ance

s

Mal

e8

410

322

182

224

250

193

156

8860

4134

271,

995

Fem

ale

1272

462

148

544

751

337

419

111

757

3026

893,

686

Not

sta

ted

05

79

513

76

20

00

155

Tota

l20

1,13

995

067

667

677

657

435

320

711

771

6011

75,

736

Alc

ohol

and

oth

er d

rug

use

Mal

e7

253

199

147

214

221

198

172

8970

3127

221,

650

Fem

ale

631

125

420

120

821

817

683

5623

95

301,

580

Not

sta

ted

02

79

36

34

11

00

238

Tota

l13

566

460

357

425

445

377

259

146

9440

3254

3,26

8

Men

tal h

ealt

h is

sues

Mal

e8

180

176

129

170

169

163

125

6373

2426

191,

325

Fem

ale

1134

536

427

827

731

125

215

398

5533

2760

2,26

4

Not

sta

ted

03

64

112

27

20

00

239

Tota

l19

528

546

411

448

492

417

285

163

128

5753

813,

628

17


Tabl

e 8:

SA

AP H

igh

and

com

plex

nee

ds c

ensu

s cl

ient

s by

iden

tified

nee

ds a

nd a

ge a

nd s

ex, 2

008

(con

tinue

d)

U

nder

15

year

s15

–19

year

s20

–24

year

s25

–29

year

s30

–34

year

s35

–39

year

s40

–44

year

s45

–49

year

s50

–54

year

s55

–59

year

s60

–64

year

s65

+

year

sN

ot

stat

edTo

tal

Num

ber

Dis

abili

ty

Mal

e11

107

116

6192

103

105

108

6060

2533

1089

1

Fem

ale

618

018

811

812

617

715

112

482

5331

4031

1,30

7

Not

sta

ted

02

51

17

06

31

00

228

Tota

l17

289

309

180

219

287

256

238

145

114

5673

432,

226

Expo

sure

to/e

ffec

ts o

f vio

lenc

e

Mal

e29

259

139

6310

199

8758

3930

1215

2595

6

Fem

ale

3759

662

956

558

958

544

923

313

580

3736

102

4,07

3

Not

sta

ted

05

53

510

38

21

00

446

Tota

l66

860

773

631

695

694

539

299

176

111

4951

131

5,07

5

Chal

leng

ing

beha

viou

r

Mal

e36

293

163

9312

710

311

785

4030

1515

191,

136

Fem

ale

2834

818

812

412

012

610

360

3314

47

271,

182

Not

sta

ted

16

54

16

22

10

00

129

Tota

l65

647

356

221

248

235

222

147

7444

1922

472,

347

Pers

onal

saf

ety

and

wel

lbei

ng

Mal

e25

258

163

8411

912

010

484

4951

2626

121,

121

Fem

ale

2954

037

729

930

530

924

312

481

4923

2362

2,46

4

Not

sta

ted

14

75

48

28

11

00

142

Tota

l55

802

547

388

428

437

349

216

131

101

4949

753,

627



Tabl

e 8:

SA

AP H

igh

and

com

plex

nee

ds c

ensu

s cl

ient

s by

iden

tified

nee

ds a

nd a

ge a

nd s

ex, 2

008

(con

tinue

d)

U

nder

15

year

s15

–19

year

s20

–24

year

s25

–29

year

s30

–34

year

s35

–39

year

s40

–44

year

s45

–49

year

s50

–54

year

s55

–59

year

s60

–64

year

s65

+

year

sN

ot

stat

edTo

tal

Num

ber

Phys

ical

hea

lth

and

self

care

Mal

e11

238

153

9312

413

413

011

473

6539

4716

1,23

7

Fem

ale

1142

634

523

324

221

719

611

582

4227

4346

2,02

5

Not

sta

ted

03

84

18

45

20

00

338

Tota

l22

667

506

330

367

359

330

234

157

107

6690

653,

300

Acc

essi

ng s

ervi

ces

Mal

e11

344

243

142

177

156

160

119

6959

3140

271,

578

Fem

ale

1854

753

241

740

540

032

118

111

060

3152

723,

146

Not

sta

ted

06

97

510

28

20

00

251

Tota

l29

897

784

566

587

566

483

308

181

119

6292

101

4,77

5

Acc

ess

to s

ocia

l sup

port

s

Mal

e17

298

193

117

133

151

141

110

6653

2725

221,

353

Fem

ale

1850

348

240

638

738

429

715

210

859

2942

812,

948

Not

sta

ted

03

85

27

57

20

00

241

Tota

l35

804

683

528

522

542

443

269

176

112

5667

105

4,34

2

Pare

ntin

g/ca

ring

Mal

e4

4070

5568

8549

3619

83

48

449

Fem

ale

925

455

644

243

140

528

912

150

157

369

2,65

1

Not

sta

ted

01

74

511

34

00

00

035

Tota

l13

295

633

501

504

501

341

161

6923

107

773,

135

19


Tabl

e 8:

SA

AP H

igh

and

com

plex

nee

ds c

ensu

s cl

ient

s by

iden

tified

nee

ds a

nd a

ge a

nd s

ex, 2

008

(con

tinue

d)

U

nder

15

year

s15

–19

year

s20

–24

year

s25

–29

year

s30

–34

year

s35

–39

year

s40

–44

year

s45

–49

year

s50

–54

year

s55

–59

year

s60

–64

year

s65

+

year

sN

ot

stat

edTo

tal

Num

ber

Acc

ompa

nyin

g ch

ildre

n

Mal

e0

420

1532

4826

216

42

15

184

Fem

ale

214

146

047

749

350

735

812

953

146

273

2,71

5

Not

sta

ted

00

72

57

26

01

00

131

Tota

l2

145

487

494

530

562

386

156

5919

83

792,

930

Per c

ent

Hou

sing

Mal

e0.

36.

94.

93.

23.

84.

33.

73.

01.

81.

40.

80.

80.

735

.5

Fem

ale

0.4

13.2

11.1

8.0

7.8

7.8

6.0

3.5

1.9

1.0

0.6

0.8

1.3

63.4

Not

sta

ted

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.1

0.1

0.2

0.1

0.1

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

1.1

Tota

l0.

720

.216

.111

.311

.712

.49.

86.

63.

72.

41.

41.

62.

010

0.0

Mon

ey m

anag

emen

t/fin

ance

s

Mal

e0.

17.

15.

63.

23.

94.

43.

42.

71.

51.

00.

70.

60.

534

.8

Fem

ale

0.2

12.6

10.8

8.5

7.8

8.9

6.5

3.3

2.0

1.0

0.5

0.5

1.6

64.3

Not

sta

ted

0.0

0.1

0.1

0.2

0.1

0.2

0.1

0.1

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

1.0

Tota

l0.

319

.916

.611

.811

.813

.510

.06.

23.

62.

01.

21.

02.

010

0.0

Alc

ohol

and

oth

er d

rug

use

Mal

e0.

27.

76.

14.

56.

56.

86.

15.

32.

72.

10.

90.

80.

750

.5

Fem

ale

0.2

9.5

7.8

6.2

6.4

6.7

5.4

2.5

1.7

0.7

0.3

0.2

0.9

48.3

Not

sta

ted

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.1

0.2

0.1

0.1

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.1

1.2

Tota

l0.

417

.314

.110

.913

.013

.611

.57.

94.

52.

91.

21.

01.

710

0.0



Tabl

e 8:

SA

AP H

igh

and

com

plex

nee

ds c

ensu

s cl

ient

s by

iden

tified

nee

ds a

nd a

ge a

nd s

ex, 2

008

(con

tinue

d)

U

nder

15

year

s15

–19

year

s20

–24

year

s25

–29

year

s30

–34

year

s35

–39

year

s40

–44

year

s45

–49

year

s50

–54

year

s55

–59

year

s60

–64

year

s65

+

year

sN

ot

stat

edTo

tal

Per c

ent

Men

tal h

ealt

h is

sues

Mal

e0.

25.

04.

93.

64.

74.

74.

53.

41.

72.

00.

70.

70.

536

.5

Fem

ale

0.3

9.5

10.0

7.7

7.6

8.6

6.9

4.2

2.7

1.5

0.9

0.7

1.7

62.4

Not

sta

ted

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.1

0.0

0.3

0.1

0.2

0.1

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.1

1.1

Tota

l0.

514

.615

.011

.312

.313

.611

.57.

94.

53.

51.

61.

52.

210

0.0

Dis

abili

ty

Mal

e0.

54.

85.

22.

74.

14.

64.

74.

92.

72.

71.

11.

50.

440

.0

Fem

ale

0.3

8.1

8.4

5.3

5.7

8.0

6.8

5.6

3.7

2.4

1.4

1.8

1.4

58.7

Not

sta

ted

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.0

0.0

0.3

0.0

0.3

0.1

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.1

1.3

Tota

l0.

813

.013

.98.

19.

812

.911

.510

.76.

55.

12.

53.

31.

910

0.0

Expo

sure

to/e

ffec

ts o

f vio

lenc

e

Mal

e0.

65.

12.

71.

22.

02.

01.

71.

10.

80.

60.

20.

30.

518

.8

Fem

ale

0.7

11.7

12.4

11.1

11.6

11.5

8.8

4.6

2.7

1.6

0.7

0.7

2.0

80.3

Not

sta

ted

0.0

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.2

0.1

0.2

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.1

0.9

Tota

l1.

316

.915

.212

.413

.713

.710

.65.

93.

52.

21.

01.

02.

610

0.0

Chal

leng

ing

beha

viou

r

Mal

e1.

512

.56.

94.

05.

44.

45.

03.

61.

71.

30.

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827

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year

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year

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year

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Per c

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l0.

