The Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) defines a homeless person as:

A person who does not have access to safe, secure, adequate housing. A person is considered not to have safe, secure adequate housing if the only housing to which they have access:

• damages, or is likely to damage, their health; or
• threatens their safety; or
• marginalises them through failing to provide access to:
  - adequate personal amenities; or
  - the economic and social supports that a home normally affords; or
• places them in circumstances which threaten or adversely affect the adequacy, safety, security, 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.

Homelessness is multi-faceted and affects different groups of people in diverse ways. The causes and consequences of homelessness vary between groups such as families, young people, women escaping domestic violence, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with alcohol and other drug problems, people with mental health problems and so on.

This section provides the facts and statistics facing these groups of people who are homeless in Australia. From June 2002 seperate statistics for each state and territory are available.

Homelessness Australia wants to make the facts about homeless people known, and to build the resolve of the Australian community to address homelessness.

Donate to some of our larger organsation members or seek out a smaller organisation nearer to you:

NATIONAL:  Click here for Anglicare    Click here for Mission Australia   Click here for St Vincent de Paul Society   Click here for The Salvation Army  Become a member of Homelessness Australia