Definition and counting: Where to now?

When governments respond to homelessness, it is important they have reliable statistics on the number of homeless people, their geographical distribution and social characteristics. The Australian Government needs this information to make decisions about the overall level of funding that should be provided to assist homeless people. The government also needs this information when it decides how to allocate funding to the states and territories under the National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA) (Auditor-General2013). State and territory governments require similar statistics to help them decide what services should be provided and where those services should be located. To gather this evidence, a definition of homelessness is needed that can be operationalised using census data.