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SA

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23


Table 9: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs and Indigenous status, 2008

Need area

Aboriginal or Torres Strait

Islander origin

Not Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin Not stated Total

Number

Housing 1,314 7,426 179 8,919

Money management/finances 858 4,777 101 5,736

Alcohol & other drug use 569 2,641 58 3,268

Mental health issues 422 3,141 65 3,628

Disability 285 1,899 42 2,226

Exposure to/effects of violence 785 4,205 85 5,075

Challenging behaviour 361 1,940 46 2,347

Personal safety & wellbeing 512 3,054 61 3,627

Physical health & self care 496 2,741 63 3,300

Accessing services 709 3,980 86 4,775

Access to social supports 549 3,708 85 4,342

Parenting/caring 561 2,513 61 3,135

Accompanying children 500 2,377 53 2,930

Per cent

Housing 81.7 83.7 86.1 83.5

Money management/finances 53.4 53.9 48.6 53.7

Alcohol & other drug use 35.4 29.8 27.9 30.6

Mental health issues 26.2 35.4 31.3 34.0

Disability 17.7 21.4 20.2 20.8

Exposure to/effects of violence 48.8 47.4 40.9 47.5

Challenging behaviour 22.5 21.9 22.1 22.0

Personal safety & wellbeing 31.8 34.4 29.3 34.0

Physical health & self care 30.8 30.9 30.3 30.9

Accessing services 44.1 44.9 41.3 44.7

Access to social supports 34.1 41.8 40.9 40.6

Parenting/caring 34.9 28.3 29.3 29.3

Accompanying children 31.1 26.8 25.5 27.4



Table 10: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs and state/territory of agency, 2008

Need area NSW Vic. Qld WA SA Tas. ACT NTNot

stated Australia

Number

Housing 2,698 2,605 1,436 479 867 317 283 159 75 8,919

Money management/finances

1,719 1,685 943 293 609 191 158 85 53 5,736

Alcohol & other drug use 1,217 884 432 162 297 95 111 56 14 3,268

Mental health issues 1,236 1,072 506 131 374 110 146 30 23 3,628

Disability 750 621 346 90 215 61 93 39 11 2,226

Exposure to/effects of violence

1,691 1,435 634 273 616 154 175 70 27 5,075

Challenging behaviour 802 675 294 119 212 107 92 30 16 2,347

Personal safety & wellbeing

1,232 1,081 419 171 412 100 136 52 24 3,627

Physical health & self care

1,009 973 507 187 311 98 140 52 23 3,300

Accessing services 1,471 1,459 705 228 498 148 165 63 38 4,775

Access to social supports 1,399 1,327 584 218 491 117 130 48 28 4,342

Parenting/caring 938 855 490 170 437 92 95 40 18 3,135

Accompanying children 840 819 450 161 444 83 84 35 14 2,930

Per cent

Housing 79.4 87.9 86.2 82.0 79.6 81.7 88.7 83.7 89.3 83.5


50.6 56.8 56.6 50.2 55.9 49.2 49.5 44.7 63.1 53.7

Alcohol & other drug use 35.8 29.8 25.9 27.7 27.3 24.5 34.8 29.5 16.7 30.6

Mental health issues 36.4 36.2 30.4 22.4 34.3 28.4 45.8 15.8 27.4 34.0

Disability 22.1 20.9 20.8 15.4 19.7 15.7 29.2 20.5 13.1 20.8


49.8 48.4 38.1 46.7 56.6 39.7 54.9 36.8 32.1 47.5

Challenging behaviour 23.6 22.8 17.6 20.4 19.5 27.6 28.8 15.8 19.0 22.0


36.3 36.5 25.2 29.3 37.8 25.8 42.6 27.4 28.6 34.0


29.7 32.8 30.4 32.0 28.6 25.3 43.9 27.4 27.4 30.9

Accessing services 43.3 49.2 42.3 39.0 45.7 38.1 51.7 33.2 45.2 44.7

Access to social supports 41.2 44.8 35.1 37.3 45.1 30.2 40.8 25.3 33.3 40.6

Parenting/caring 27.6 28.8 29.4 29.1 40.1 23.7 29.8 21.1 21.4 29.3

Accompanying children 24.7 27.6 27.0 27.6 40.8 21.4 26.3 18.4 16.7 27.4

25


3.2 Specific circumstances of clients with identified needs

Where clients were thought to have a need in a particular area, respondents selected specific circumstances that applied to that client. Table 11 indicates the number and proportion of clients experiencing each circumstance across the 13 needs areas. The most common circumstance reported was currently homeless, which was reported for 51 per cent of clients (5,429 clients). As noted previously, this is likely to underestimate the true proportion of homeless clients as the project team believe that many clients who were being accommodated in medium or long-term accommodation were not identified as being homeless, although all people being accommodated in SAAP under agreed definitions of homelessness4 would usually be considered homeless.

The next most common circumstances (in relation to all clients) were family/domestic violence (36 per cent of clients; 3,822 clients), no available affordable housing and at risk of homelessness (both recorded for 34 per cent of clients; 3,598 clients and 3,588 clients respectively), and persistent difficulty managing budgets (recorded for 32 per cent of clients; 3,433 clients).

Data were also collected on the number of children (and their ages) for whom specific circumstances applied (see Table 12; note Table 11 provides information on the number of clients who had any child for whom a specific circumstance was applicable). The most common circumstance that related to accompanying children was persistent effects of witnessing and/or experiencing family violence (reported for 35 per cent of all children; 3,018 children).



Table 11: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs and specific circumstances, 2008

Sex Per cent of clients

within area of needCircumstances identified Male Female

Not stated Total

Per cent of all clients

Housing

Currently homeless (including people living in short-term accommodation)

2,082 3,285 62 5,429 60.9 50.8

At risk of homelessness 1,220 2,323 45 3,588 40.2 33.6

History of homelessness 1,362 1,798 35 3,195 35.8 29.9

Poor housing record 1,074 1,452 27 2,553 28.6 23.9

Frequent housing moves in last 2 years

1,164 1,867 32 3,063 34.3 28.7

Restricted access to housing due to age (that is, <18yrs)

295 540 6 841 9.4 7.9

Unsafe housing (due to risk posed by other household numbers)

278 1,088 18 1,384 15.5 13.0

Unsuitable house structure/unsuitable housing/overcrowding

311 702 8 1,021 11.4 9.6

Discrimination/blacklisting by private rental market

381 853 14 1,248 14.0 11.7

Exiting from prison/juvenile detention centre

236 62 4 302 3.4 2.8

Exiting from another institution 179 104 4 287 3.2 2.7

No available affordable housing 1,270 2,304 24 3,598 40.3 33.7

Other 323 540 4 867 9.7 8.1

Total 3,167 5,654 98 8,919 100.0 83.5

Money management and finances

Significant debt 568 1,346 24 1,938 33.8 18.1

Ineligibility for Centrelink benefits 122 247 5 374 6.5 3.5

Failure to meet Centrelink requirements

174 236 1 411 7.2 3.8

Domestic violence 59 1,134 11 1,204 21.0 11.3

Being a recent arrival to Australia 58 187 2 247 4.3 2.3

Having left family home for the first time

129 347 4 480 8.4 4.5

Persistent difficulty managing budgets/finances

1,306 2,092 35 3,433 59.9 32.1

Gambling 214 121 1 336 5.9 3.1

Alcohol and other drug use 876 711 16 1,603 27.9 15.0

27


Table 11: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs and specific circumstances, 2008 (continued)



Not stated Total


Sharing/giving income to others 414 704 14 1,132 19.7 10.6

Exploitation by others 374 750 8 1,132 19.7 10.6

Other 264 475 7 746 13.0 7.0

Total 1,995 3,686 55 5,736 100.0 53.7

Alcohol and/or drug use

Problematic use of alcohol 1,113 854 25 1,992 61.0 18.6

Problematic use of other drug(s) 1,055 956 26 2,037 62.3 19.1

Episodes of drug induced psychosis

267 163 7 437 13.4 4.1

Repeated use of withdrawal/rehabilitation/support services

318 223 6 547 16.7 5.1

Affected by alcohol and other drug use of other person(s)

311 515 6 832 25.5 7.8

Other 110 135 2 247 7.6 2.3

Total 1,650 1,580 38 3,268 100.0 30.6

Mental health issues

Known diagnosis of mental disorder(s)

790 1,230 25 2,045 56.4 19.1

Self reports as having a mental illness

314 686 11 1,011 27.9 9.5

Suspected to have a mental illness

392 648 12 1,052 29.0 9.8

Current use of specialised mental health service

412 700 12 1,124 31.0 10.5

Total 1,325 2,264 39 3,628 100.0 34.0

Disability

Intellectual 175 200 6 381 17.1 3.6

Learning 191 225 5 421 18.9 3.9

Physical 249 332 1 582 26.1 5.4

Acquired brain injury 108 64 2 174 7.8 1.6

Sensory/speech 59 58 0 117 5.3 1.1

Psychiatric 449 804 18 1,271 57.1 11.9

Other 0 2 0 2 0.1 0.0

Total 891 1,307 28 2,226 100.0 20.8






Not stated Total



Family/domestic violence 473 3,310 39 3,822 75.3 35.8

Violent and potentially lethal perpetrator

148 955 12 1,115 22.0 10.4

Community violence 329 410 6 745 14.7 7.0

Torture and trauma 119 412 1 532 10.5 5.0

Affected by previous abuse or violence

536 2,423 25 2,984 58.8 27.9

Other 81 218 1 300 5.9 2.8

Total 956 4,073 46 5,075 100.0 47.5

Challenging behaviour

Abusive, violent or aggressive behaviour

565 554 14 1,133 48.3 10.6

Perpetrator of domestic violence 149 84 4 237 10.1 2.2

Discrimination/intolerance of others

307 311 8 626 26.7 5.9

Difficulty living with others, complying with rules

688 733 18 1,439 61.3 13.5

Repeated acting out or bullying or non-attendance at school

172 214 3 389 16.6 3.6

Frequent encounters with police, criminal justice system and night patrols

426 236 11 673 28.7 6.3

Other 182 252 11 445 19.0 4.2

Total 1,136 1,182 29 2,347 100.0 22.0

Personal safety and wellbeing

Risk taking behaviour 560 817 18 1,395 38.5 13.1

Suicide risk 180 360 6 546 15.1 5.1

Self harm/mutilation 126 387 7 520 14.3 4.9

Vulnerability to abuse, exploitation

567 1,768 27 2,362 65.1 22.1

Not taking prescribed medication(s)

276 314 5 595 16.4 5.6

Other 154 365 7 526 14.5 4.9

Total 1,121 2,464 42 3,627 100.0 34.0

29





Not stated Total


Physical health and self care

Poor physical health 648 964 21 1,633 49.5 15.3

Lack of hygiene compromising health/service access

418 325 6 749 22.7 7.0

Difficulty with basic living skills 660 732 11 1,403 42.5 13.1

Malnutrition 189 202 4 395 12.0 3.7

Frequent hospitalisation associated with poor self care

119 133 1 253 7.7 2.4

Poor dental heath 448 490 7 945 28.6 8.8

Requires prenatal or postnatal care

12 394 5 411 12.5 3.8

Other 206 425 6 637 19.3 6.0

Total 1,237 2,025 38 3,300 100.0 30.9

Accessing services

Persistent refusal/unwillingness to use needed services

555 745 17 1,317 27.6 12.3

Uncoordinated multiple use of services

386 619 11 1,016 21.3 9.5

Ongoing inability to negotiate service system

624 1,125 23 1,772 37.1 16.6

Recurring criminal issues 262 137 6 405 8.5 3.8

Recurring legal issues 258 535 10 803 16.8 7.5

No longer entitled to assistance (including brokerage, relief or vouchers)

111 179 4 294 6.2 2.8

Exclusion from other services 181 203 7 391 8.2 3.7

Geographic isolation 123 440 6 569 11.9 5.3

Limited access to transport 444 1,348 14 1,806 37.8 16.9

Other 318 828 13 1,159 24.3 10.8

Total 1,578 3,146 51 4,775 100.0 44.7

Access to social supports

Abusive, exploitive relationships 352 1,488 16 1,856 42.7 17.4

Exclusion from home and supports

673 1,225 19 1,917 44.2 17.9

Exclusion from own community or cultural group

259 603 6 868 20.0 8.1

Limited social skills 845 1,210 20 2,075 47.8 19.4

Relocation to new area/country 348 1,213 12 1,573 36.2 14.7

Other 192 422 5 619 14.3 5.8

Total 1,353 2,948 41 4,342 100.0 40.6






Not stated Total


Parenting/caring

Parenting skills 264 1,605 16 1,885 60.1 17.6

Managing domestic responsibility related to child(ren)

