Unfortunately , we did see an increase in presentation of those with no fixed address ( NFA ), up to 1,409 compared to 1,269 . Included in this year ’ s figure were 630 cases of people rough sleeping , 330 couch surfing , 160 living in cars , 73 squatting and 216 of disclosed NFA but who didn ’ t wish to disclose where .
Changes to government supported payments as a result of the pandemic also had a direct impact on our client income types .
By the end of the reporting period , support for those on a Disability Support Pension ( DSP ) made up 40 % of total cases - 1,638 cases more than the previous reporting period .
The main reason for this can be attributed to the coronavirus supplements that were introduced , benefiting some payment types ( such as the Newstart / Jobseeker payments ), but not extending to those on a DSP . We also experienced a significant increase in requests for assistance from those with no income and from residents on an aged pension .
BREAKDOWN OF TOP 10 REFERRALS
Utility Relief Grant 6 %
Clothing , Furniture ,
White Goods 7 %
Mental Health 8 %
Homeless Outreach 8 %
Family Violence 5 %
Centrelink 17 %
Medical Services 4 %
Housing & Shelter 22 %
Legal Services 12 %
Financial Counselling 11 %
The team also had another busy year for referrals , and taking out our largest referral category of ‘ other food / meal / material aid supports ’ ( 1,719 unique referrals ), our Top 3 referral categories were ‘ Housing & Shelter ’, ‘ Legal Services ’ and ‘ Financial Counselling ’, with ‘ Domestic Violence Supports ’ rounding out our Top 10 ( see graph ).
Employment 4 %
Essential services 4 %
Financial 12 %
BREAKDOWN OF TOP 10 CLIENT ISSUES
Drug / Alcohol 4 %
Health & Wellbeing 12 %
Legal 4 %
Transport 3 %
Mental Health 13 %
Last year our ‘ issues ’ reporting by staff recorded 13,971 unique issues compared with 14,426 this year . Separate from referrals , our issues reporting specifically relates to something that was disclosed by a client during a case of assistance .
The Top 3 ( Major Category areas – 20 in total ) related to ‘ Material Aid ’, ‘ Housing ’ and ‘ Mental Health ’.
Material aid 27 %
Housing & Shelter 17 %
Diving deeper into the issues reporting , it was the minor category code ‘ Homelessness ’ that made up for more than 45 % of the Housing issues recorded , representing an increase in both cases of homeless clients , and those disclosing concerns about facing homelessness .
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