191 1,031 16 1,238 39.5 11.6

Family law matters 161 860 10 1,031 32.9 9.7

Accessing and negotiating services/agencies for self and child(ren)

199 1,321 16 1,536 49.0 14.4

Accessing child care (formal and informal)

107 870 9 986 31.5 9.2

Assistance negotiating with child protection authorities

110 654 10 774 24.7 7.2

Assistance with rebuilding family relationships

254 1,074 18 1,346 42.9 12.6

Developing safety measures for child(ren) if perpetrator of domestic violence still presents a risk

52 860 9 921 29.4 8.6

Other 42 284 5 331 10.6 3.1

Total 449 2,651 35 3,135 100.0 29.3

Accompanying children

Is a client of a statutory child protection agency

40 516 7 563 19.2 5.3

Considered to be at risk of neglect or abuse

43 547 9 599 20.4 5.6

Parenting/carer arrangements unsatisfactory

41 428 6 475 16.2 4.4

Persistent effects of witnessing and/or experiencing family violence

40 1,411 19 1,470 50.2 13.8

Has significant health and/or medical issues

27 482 7 516 17.6 4.8

Requires assistance with delay/disability

37 403 7 447 15.3 4.2

Requires assistance with behavioural issues

62 1,066 11 1,139 38.9 10.7

Requires assistance with social/emotional issues

82 1,364 12 1,458 49.8 13.6

Requires assistance with education

74 791 11 876 29.9 8.2

Requires assistance with life skills

51 641 10 702 24.0 6.6

Other 26 357 5 388 13.2 3.6

Total 184 2,715 31 2,930 100.0 27.4

31


Table 12: SAAP High and complex needs census accompanying children by child age and specific circumstances, 2008

0–4 years

5–9 years

10–14 years

15–17 years

Not stated

Total

Number


536 289 195 43 12 1,075


569 335 210 38 12 1,164


414 252 162 31 12 871


1,056 988 718 230 26 3,018


301 193 136 45 4 679


217 186 141 48 0 592


580 574 474 148 13 1,789


760 883 727 258 15 2,643

Requires assistance with education 256 506 490 207 12 1,471

Requires assistance with life skills 364 360 340 158 9 1,231

Other 313 170 141 58 7 689

Total children with circumstances reported 5,651

Total children 8,639

Per cent


49.9 26.9 18.1 4.0 1.1 100.0


48.9 28.8 18.0 3.3 1.0 100.0


47.5 28.9 18.6 3.6 1.4 100.0


35.0 32.7 23.8 7.6 0.9 100.0


44.3 28.4 20.0 6.6 0.6 100.0


36.7 31.4 23.8 8.1 0.0 100.0


32.4 32.1 26.5 8.3 0.7 100.0


28.8 33.4 27.5 9.8 0.6 100.0

Requires assistance with education 17.4 34.4 33.3 14.1 0.8 100.0

Requires assistance with life skills 29.6 29.2 27.6 12.8 0.7 100.0

Other 45.4 24.7 20.5 8.4 1.0 100.0



3.3 level of support required and agencies’ ability to meet existing needs

For each need area identified, agency staff were asked to assess the level of support required to meet the client’s need for assistance in that area (low/medium/high)5 and also whether the support needs of the client in that area could be met by their agency (yes/no/to some extent).

Across all needs areas, the largest proportions of clients who had a need were considered to have a medium need, with the exception of housing where nearly half (49 per cent) of all clients with a housing need were thought to have a high need (see Table 13). Because housing was also the most common need area identified, the high needs associated with housing were the biggest both in absolute terms and in proportional terms. Housing was also the area in which the lowest proportion of clients were thought to have a low need (12 per cent of clients with a housing need).

Across all areas, the proportion of clients with a high need were substantial. In most areas, at least 30 per cent of clients were thought to have a high need—the area in which clients with a need identified were least likely to have a high need was access to social supports (28 per cent).

In relation to the ability of agencies to meet the clients’ support needs across all areas, the highest proportions of clients were reported to be able to have their needs met to some extent. The areas in which agencies reported that they were most likely to be able to meet the needs of the client were accessing services (32 per cent of clients with this need could have their need met in full by the agency) and housing (30 per cent).

The areas in which agencies reported that they were least likely to be able to meet the client’s need were mental health issues (where 42 per cent of clients with a need in this area could not have their need met by the reporting agency), disability (38 per cent) and physical health and self care (33 per cent). This finding reflects the likelihood that clients with needs for assistance in these areas require specialist intervention.

Table 14 outlines the proportion of clients in each needs area who could have their support needs met in full by the reporting agency by state and territory. It should be noted that whether an agency could meet a specific need is affected by the role of the agency that was reporting the data and the organisation of services within a particular jurisdiction. That is, it does not provide an indication of whether the clients’ needs are likely to be met by other agencies (either within SAAP or outside SAAP). Housing support needs saw the greatest variation across states and territories in agencies’ ability to meet these needs in full—from a high of 42 per cent in Victoria to a low of 17 per cent in the Northern Territory.

33


Table 13: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by extent to which agency can meet need, need area identified and level of support required, 2008

Need area/level of support required

Extent to which agency can meet need

Yes To some extent No Not stated Total

Number

Housing

Low 515 398 110 6 1,029

Medium 1,143 1,962 417 8 3,530

High 1,050 2,630 630 15 4,325

Not stated 3 10 6 16 35

Total 2,711 5,000 1,163 45 8,919


Low 436 296 142 2 876

Medium 791 1,459 493 13 2,756

High 331 1,229 510 4 2,074

Not stated 1 1 5 23 30

Total 1,559 2,985 1,150 42 5,736

Alcohol & other drug use

Low 172 186 126 1 485

Medium 220 771 448 3 1,442

High 146 717 464 2 1,329


Total 538 1,675 1,042 13 3,268


Low 130 247 260 1 638

Medium 136 877 713 6 1,732

High 48 651 548 2 1,249


Total 314 1,779 1,522 13 3,628

Disability

Low 115 153 152 0 420

Medium 102 495 352 3 952

High 40 459 344 0 843


Total 257 1,107 851 11 2,226



Table 13: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by extent to which agency can meet need, need area identified and level of support required, 2008 (continued)




Number


Low 339 320 133 1 793

Medium 646 1,250 434 5 2,335

High 448 1,115 365 4 1,932


Total 1,435 2,686 933 21 5,075


Low 175 129 48 1 353

Medium 296 570 187 0 1,053

High 149 550 230 3 932


Total 621 1,249 465 12 2,347


Low 293 239 66 2 600

Medium 510 952 250 6 1,718

High 167 839 285 3 1,294


Total 973 2,034 602 18 3,627


Low 234 280 276 2 792

Medium 309 727 496 5 1,537

High 98 538 320 1 957


Total 641 1,547 1,094 18 3,300

Accessing services

Low 463 412 107 4 986

Medium 745 1,348 280 6 2,379

High 303 842 224 6 1,375


Total 1,511 2,605 614 45 4,775

35






Number


Low 338 412 120 2 872

Medium 599 1,286 341 9 2,235

High 183 825 201 0 1,209


Total 1,120 2,528 663 31 4,342

Parenting/caring

Low 198 226 113 0 537

Medium 267 824 302 3 1,396

High 113 754 298 1 1,166


Total 579 1,807 718 31 3,135


Low 257 314 175 4 750

Medium 221 704 333 2 1,260

High 99 560 261 0 920

Total 577 1,578 769 6 2,930

Per cent

Housing

Low 5.8 4.5 1.2 0.1 11.5

Medium 12.8 22.0 4.7 0.1 39.6

High 11.8 29.5 7.1 0.2 48.5

Not stated 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.4

Total 30.4 56.1 13.0 0.5 100.0


Low 7.6 5.2 2.5 0.0 15.3

Medium 13.8 25.4 8.6 0.2 48.0

High 5.8 21.4 8.9 0.1 36.2

Not stated 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.4 0.5

Total 27.2 52.0 20.0 0.7 100.0







Per cent


Low 5.3 5.7 3.9 0.0 14.8

Medium 6.7 23.6 13.7 0.1 44.1

High 4.5 21.9 14.2 0.1 40.7

Not stated 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.4

Total 16.5 51.3 31.9 0.4 100.0


Low 3.6 6.8 7.2 0.0 17.6

Medium 3.7 24.2 19.7 0.2 47.7

High 1.3 17.9 15.1 0.1 34.4

Not stated 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2

Total 8.7 49.0 42.0 0.4 100.0

Disability

Low 5.2 6.9 6.8 0.0 18.9

Medium 4.6 22.2 15.8 0.1 42.8

High 1.8 20.6 15.5 0.0 37.9

Not stated 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.4 0.5

Total 11.5 49.7 38.2 0.5 100.0


Low 6.7 6.3 2.6 0.0 15.6

Medium 12.7 24.6 8.6 0.1 46.0

High 8.8 22.0 7.2 0.1 38.1

Not stated 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3

Total 28.3 52.9 18.4 0.4 100.0


Low 7.5 5.5 2.0 0.0 15.0

Medium 12.6 24.3 8.0 0.0 44.9

High 6.3 23.4 9.8 0.1 39.7

Not stated 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.4

Total 26.5 53.2 19.8 0.5 100.0

37






Per cent


Low 8.1 6.6 1.8 0.1 16.5

Medium 14.1 26.2 6.9 0.2 47.4

High 4.6 23.1 7.9 0.1 35.7

Not stated 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.4

Total 26.8 56.1 16.6 0.5 100.0


Low 7.1 8.5 8.4 0.1 24.0

Medium 9.4 22.0 15.0 0.2 46.6

High 3.0 16.3 9.7 0.0 29.0

Not stated 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.4

Total 19.4 46.9 33.2 0.5 100.0

Accessing services

Low 9.7 8.6 2.2 0.1 20.6

Medium 15.6 28.2 5.9 0.1 49.8

High 6.3 17.6 4.7 0.1 28.8

Not stated 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.6 0.7

Total 31.6 54.6 12.9 0.9 100.0


Low 7.8 9.5 2.8 0.0 20.1

Medium 13.8 29.6 7.9 0.2 51.5

High 4.2 19.0 4.6 0.0 27.8

Not stated 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.5 0.6

Total 25.8 58.2 15.3 0.7 100.0

Parenting/caring

Low 6.3 7.2 3.6 0.0 17.1

Medium 8.5 26.3 9.6 0.1 44.5

High 3.6 24.1 9.5 0.0 37.2

Not stated 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.9 1.1

Total 18.5 57.6 22.9 1.0 100.0


Low 8.8 10.7 6.0 0.1 25.6

Medium 7.5 24.0 11.4 0.1 43.0

High 3.4 19.1 8.9 0.0 31.4

Total 19.7 53.9 26.2 0.2 100.0



Table 14: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs that can be met by the agency bystate/territory of agency, 2008

Need area NSW Vic. Qld WA SA Tas. ACT NTNot

stated Australia

Number

Housing 671 1,098 334 119 257 95 89 27 21 2,711


455 471 248 79 177 61 24 27 17 1,559


228 148 34 24 71 8 16 8 1 538

Mental health issues 130 72 38 16 30 10 16 1 1 314

Disability 89 83 34 13 15 8 11 3 1 257


481 395 141 97 230 31 37 15 8 1,435

Challenging behaviour 222 195 61 34 65 20 19 3 2 621


334 311 99 48 117 19 32 11 2 973


238 193 69 30 58 18 28 7 – 641

Accessing services 469 528 177 82 137 38 51 18 11 1,511


392 389 100 74 104 24 20 11 6 1,120

Parenting/caring 206 141 93 25 66 21 13 10 4 579


190 150 88 36 80 15 12 4 2 577

Per cent (of clients with a need identified in the area)

Housing 24.9 42.1 23.3 24.8 29.6 30.0 31.4 17.0 28.0 30.4


26.5 28.0 26.3 27.0 29.1 31.9 15.2 31.8 32.1 27.2


18.7 16.7 7.9 14.8 23.9 8.4 14.4 14.3 7.1 16.5

Mental health issues 10.5 6.7 7.5 12.2 8.0 9.1 11.0 3.3 4.3 8.7

Disability 11.9 13.4 9.8 14.4 7.0 13.1 11.8 7.7 9.1 11.5


28.4 27.5 22.2 35.5 37.3 20.1 21.1 21.4 29.6 28.3

Challenging behaviour 27.7 28.9 20.7 28.6 30.7 18.7 20.7 10.0 12.5 26.5


27.1 28.8 23.6 28.1 28.4 19.0 23.5 21.2 8.3 26.8


23.6 19.8 13.6 16.0 18.6 18.4 20.0 13.5 – 19.4

Accessing services 31.9 36.2 25.1 36.0 27.5 25.7 30.9 28.6 28.9 31.6


28.0 29.3 17.1 33.9 21.2 20.5 15.4 22.9 21.4 25.8

Parenting/caring 22.0 16.5 19.0 14.7 15.1 22.8 13.7 25.0 22.2 18.5


22.6 18.3 19.6 22.4 18.0 18.1 14.3 11.4 14.3 19.7


39


3.4 Referral patterns and barriers

Where clients were thought to have a need for assistance and those needs could not be met in full by the reporting agency, respondents were asked to report whether they had referred, or intended to refer, the client to another service for assistance with this need. Across all need areas, the intention to refer was high (ranging from a high of 95 per cent of clients with a housing need to a low of 83 per cent for clients with a need relating to challenging behaviour; see Table 15).

Table 15: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs and referral intention, 2008

Need areaReferral intention(a)

Yes No Not stated Total

Number

Housing 5,907 254 47 6,208

Money management/finances 3,612 517 48 4,177

Alcohol & other drug use 2,390 321 19 2,730

Mental health issues 2,967 332 15 3,314

Disability 1,722 224 23 1,969

Exposure to/effects of violence 3,274 340 26 3,640

Challenging behaviour 1,432 271 23 1,726

Personal safety & wellbeing 2,345 283 26 2,654

Physical health & self care 2,398 235 26 2,659

Accessing services 2,865 328 71 3,264

Access to social supports 2,837 331 54 3,222

Parenting/caring 2,333 175 48 2,556

Accompanying children 2,119 216 18 2,353

Per cent

Housing 95.2 4.1 0.8 100.0

Money management/finances 86.5 12.4 1.1 100.0

Alcohol & other drug use 87.5 11.8 0.7 100.0

Mental health issues 89.5 10.0 0.5 100.0

Disability 87.5 11.4 1.2 100.0

Exposure to/effects of violence 89.9 9.3 0.7 100.0

Challenging behaviour 83.0 15.7 1.3 100.0

Personal safety & wellbeing 88.4 10.7 1.0 100.0

Physical health & self care 90.2 8.8 1.0 100.0

Accessing services 87.8 10.0 2.2 100.0

Access to social supports 88.1 10.3 1.7 100.0

Parenting/caring 91.3 6.8 1.9 100.0

Accompanying children 90.1 9.2 0.8 100.0

(a) Indicates that a client has been referred or will be referred for their support needs in the relevant area.



Where a reporting agency could not meet a specific need in full, respondents were also asked what barriers, if any, they perceived the client might have in accessing the services they require. Respondents were asked to report on potential barriers regardless of whether they planned to refer the client or not.

Across the 13 needs areas, between 32 per cent and 54 per cent of clients whose need could not be met by the reporting agency were not expected to face barriers in accessing other services (see Table 16). Clients who had needs for assistance relating to accessing services and challenging behaviour were most likely to anticipate barriers of some kind. This was followed by housing—where 38 per cent of clients whose need could not be met by the referring agency were not expected to face barriers in accessing required services and 46 per cent of all clients with a housing need that could not be met in full by the agency were expected to face difficulties accessing services due to long waiting lists. Clients who had a need for assistance relating to mental health issues were least likely to anticipate barriers to accessing services (54 per cent identified no barriers).

Where clients were expected to face barriers:

Waiting lists were the most common barrier identified for clients who needed assistance with housing, physical health/self care, parenting/caring and accompanying children.

Limited access to transport was the most common barrier identified for clients who needed assistance accessing services.

‘Client does not want to access services’ was the main barrier identified in all remaining areas: money management/finances, alcohol and other drug use, mental health issues, disability, exposure to/effects of violence, challenging behaviour, personal safety and wellbeing, and access to social supports.

41


Tabl

e 16

: SA

AP H

igh

and

com

plex

nee

ds c

ensu

s cl

ient

s by

iden

tified

nee

ds a

nd b

arrie

rs(a

) to a

cces

sing

requ

ired

serv

ices

, 200

8

Nee

d ar

eaN

o ba

rrie

rs

No

rele

vant

se

rvic

es e

xist

in

loca

l are

a

Lim

ited

ac

cess

to

tran

spor

t

Cann

ot a

cces

s se

rvic

es d

ue

to c

ost

Cann

ot a

cces

s se

rvic

es d

ue to

w

aiti

ng li

st

Clie

nt d

oes

not

wan

t to

acce

ss

serv

ices

Oth

er

barr

iers

N

ot s

tate

d

Tota

lN

umbe

r of c

lient

s w

hose

nee

ds c

ould

not

be

met

in fu

ll by

the

agen

cyH

ousi

ng2,

337

398

1,02

387

52,

828

483

858

121

6,20

8

Mon

ey m

anag

emen

t/fin

ance

s2,

042

264

550

225

607

893

430

175

4,17

7

Alc

ohol

& o

ther

dru

g us

e1,

196

133

330

115

398

1,02

220

086

2,73

0

Men

tal h

ealt

h is

sues

1,77

313

440

025

550

773

630

012

53,

314

Dis

abili

ty94

912

730

421

836

938

223

594

1,96

9

Expo

sure

to/e

ffec

ts o

f vio

lenc

e1,

850

196

473

271

594

771

391

130

3,64

0

Chal

leng

ing

beha

viou

r62

915

322

811

623

668

320

488

1,72

6

Pers

onal

saf

ety

& w

ellb

eing

1,18

221

737

919

941

469

032

111

72,

654

Phys

ical

hea

lth

& s

elf c

are

1,31

014

941

937

353

347

327

710

02,

659

Acc

essi

ng s

ervi

ces

1,03

035

787

747

370

382

756

316

83,

264

Acc

ess

to s

ocia

l sup

port

s1,

325

351

659

358

426

772

458

161

3,22

2

Pare

ntin

g/ca

ring

1,24

318

849

430

752

740

230

111

02,

556

Acc

ompa

nyin

g ch

ildre

n1,

194

180

419

253

480

328

275

105

2,35

3

Per c

ent o

f clie

nts

who

se n

eeds

cou

ld n

ot b

e m

et in

full

by th

e ag

ency

Hou

sing

37.6

6.4

16.5

14.1

45.6

7.8

13.8

1.9

100.

0

Mon

ey m

anag

emen

t/fin

ance

s48

.96.

313

.25.

414

.521

.410

.34.

210

0.0

Alc

ohol

& o

ther

dru

g us

e43

.84.

912

.14.

214

.637

.47.

33.

210

0.0

Men

tal h

ealt

h is

sues

53.5

4.0

12.1

7.7

15.3

22.2

9.1

3.8

100.

0

Dis

abili

ty48

.26.

415

.411

.118

.719

.411

.94.

810

0.0

Expo

sure

to/e

ffec

ts o

f vio

lenc

e 50

.85.

413

.07.

416

.321

.210

.73.

610

0.0

Chal

leng

ing

beha

viou

r36

.48.

913

.26.

713

.739

.611

.85.

110

0.0

Pers

onal

saf

ety

& w

ellb

eing

44.5

8.2

14.3

7.5

15.6

26.0

12.1

4.4

100.

0

Phys

ical

hea

lth

& s

elf c

are

49.3

5.6

15.8

14.0

20.0

17.8

10.4

3.8

100.

0

Acc

essi

ng s

ervi

ces

31.6

10.9

26.9

14.5

21.5

25.3

17.2

5.1

100.

0

Acc

ess

to s

ocia

l sup

port

s41

.110

.920

.511

.113

.224

.014

.25.

010

0.0

Pare

ntin

g/ca

ring

48.6

7.4

19.3

12.0

20.6

15.7

11.8

4.3

100.

0

Acc

ompa

nyin

g ch

ildre

n50

.77.

617

.810

.820

.413

.911

.74.

510

0.0

(a)

Resp

onde

nts

coul

d se

lect

mor

e th

an b

arri

er (i

f app

licab

le).



3.5 Overall assessment of level and complexity of support needs

Respondents were asked to provide an overall indication of the extent and/or complexity of the client’s need based on their knowledge of the client and using their best judgment. This was rated on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 indicated that the client’s needs were not high or complex and 5 indicated that the client’s needs were very high or complex. The mean rating was 3.2; with 71 per cent of clients rated at 3 or above (7,573 clients); and 16 per cent (1,741 clients) were rated to have needs that were considered very high and/or complex (that is, a rating of 5; see Figure 2). Ten per cent (1,058 clients) were rated as having needs that were not high or complex.

Figure 2: SAAP High and complex needs census clients’ overall ratings of level and complexity of current needs, 2008

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

54321

Rating of extent/complexity of needs

Num

ber o

f clie

nts

Considering the overall rating in light of clients’ needs in specific areas, the need areas in which clients were most likely to have been rated to have high/complex needs were challenging behaviour (in which 67 per cent of clients who reported having needs in this area were rated as 4 or above on the overall needs scale) and personal safety and wellbeing (64 per cent; see Table 17). The distribution of overall need rating for clients with a housing need was very similar to the overall rating distribution for the entire census population, which reflects the fact that most clients had a need related to housing.

In terms of the distribution of client ratings by state, the highest proportion of clients rated as having high/complex needs (as indicated by a score of 4 or above on the overall rating scale) were in the Australian Capital Territory (49 per cent of clients were rated as scoring 4 or above); the lowest proportion of high/complex needs clients were reported for the Northern Territory (25 per cent; Table 18).

It should be noted that respondents were not provided with any guidelines to help them make judgements about the extent or complexity of a client’s need, and judgements such as these might reflect the complexity of a particular client relative to other clients seen by that agency (rather than the SAAP client population as a whole).

43


Table 17: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by identified needs and overall rating of level and complexity of current needs, 2008

Rating of extent/complexity of needs(a)

Need area 1 2 3 4 5Not

stated Total

Number

Housing 698 1,492 2,682 2,352 1,566 129 8,919


255 772 1,636 1,708 1,275 90 5,736

Alcohol & other drug use 91 369 882 1,024 865 37 3,268

Mental health issues 103 371 946 1,130 1,029 49 3,628

Disability 81 212 573 652 682 26 2,226


246 640 1,450 1,455 1,211 73 5,075

Challenging behaviour 57 161 516 741 843 29 2,347


81 301 865 1,201 1,134 45 3,627


98 298 823 1,037 997 47 3,300

Accessing services 150 488 1,324 1,521 1,233 59 4,775


139 467 1,177 1,361 1,152 46 4,342

Parenting/caring 121 372 890 925 786 41 3,135

Accompanying children 137 368 837 878 676 34 2,930

Per cent

Housing 7.8 16.7 30.1 26.4 17.6 1.4 100.0


4.4 13.5 28.5 29.8 22.2 1.6 100.0

Alcohol & other drug use 2.8 11.3 27.0 31.3 26.5 1.1 100.0

Mental health issues 2.8 10.2 26.1 31.1 28.4 1.4 100.0

Disability 3.6 9.5 25.7 29.3 30.6 1.2 100.0


4.8 12.6 28.6 28.7 23.9 1.4 100.0

Challenging behaviour 2.4 6.9 22.0 31.6 35.9 1.2 100.0


2.2 8.3 23.8 33.1 31.3 1.2 100.0


3.0 9.0 24.9 31.4 30.2 1.4 100.0

Accessing services 3.1 10.2 27.7 31.9 25.8 1.2 100.0


3.2 10.8 27.1 31.3 26.5 1.1 100.0

Parenting/caring 3.9 11.9 28.4 29.5 25.1 1.3 100.0

Accompanying children 4.7 12.6 28.6 30.0 23.1 1.2 100.0

(a) ‘1’ indicates that needs are not high or complex, ‘5’ indicates that needs are considered very high and/or complex.



Table 18: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by overall rating of the level and complexity of their current needs and state/territory of agency, 2008

Rating of extent/complexity of needs(a) NSW Vic. Qld WA SA Tas. ACT NT

Not stated Australia

Number

1 325 233 209 77 86 57 32 28 11 1,058

2 621 495 280 101 171 73 49 55 17 1,862

3 1,038 867 493 180 336 106 78 55 26 3,179

4 807 806 378 133 310 86 90 26 17 2,653

5 549 522 266 86 166 54 66 21 11 1,741

Not stated 58 42 40 7 20 12 4 5 2 190

Per cent

1 9.6 7.9 12.5 13.2 7.9 14.7 10.0 14.7 13.1 9.9

2 18.3 16.7 16.8 17.3 15.7 18.8 15.4 28.9 20.2 17.4

3 30.5 29.2 29.6 30.8 30.9 27.3 24.5 28.9 31.0 29.8

4 23.7 27.2 22.7 22.8 28.5 22.2 28.2 13.7 20.2 24.8

5 16.2 17.6 16.0 14.7 15.2 13.9 20.7 11.1 13.1 16.3

Not stated 1.7 1.4 2.4 1.2 1.8 3.1 1.3 2.6 2.4 1.8


45

DISCuSSION

4 Discussion

This section provides an overview of the findings of the High and complex needs census by considering client pathways in relation to each need area, outlines some of the limitations of the data and provides some information about the validity of the assessment form used.

4.1 Overview of findings

Figure 3 presents graphically the key findings of this project in terms of the extent of needs relating to the areas of interest, and the likely level of support required that is related to those needs. The most common need was related to housing, followed by money management/finances and exposure to/effects of violence. The graph also indicates that these three areas also represented the need areas in which agencies were most likely to encounter clients who had high support needs (as depicted by the relative size of the bars representing high support needs).

Figure 3: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by need for assistance and level of support required, 2008

Num

ber o

f clie

nts

Need area

High need for support Medium need for support Low need for support

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

10,000

Accompanyin

g child

ren

Parentin

g/carin

g

Access

to so

cial s

upports

Access

ing serv

ices

Physica

l health

& se

lf care

Personal s

afety & w

ellbeing

Challenging behavio

ur

Exposu

re to

/effe

cts of v

iolence

Disabilit

y

Mental h

ealth is

sues

Alcohol &

other d

rug use

Money management/f

inances

Housing



Of clients who had a need in a specific area, across all areas except three, at least 30 per cent had a need for support that was considered to be high. In the remaining three areas (physical health and self care, accessing services and access to social supports), just under 30 per cent of clients who had needs in these areas were thought to have high support needs. Across all areas, between 40 and 50 per cent of clients with a need in a particular area were thought to require a medium level of support, and 10 to 25 per cent were thought to require a low level of support.

Table 19 summarises selected information already presented in this report to provide an overview of client pathways for clients in relation to each need area. These pathways indicate, for each area, the number of clients who had a support need, the number of clients whose need could be met directly by the reporting agency, and the numbers of clients who were (and were not) expected to face barriers in accessing other services that might be required. It should be noted that the likelihood that an agency could meet clients’ needs is, in part, dependent on the way in which SAAP services are organised. For example, agencies that are primarily crisis services may be less likely to be able to meet needs directly as their focus will be on resolving immediate needs. While agencies that are collocated with other services may be more likely to be able to meet needs that can be assisted by those services. Similarly, the data collected do not provide any indication of the likelihood that a client who is not expected to face any barriers in accessing other support services goes on to receive effective assistance.

Data in Table 19 reinforce that housing was the area in which clients were most likely to have a need for assistance, and also that it was the area in which clients were reported to be most likely to experience barriers accessing additional services they require. Thirty-five per cent of all clients (3,750 clients) had a need for support in the area of housing and were anticipated to experience barriers in accessing these services.

In comparison to other need areas, housing was also the area where SAAP agencies were most likely to report that they could directly meet clients’ needs (although previous comments about the likelihood that that has been overestimated should be noted). Other areas in which (relatively) high numbers of clients could have their need met directly by agencies were: money management/finances, accessing services, exposure to/effects of violence, and access to social supports. The low rates at which agencies are directly assisting (and meeting the needs) of clients in other areas is likely to reflect the need for specialised services in areas such as: disability, mental health, accompanying children, parenting/caring and challenging behaviour.

Across most need areas, the numbers of clients who were expected to face barriers in accessing other support services and those who were not expected to face barriers were similar, with the exception of clients who need support with housing and accessing services. In both these need areas clients were noticeably more likely to face barriers accessing services than those not expected to face barriers.

47

DISCuSSION

Tabl

e 19

: SA

AP H

igh

and

com

plex

nee

ds c

ensu

s cl

ient

s by

iden

tified

nee

d pa

thw

ays,

200

8

Clie

nt h

as a

nee

d

Nee

d ar

eaN

o ne

ed

repo

rted

Nee

d m

et b

y re

port

ing

agen

cyN

o ba

rrie

rs to

refe

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4.2 limitations of data

This section outlines some of the limitations of the data collected through the High and complex needs census. Some of these limitations have been noted previously.

Scope of clients

It is suspected that some agencies misunderstood the requirement to complete the assessment form for all clients assisted in the census week (excluding casual clients and clients who did not provide consent). This is based on comments made to project team staff when seeking assistance on the helpline and comments made on the summary form return sheet. This is likely to mean that some agencies that did not feel that they assisted high needs or complex needs clients did not participate, or some agencies may have only provided data for their high/complex needs clients. Although we cannot be sure how widespread this effect was, this may have skewed the data towards more high and complex clients.

Scope of agencies

Conversely, the scope of agencies selected for inclusion in the High and complex needs census may have resulted in an underestimation of the level of need of clients assisted by SAAP. The exclusion of day support agencies on practical grounds may have excluded a number of high/complex clients who are assisted on a casual basis (for example, some clients of outreach programs).

Accompanying children data

As noted previously, a significant limitation of the data is the inability to identify client groups. This particularly affects the interpretation of data relating to accompanying children, as it is not known whether children receiving assistance from SAAP agencies were accompanied by only one parent/guardian or two. Most agencies routinely record information about children on the mother’s (or female guardian’s) form for the purposes of the National Data Collection. As part of the data cleaning process where it became evident that information about children had been recorded on more than one form, the information about the children was removed from the male parent/guardian’s form. This is likely to have substantially underrepresented the needs of males in relation to accompanying children.

Agencies’ ability to report data

Agencies were asked to report the needs of their clients based on the information available to them. At least some agencies commented informally that they do not routinely assess clients’ needs across all the areas specified or collect detailed information on specific circumstances because their role is primarily to offer immediate crisis support and accommodation. Although a not yet assessed response option was available, it is possible that agencies reported no need in areas where they were not yet aware of their clients’ needs.

Additionally, at least three agencies contacted the helpline to explain that they provide assistance directly to children (that is, the children are regarded as the client and the parent/s are not necessarily SAAP clients). While the form was designed to be used by different agency types, it had not been designed with this service provision model in mind, and accordingly, the data provided by these agencies may be difficult to interpret.

4.3 The validity of the assessment form

While the primary aim of this project was to describe the needs of clients receiving assistance through SAAP and obtain some information about the level of need for assistance in each area, some investigation of the validity of the assessment form was also undertaken.

49

DISCuSSION

Correlations between need areas

To investigate the relationships between needs areas, correlations between needs and other variables were investigated. In order to do this a scale was derived from the data whereby 1 indicated that a client had no need for support in an area, 2 indicated that a client had a low need for support, 3 indicated that a client had a medium need for support, and 4 indicated that a client had a high need for support. The derivation of these scores enabled the project team to investigate correlations between needs areas and with the overall rating of the extent/complexity of needs.

The results of the correlation matrix are outlined in Appendix C. These results indicate that there was a degree of correlation among most of the variables to a degree that was statistically significant. Particularly high correlations were observed between: parenting/caring and accompanying children; accessing services and access to social supports; exposure to effects of violence and personal safety and wellbeing; personal safety and wellbeing and access to social supports. The relationship between parenting/caring and accompanying children, which reflects the particularly interrelated nature of these two domains, is likely to underestimate the true extent of correlation as needs relating to accompanying children were only recorded as support needs on one parent/guardian’s form.

It was also found that each variable was significantly correlated with the overall ratings of need provided by agency workers, suggesting that each of the needs area included on this form contribute to the picture of overall needs. Although the level of correlation was fairly consistent across all domains, particularly strong correlations were found between overall high/complex need ratings and: housing; accessing services; and personal safety and wellbeing.

Identifying clients with high and complex needs

There has been some interest in understanding whether the information obtained through this assessment form could be used in some way by agencies to determine the number of clients who might be considered to have high and complex needs.

In recognition that any method of determining clients with high/complex needs would need to be relatively straightforward to implement, the relationship between the number of needs areas identified for a client and their rating in terms of overall extent and complexity of need was investigated (see Table 20). It is important to recognise that any definition of clients experiencing high/complex needs proposed by methods such as these remains a statistical definition only. That is, it is a probabilistic assessment of whether a client has high/complex needs and would not be suitable for use for determining specific interventions for specific clients.

Table 20: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by overall rating of level and complexity of need and average number of needs areas identified, 2008

Rating of extent/complexity of needs(a)

Number of clients

Mean number of need areas

Standard deviation

Minimum number of need areas

Maximum number of need areas

1 1,058 2.0 1.4 0 9

2 1,862 3.1 1.7 0 11

3 3,179 4.2 2.0 0 12

4 2,653 5.5 2.1 0 12

5 1,741 7.0 2.3 0 12

Not stated 190




This analysis indicates that there is a clear relationship between the number of needs areas identified and the overall rating of extent/complexity of need—for each increment in overall need rating, there was a corresponding increase in the mean number of needs areas identified. This suggests that a simple count of the number of specified areas of need that a client has might be used to provide an indication of whether that client’s needs might be considered high or complex. Based on these data, and assuming that a rating of 3 or more on the overall need scale indicates that a person has high and/or complex needs (which represents 71 per cent of census clients), it is suggested that any clients with support needs in four or more of the areas identified on this instrument could probably be said to have high and/or complex needs.6

To investigate this proposal further (that is, that clients with support needs in four or more domains have high/complex support needs) an analysis was conducted to assess how well a simple count of the number of support needs a client has predicted overall assessment of the level of the client’s needs. Table 21 indicates that, using this method, 74 per cent of clients who had been provided with an overall rating were correctly identified as either having high/complex needs or not having high/complex needs. Of the remaining 26 per cent, 829 clients were assessed as not having high/complex needs but predicted to have high/complex needs based on the fact that they had four or more needs, and 1,914 were assessed as having high/complex needs but were predicted to not have such needs. Similar results were found when investigating the number of high needs areas reported for clients.

Table 21: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by assessed complexity level and predicted complexity level

Predicted rating

Assessed rating High/complex needs Not high/complex needs

Number

High/complex needs 5,659 1,914

Not high/complex needs 829 2,091

Per cent

High/complex needs 53.9 18.2

Not high/complex needs 7.9 19.9

These findings suggest that a simple count of needs areas (or areas in which a client has high support needs) offers some utility as a method for discriminating between those clients with high/complex needs and those with more straightforward needs. The imperfect ability of a definition such as this to predict whether a client might have high/complex needs is not unexpected as it is likely that there are some combinations of needs that might predispose a client to be viewed as having high/complex needs. Also, it is likely to reflect the fact, as noted previously, that the overall ratings of need provided by respondents is a relative concept, that is, that assessments of overall levels of need will be based on comparative assessment against other clients seen by the agency. This is suggested by the fact that at least one client who was assessed to have needs in nine domains, was rated as being not high/complex, and at least one client who was reported to have no support needs (as identified in the assessment tool used in this census) was reported to have very high/complex needs.

A word of caution

As noted previously, the definition suggested here is offered as a statistical definition that provides a crude methodology for identifying clients who might have high or complex support needs and is suggested as a methodology that would be relatively straightforward for SAAP agencies to implement without the use of specialised tools. It is suggested that any use of this definition in another context (for example, to determine funding for an agency based on client complexity profiles) would require an assessment of this definition for that purpose.

51

DISCuSSION

For example, if meeting criteria in the definition is required to access additional resources or services, then it is important that the definition accurately determines the level of need of each individual client. As Table 21 shows, this definition ‘incorrectly’ classified 26 per cent of clients, and therefore should not be applied to individuals for the purposes of determining care needs. The definition could be adopted for statistical purposes, to monitor at a broad level the needs of clients and levels of need. In this context, it is not vital that the definition accurately determines a rating for each individual client, so long as it represents the needs of the client group as a whole. Any classification that is used for determining access to specific services, or service access to additional funding is likely to involve deriving a rating based on a number of criteria. It is also likely that a scale of ‘complexity of need’ that is used for allocating resources or a similar purpose would need to recognise (as was found in this study) that complexity of need exists on a continuum.

53

APPENDIx A

Appendix A: Steering Committee membersMembership at June 2008:

Angela Braniff, Homelessness Branch, Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs

Phillip Fowler, NSW Department of Community Services

Justin Griffin (Advisor), Housing & Homelessness Unit, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Clara Jellie (Advisor), Housing & Homelessness Unit, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Rose Lai, Homelessness Branch, Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs

Brian Miles, Queensland Department of Communities

Marcelle Noja, Policy Coordination Group, Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing

Caroline O’Neill, Service Development Unit, Mission Australia

Maggie Pressnell (Chair), Service Development Unit, Mission Australia

Suzy Saw, Policy Coordination Group, Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing

55

APPENDIx B

Appendix B: High and complex needs census assessment form



If you have any problems completing this form please telephone 1800 035 938 or email [email protected]

High and complex needs census: Assessment form

If you need help, contact the AIHW via telephone on 1800 035 938 or email on [email protected]

We’d like your help…

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has been contracted by Mission Australia and the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous A� airs to collect information about the needs of clients being assisted by Supported Accommodation and Assistance Program (SAAP) agencies. In particular, the information collected will enable us to report on the level and complexity of needs experienced by SAAP clients.

All SAAP agencies (except telephone referral and day centre programs) are being asked to participate in the census.

Further background and information about this data collection and how to complete this form is available in the accompanying Guidelines and de� nitions document.

One client assessment form should be completed for each (new or ongoing) SAAP client who receives some direct assistance in the census week (excluding casual clients) regardless of the amount of assistance provided to the client, or number of support period they have in the census week.

Census week is Monday 16 – Sunday 22 June 2008.

The client’s consent must be obtained seperately for this collection before recording any information on this form. This form will not be processed unless you indicate that the client’s consent was obtained.

Further information about the requirements for client consent can be found in the accompanying Guidelines and de� nitions, and on the separate consent information sheet.

Completed forms will be kept strictly con dential.

Assessment forms are not designed to be completed with the client, and should be completed by the case worker who best knows the client.

All forms should be returned to us (in the envelope provided) by 10th July 2008.

Further information and further copies of all relevant documents can be found at http://www.aihw.gov.au/hcnc

57

APPENDIx B


CLIENT CONSENT AND DEMOGRAPHICS

1. Agency ID

2. Did the client provide consent for their information to bereported to the AIHW?

Yes 1

No 2

3. Sex Male 1

Female 2

4. Date of birth

5. Is the person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?

No 1

Yes, Aboriginal 2

Yes, Torres Strait Islander 3

Yes, both 4

6. Alpha code

Y YD D M M Y Y

dayunknown

monthunknown

estimatedyear

Please tick one box only

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th

Letters of � rst name

Letters of last name

Refer to the Guidelines and de� nitions for further information on reporting alpha codes where names contain spaces, hyphens, apostrophes or other characters. Also for treatment of names where part of the name is missing or unknown.

If day or month is unknown, tick the relevant box.

If year is unknown, provide best estimate and tick box ‘estimated year’.

Refer to the Guidelines and de� nitions document for full instructions on reporting estimated dates.

Note that client consent is required separately for this census and must not be assumed based on previous consent provided for the SAAP National Data Collection.

• If a client does not wish particular pieces of information reported, record ‘Yes’ and leave those areas blank.

• If a client does not consent to be involved in the collection at all, do not record any further information and return this form to the AIHW with the other completed forms.

This is the same ID you provide for the SAAP National Data Collection (i.e. 4 numbers and a letter).




HOUSING

7. Does the client currently have a need for assistance relating to housing?

Yes 1 Go to question 7a below

No 2 Go to question 8 on next page

Not yet assessed 3 Go to question 8 on next page

7a. Please identify the circumstances that relate to the client’s current housing need:

7b. What level of support is required to meet the client’s need for assistance in the area of housing?

1 2 3

Low Medium High

7c. Can the support needs of the client in the area of housing be met by your agency?This issue should be considered regardless of whether you think this client is going to address this need.

Yes 1 Go to question 8 on next page

No 2 Go to question 7d below

To some extent 3 Go to question 7d below

7d. Will you refer (or have you referred) this client to other service(s) for their need for assistance in the area of housing?

Yes 1

No 2

7e. Are there any barriers to accessing these referral services?

No—no barriers 1 OR

Yes —no relevant service(s) exist in local area 2

Yes —limited access to transport 3

Yes—cannot access service(s) due to cost 4

Yes—cannot access service(s) due to waiting list 5

Yes—client does not want to access the service(s) 6

Other 99


Tick all that apply

Currently homeless (incl. person living in short term accommodation) ........................................................................... 1

At risk of homelessness ............................................................... 2

History of homelessness ............................................................. 3

Poor housing record ..................................................................... 4

Frequent housing moves in last two years .......................... 5

Restricted access to housing due to age (i.e. < 18yrs) ...... 6

Unsafe housing (due to risk posed by other household members) ......................................................................................... 7

Unsafe house structure/unsuitable housing/overcrowding .................................................................................. 8

Discrimination/blacklisting in private rental market ........ 9

Exiting from prison/juvenile detention centre ................... 10

Exiting from another institution .............................................. 11

No available a� ordable housing .............................................. 12

Other .................................................................................................. 99




Tick all that apply

Refer to the Housing section of the guidelines for further explanation

59

APPENDIx B


MONEY MANAGEMENT/FINANCES

8. Does the client currently have a need for assistance relating to money management/ nances?




8a. Please identify the circumstances that relate to the client’s current money management/ nances need:

8b. What level of support is required to meet the client’s need for assistance in the area of money management/ nances?

1 2 3

Low Medium High

8c. Can the support needs of the client in the area of money management/ nances be met by your agency?This issue should be considered regardless of whether you think this client is going to address this need.




8d. Will you refer (or have you referred) this client to other service(s) for their need for assistance in the area of money management/ nances?

Yes 1

No 2








Other 99


Tick all that apply

Signi� cant debt .............................................................................. 1

Unable to access stable and/or adequate income due to:

• Ineligibility for Centrelink bene� ts ...................................... 2

• Failure to meet Centrelink requirements .......................... 3

• Domestic violence ..................................................................... 4

• Being a recent arrival to Australia ........................................ 5

• Having left the family home for � rst time......................... 6

Unable to maintain stable and/or adequate income due to:

• Persistent di¥ culty managing budgets/� nances .......... 7

• Gambling ...................................................................................... 8

• Alcohol and other drugs misuse .......................................... 9

• Sharing/giving income to others ......................................... 10

• Exploitation by others .............................................................. 11

Other .................................................................................................. 99




Tick all that apply

Refer to the Money management and � nances section of the guidelines for further explanation




ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUG USE

9. Does the client currently have a need for assistance relating to alcohol and other drug use?




9a. Please identify the circumstances that relate to the client’s current alcohol and other drug use need:

9b. What level of support is required to meet the client’s need for assistance in the area of alcohol and other drug use?

1 2 3

Low Medium High

9c. Can the support needs of the client in the area of alcohol and other drug use be met by your agency?This issue should be considered regardless of whether you think this client is going to address this need.




9d. Will you refer (or have you referred) this client to other service(s) for their need for assistance in the area of alcohol and other drug use?

Yes 1

No 2








Other 99


Tick all that apply

Problematic use of alcohol ........................................................ 1

Problematic use of other drug(s) ............................................. 2

Episodes of drug induced psychosis ...................................... 3

Repeated use of withdrawal/rehabilitation/support services............................................................................. 4

A� ected by alcohol and other drug use of otherperson(s) ........................................................................................... 5

Other .................................................................................................. 99




Tick all that apply

Refer to the Alcohol and other drug use section of the guidelines for further explanation

61

APPENDIx B


MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES

10. Does the client currently have a need for assistance relating to mental health issues?




10a. Please identify the circumstances that relate to the client’s current mental health issues need:

10b. What level of support is required to meet the client’s need for assistance in the area of mental health?

1 2 3

Low Medium High

10c. Can the support needs of the client in the area of mental health be met by your agency?This issue should be considered regardless of whether you think this client is going to address this need.




10d. Will you refer (or have you referred) this client to other service(s) for their need for assistance in the area of mental health?

Yes 1

No 2








Other 99


Tick all that apply

Known diagnosis of mental disorder(s)................................. 1

Self reports as having a mental illness ................................... 2

Suspected to have a mental illness ......................................... 3

Current use of specialised mental health service .............. 4




Tick all that apply

Refer to the Mental health issues section of the guidelines for further explanation




DISABILITY

11. Does the client currently have a need for assistance relating to disability?




11a. Please identify the circumstances that relate to the client’s current disability need:

11b. What level of support is required to meet the client’s need for assistance in the area of disability?

1 2 3

Low Medium High

11c. Can the support needs of the client in the area of disability be met by your agency?This issue should be considered regardless of whether you think this client is going to address this need.




11d. Will you refer (or have you referred) this client to other service(s) for their need for assistance related to their disability?

Yes 1

No 2








Other 99


Tick all that apply

Intellectual ....................................................................................... 1

Learning ............................................................................................ 2

Physical (e.g. paraplegia, epilepsy, other neurological) ............ 3

Acquired brain injury ................................................................... 4

Sensory/speech (e.g. blindness, speech impairment) ............. 5

Psychiatric (e.g. anxiety, depression) ........................................... 6




Tick all that apply

Refer to the Disability section of the guidelines for further explanation

63

APPENDIx B


EXPOSURE TO/EFFECTS OF VIOLENCE

12. Does the client currently have a need for assistance relating to exposure to/e� ects of violence?




12a. Please identify the circumstances that relate to the client’s current exposure to/e� ects of violence need:

12b. What level of support is required to meet the client’s need for assistance in the area of exposure to/e� ects of violence?

1 2 3

Low Medium High

12c. Can the support needs of the client in the area of exposure to/e� ects of violence be met by your agency?This issue should be considered regardless of whether you think this client is going to address this need.




12d. Will you refer (or have you referred) this client to other service(s) for their need for assistance relating to their exposure to/e� ects of violence?

Yes 1

No 2








Other 99


Tick all that apply

Family/domestic violence .......................................................... 1

Violent and potentially lethal perpetrator ........................... 2

Community violence .................................................................... 3

Torture and trauma ....................................................................... 4

A� ected by previous abuse or violence ................................ 5

Other .................................................................................................. 99




Tick all that apply

Refer to the Exposure to and e� ects of violence section of the guidelines for further explanation




CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR

13. Does the client currently have a need for assistance relating to challenging behaviour?




13a. Please identify the circumstances that relate to the client’s current challenging behaviour need:

13b. What level of support is required to meet the client’s need for assistance in the area of challenging behaviour?

1 2 3

Low Medium High

13c. Can the support needs of the client in the area of challenging behaviour be met by your agency?This issue should be considered regardless of whether you think this client is going to address this need.




13d. Will you refer (or have you referred) this client to other service(s) for their need for assistance relating to their challenging behaviour?

Yes 1

No 2








Other 99


Tick all that apply

Abusive, violent or aggressive behaviour ............................ 1

Perpetrator of domestic violence ............................................ 2

Discrimination/intolerance of others ..................................... 3

Di¥ culty living with others, complying with rules ........... 4

Repeated acting out or bullying or non-attendance at school .......................................................... 5

Frequent encounters with police, criminal justicesystem and night patrols ............................................................ 6

Other .................................................................................................. 99




Tick all that apply

Refer to the Challenging behaviour section of the guidelines for further explanation

65

APPENDIx B


PERSONAL SAFETY AND WELLBEING

14. Does the client currently have a need for assistance relating to personal safety and wellbeing?




14a. Please identify the circumstances that relate to the client’s current personal safety and wellbeing need:

14b. What level of support is required to meet the client’s need for assistance in the area of personal safety and wellbeing

1 2 3

Low Medium High

14c. Can the support needs of the client in the area of personal safety and wellbeing be met by your agency?This issue should be considered regardless of whether you think this client is going to address this need.




14d. Will you refer (or have you referred) this client to other service(s) for their need for assistance in the area of personal safety and wellbeing?

Yes 1

No 2








Other 99


Tick all that apply

Risk taking behaviour .................................................................. 1

Suicide risk ....................................................................................... 2

Self harm/mutilation .................................................................... 3

Vulnerability to abuse, exploitation ....................................... 4

Not taking prescribed medication(s) ..................................... 5

Other .................................................................................................. 99




Tick all that apply

Refer to the Personal safety and wellbeing section of the guidelines for further explanation




PHYSICAL HEALTH AND SELF CARE

15. Does the client currently have a need for assistance relating to physical health and self care?




15a. Please identify the circumstances that relate to the client’s current physical health and self care need:

15b. What level of support is required to meet the client’s need for assistance in the area of physical health and self care?

1 2 3

Low Medium High

15c. Can the support needs of the client in the area of physical health and self care be met by your agency?This issue should be considered regardless of whether you think this client is going to address this need.




15d. Will you refer (or have you referred) this client to other service(s) for their need for assistance in the area of physical health and self care?

Yes 1

No 2








Other 99


Tick all that apply

Poor physical health ..................................................................... 1

Lack of hygiene compromising health/service access .... 2

Di¥ culty with basic living skills ............................................... 3

Malnutrition .................................................................................... 4

Frequent hospitalisation associated with poor self care ............................................................................................. 5

Poor dental health ........................................................................ 6

Requires prenatal or postnatal care ........................................ 7

Other .................................................................................................. 99




Tick all that apply

Refer to the Health and self care section of the guidelines for further explanation

67

APPENDIx B


ACCESSING SERVICES

16. Does the client currently have a need for assistance relating to accessing services?




16a. Please identify the circumstances that relate to the client’s current need in accessing services:

16b. What level of support is required to meet the client’s need for assistance in the area of accessing services?

1 2 3

Low Medium High

16c. Can the support needs of the client in the area of accessing services be met by your agency?This issue should be considered regardless of whether you think this client is going to address this need.




16d. Will you refer (or have you referred) this client to other service(s) for their need for assistance in accessing services?

Yes 1

No 2








Other 99


Tick all that apply

Persistent refusal/unwillingness to use needed services ............................................................................. 1

Uncoordinated multiple use of services ............................... 2

Ongoing inability to negotiate service system .................. 3

Recurring criminal issues ............................................................ 4

Recurring legal issues .................................................................. 5

No longer entitled to assistance (incl. brokerage, relief or vouchers) ......................................................................... 6

Exclusion from other services ................................................... 7

Geographic isolation .................................................................... 8

Limited access to transport ....................................................... 9

Other .................................................................................................. 99




Tick all that apply

Refer to the Accessing services section of the guidelines for further explanation




ACCESS TO SOCIAL SUPPORTS

17. Does the client currently have a need for assistance relating to access to social supports?




17a. Please identify the circumstances that relate to the client’s current need in access to social supports:

17b. What level of support is required to meet the client’s need for assistance in the area of access to social supports?

1 2 3

Low Medium High

17c. Can the support needs of the client in the area of access to social supports be met by your agency?This issue should be considered regardless of whether you think this client is going to address this need.




17d. Will you refer (or have you referred) this client to other service(s) for their need for social supports?

Yes 1

No 2








Other 99


Tick all that apply

Social isolation and limited social networks as a result of:

• Abusive, exploitive relationships ......................................... 1

• Exclusion from home and supports .................................... 2

• Exclusion from own community or cultural group ....... 3

• Limited social skills.................................................................... 4

• Relocation to new area/country .......................................... 5

Other .................................................................................................. 99




Tick all that apply

Refer to the Access to social supports section of the guidelines for further explanation

69

APPENDIx B


PARENTING/CARINGThis section collects information on the client’s need for assistance to care for children.

18. Does the client currently have a need for assistance relating to parenting/caring?




Not applicable 4 Go to question 20

18a. Please identify the circumstances that relate to the client’s current parenting/caring need:

18b. What level of support is required to meet the client’s need for assistance in the area of parenting/caring?

1 2 3

Low Medium High

18c. Can the support needs of the client in the area of parenting/caring be met by your agency?This issue should be considered regardless of whether you think this client is going to address this need.




18d. Will you refer (or have you referred) this client to other service(s) for their need for assistance in the area of parenting/caring?

Yes 1

No 2








Other 99


Tick all that apply

Parent/carer requires assistance with the following:

• Parenting skills ............................................................................ 1

• Managing domestic responsibility related to child(ren) ....................................................................................... 2

• Family law matters .................................................................... 3

• Accessing and negotiating services/agenciesfor self and child(ren) ............................................................... 4

• Accessing childcare (formal and informal) ....................... 5

• Assistance negotiating with child protection authorities .................................................................................... 6

• Assistance with rebuilding family relationships ............. 7

• Developing safety measures for child(ren) ifperpetrator of domestic violence or other abusestill presents a risk ..................................................................... 8

Other .................................................................................................. 99




Tick all that apply

Refer to the Parenting/caring section of the guidelines for further explanation




ACCOMPANYING CHILDRENThis section collects information on the needs of SAAP clients and their accompanying children.An accompanying child is under 18 years of age and has a parent(s) or guardian(s) who is a SAAP client.The child may accompany them at any time during their support period and/or receive assistance directly as a consequence of their parent/guardian’s support period.

19(i). Does the client have any accompanying children?

Yes 1 Go to question 19(ii) below


19(ii). If yes, please specify the ages of the children?Please provide the ages (in completed years) of all the children; children aged <1 year should be reported as ‘0’ years.

19a. Do the children have need for assistance in any of the following areas?If client has more than 4 children, please photocopy this page and complete for the additional children.

Is a client of a statutory child protection agency ............................................................................................... 1

Considered to be at risk of neglect or abuse* ...................................................................................................... 2

Parenting/carer arrangements unsatisfactory ..................................................................................................... 3

Persistent e� ects of witnessing and/or experiencing family violence ....................................................... 4

Has signi� cant health and/or medical issues ....................................................................................................... 5

Requires assistance with delay/disability .............................................................................................................. 6

Requires assistance with behavioural issues ........................................................................................................ 7

Requires assistance with social/emotional issues .............................................................................................. 8

Requires assistance with education ........................................................................................................................ 9

Requires assistance with life skills ............................................................................................................................ 10

Other ................................................................................................................................................................................... 99* Workers should comply with relevant state/territory legislation and/or organisational/agency requirements

19b. What level of support is required to the client (parent/carer) to meet their child(ren)’s needs?

1 2 3

Low Medium High

19c. Can the support needs of the client (parent/carer) in this area (accompanying children) be met by your agency?This issue should be considered regardless of whether you think this client is going to address this need.




19d. Will you refer (or have you referred) this client (parent/carer) to other service(s) to meet the needs of their accompanying children?

Yes 1

No 2








Other 99


Tick all that apply




Tick all that apply

Refer to the guidelines for further explanation

Age (years)

1 2 3 4Child number

71

APPENDIx B


20. Are there any other areas in which this client has a current need for assistance (not already covered in this form)? If yes, please describe.

21. How would you rate this person’s needs overall in terms of the level and complexity of their current needs?

1 2 3 4 5

Not high orcomplex

Very high and/or complex

22. How well is the client known to your agency/service?

1 2 3 4

Very well Well Not well Not at all

23. How long has your agency/service known the client?

Less than one week 1

More than one week 2




THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS CENSUS

73

APPENDIx C

Appendix C: Correlations between needs areasThe following correlation matrix (see Table C2) presents the correlations that were found between the ratings derived for each client that indicated the extent of their support need in each need area: 1 indicates that a client had no need for support in an area; 2 indicates that a client had a low need for support; 3 indicates that a client had a medium need for support; and 4 indicates that a client had a high need for support. Spearman’s rank order correlation statistic was used.

Descriptive statistics associated with this rating scale are presented in Table C1.

Table C1: SAAP High and complex needs census clients by average level of need, 2008

Need area Mean Standard deviation Median

Housing 3.0 1.08 3

Money management/finances 2.2 1.21 2

Alcohol & other drug use 1.7 1.11 1

Mental health issues 1.7 1.11 1

Disability 1.5 0.95 1

Exposure to/effects of violence 2.1 1.21 1

Challenging behaviour 1.5 0.99 1

Personal safety & wellbeing 1.7 1.12 1

Physical health & self care 1.6 1.03 1

Accessing services 1.9 1.14 1

Access to social supports 1.8 1.11 1

Parenting/caring 1.7 1.08 1

Accompanying children 1.6 1.00 1



Tabl

e C2

: SA

AP H

igh

and

com

plex

nee

ds c

ensu

s cl

ient

s’ c

orre

latio

ns b

etw

een

ratin

gs o

f ext

ent o

f sup

port

nee

ds(a

)

Housing

Money management

Alcohol/drug

Mental health

Disability

Exposure to violence


Personal safety

Physical health

Accessing services

Social supports

Parenting


High/complex rating

Hou

sing

1.00

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

Mon

ey

man

agem

ent

0.32

1.00

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

Alc

ohol

/dru

g0.

170.

251.

00<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

010.

1795

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

Men

tal h

ealt

h0.

160.

150.

241.

00<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

010.

6164

<0.

0001

Dis

abili

ty0.

110.

160.

100.

341.

00<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

010.

0416

0.00

26<

0.00

01

Expo

sure

to

viol

ence

0.15

0.14

0.05

0.14

0.05

1.00

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

Chal

leng

ing

beha

viou

r0.

170.

210.

340.

260.

160.

131.

00<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

01<

0.00

010.

0072

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

Pers

onal

saf

ety

0.20

0.22

0.25

0.33

0.22

0.37

0.31

1.00

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

Phys

ical

hea

lth

0.22

0.28

0.21

0.25

0.30

0.11

0.25

0.32

1.00

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

0.00

03<

0.00

01

Acc

essi

ng

serv

ices

0.28

0.31

0.17

0.19

0.20

0.24

0.26

0.32

0.29

1.00

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

Soci

al s

uppo

rts

0.22

0.27

0.12

0.23

0.19

0.29

0.23

0.36

0.28

0.43

1.00

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

<0.

0001

Pare

ntin

g0.

090.

160.

010.

060.

020.

280.

030.

130.

120.

190.

201.

00<

0.00

01<

0.00

01

Acc

ompa

nyin

g ch

ildre

n0.

080.

12–0

.09

0.00

–0.0

30.

33–0

.06

0.10

0.04

0.15

0.14

0.61

1.00

<0.

0001

Hig

h/co

mpl

ex

rati

ng0.

460.

390.

300.

370.

260.

360.

350.

430.

360.

430.

390.

270.

221.

00

(a)

The

low

er tr

iang

le re

port

s th

e Sp

earm

an’s

rank

ord

er c

oeffi

cien

t for

the

rele

vant

var

iabl

es, w

hile

the

uppe

r tri

angl

e in

dica

tes

the

stat

isti

cal s

igni

fican

ce o

f the

cor

rela

tion

.

75

ENDNOTES

Endnotes

1 Day support programs provide assistance on a walk-in basis (for example, drop-in centres, meals services, showering facilities).

2 Telephone information/referral services provide referral and general information over the phone and typically not face-to-face.

3 Excludes agencies that were out of scope, closed, not able to be contacted, did not see SAAP clients in that week or where no clients consented to participate.

4 According to the Supported Accommodation Assistance Act 1994, a homeless person is a person who does not have access to safe, secure and adequate housing. A person is considered not to have access to safe, secure and adequate housing if the only housing to which they have access damages, or is likely to damage, their health; threatens their safety; marginalises them through failing to provide access to adequate personal amenities, or the economic and social supports that a home normally affords; places them in circumstances that threaten or adversely affect the adequacy, safety, security and affordability of that housing; or has no security of tenure—that is, they have no legal right to continued occupation of their home. A person is also considered homeless if he or she is living in accommodation provided by a SAAP agency or some other form of emergency accommodation.

5 Levels of support were defined as follows:

Low The client’s support needs are expected to be met relatively easily within a short period of time and/or using minimal resources provided either by your agency or another service.

Medium The client’s support needs are expected to be met with an intermediate level of support, within a moderate amount of time and/or using a moderate level of resources. The support and resources required may involve multiple services.

High The client’s support needs will require intensive support and/or extensive resources, and would typically be required over a prolonged period of time or episodically in the future. The support and resources required would often involve multiple services.

6 It should be noted that even clients whose needs were rated as being not high or complex were reported to have support needs in an average of two domains.

77

REFERENCES

References

Australian Government 2008, Which way home? A new approach to homelessness, Australian Government, Canberra.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2008, Demand for SAAP accommodation by homeless people 2006–07, SAAP National Data Collection Agency (NDCA), report series no. 12, cat. no. HOU 186, Canberra.

——2009, Homeless people in SAAP: SAAP National Data Collection annual report 2007–08, Australia, SAAP NDCA report series 13, cat. no. HOU 191, Canberra.

Ecumenical Housing Inc and Thomson Goodall Associates Pty Ltd 1999, Appropriate responses for homeless people whose needs require a high level and complexity of service provision: final report, Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services, Canberra.

Erebus Consulting Partners 2004, National evaluation of the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP IV), final report: a report to the SAAP National Coordination and Development Committee, Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services, Canberra.

National Youth Commission (NYC) 2008, Australia’s Homeless Youth: a report of the National Youth Commission Inquiry into Youth Homelessness, National Youth Commission, Melbourne.

Thomson Goodall Associates (TGA) Pty Ltd 2003, People who are assisted by SAAP services and require a high level and complexity of service provision: an enhanced assessment and measurement framework, report to the Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services Supported Accommodation Assistance Program, Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services, Canberra.

Occasional Papers

1. Income support and related statistics: a ten-year compendium, 1989–99Kim Bond and Jie Wang (January 2001)

2. Low fertility: a discussion paperAlison Barnes (February 2001)

3. The identification and analysis of indicators of community strength and outcomesAlan Black and Phillip Hughes (June 2001)

4. Hardship in Australia: an analysis of financial stress indicators in the 1998–99Australian Bureau of Statistics Household Expenditure SurveyJ Rob Bray (December 2001)

5. Welfare Reform Pilots: characteristics and participation patterns of three disadvantaged groups Chris Carlile, Michael Fuery, Carole Heyworth, Mary Ivec, Kerry Marshall and Marie Newey (June 2002)

6. The Australian system of social protection–an overview (second edition)Peter Whiteford and Gregory Angenent (June 2002)

7. Income support customers: a statistical overview 2001Corporate Information and Mapping Services, Strategic Policy and Knowledge Branch, Family and Community Services (March 2003)

8. Inquiry into long-term strategies to address the ageing of the Australian population over the next 40 yearsCommonwealth Department of Family and Community Services submission to the 2003 House of Representatives Standing Committee on Ageing (October 2003)

9. Inquiry into poverty and financial hardshipCommonwealth Department of Family and Community Services submission to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee (October 2003)

10. Families of prisoners: literature review on issues and difficultiesRosemary Woodward (September 2003)

11. Inquiries into retirement and superannuationAustralian Government Department of Family and Community Services submissions to the Senate Select Committee on Superannuation (December 2003)

12. A compendium of legislative changes in social security 1908–1982(June 2006)

13. A compendium of legislative changes in social security 1983–2000Part 1 1983–1993, Part 2 1994–2000 Bob Daprè (June 2006)

14. Evaluation of Fixing Houses for Better Health Projects 2, 3 and 4 SGS Economics & Planning in conjunction with Tallegalla Consultants Pty Ltd (August 2006)

15. The ‘growing up’ of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children: a literature review Professor Robyn Penman (November 2006)

16. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander views on research in their communitiesProfessor Robyn Penman (November 2006)

17. Growing up in the Torres Strait Islands: a report from the Footprints in Time trialsCooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health in collaboration with the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (November 2006)

18. Costs of children: research commissioned by the Ministerial Taskforce on Child SupportPaul Henman; Richard Percival and Ann Harding; Matthew Gray (July 2007)

19. Lessons learnt about strengthening Indigenous families and communities: what’s working and what’s not?John Scougall (March 2008)

20. Stories on ‘growing up’ from Indigenous people in the ACT metro/Queanbeyan regionCooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health in collaboration with the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (April 2008)

21. Inquiry into the cost of living pressures on older AustraliansAustralian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs submissions to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs (August 2008)

22. Engaging fathers in child and family services: participation, perception and good practiceClaire Berlyn, Sarah Wise and Grace Soriano (December 2008)

23. Indigenous families and children: coordination and provision of servicesSaul Flaxman, Kristy Muir and Ioana Oprea (June 2009)

24. National evaluation (2004–2008) of the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy 2004–2009 Kristy Muir, Ilan Katz, Christiane Purcal, Roger Patulny, Saul Flaxman, David Abelló, Natasha Cortis, Cathy Thomson, Ioana Oprea, Sarah Wise, Ben Edwards, Matthew Gray and Alan Hayes (June 2009)

25. Stronger Families in Australia study: the impact of Communities for ChildrenBen Edwards, Sarah Wise, Matthew Gray, Alan Hayes, Ilan Katz, Sebastian Misson, Roger Patulny and Kristy Muir (June 2009)

26. Engaging hard-to-reach families and childrenNatasha Cortis, Ilan Katz and Roger Patulny (June 2009)

27. Ageing and Australian Disability EnterprisesShannon McDermott, Robyn Edwards, David Abelló and Ilan Katz (March 2010)

needs of clients in the supported accommodation assistance

Documents