2017-04-11 P&E Agenda Attachment 1 to Item 1 Housing Needs Assessment

Nightly average clients accommodated                57                 3,513

Nightly average clients accommodated               10.6                  7.4
per 10,000 population

Source: Queensland Government 2016f;
Notes: Some clients may be supported by multiple providers and may be counted more than once. Statistics
include children.

The National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) created an index to identify
areas at a high risk of homelessness using data from the Census, and other data sources. The
index is derived from the following four indicators:

       Participation and Education (people aged 18-24 that are not at school or working, young
        people aged 7-17 not attending school, people aged 25-54 who did not complete year 12
        or equivalent);
       Financial need (people receiving welfare payment, people who are in financial stress and
        poverty);
       Housing stress (people aged over 55 in bottom income quintile paying over 60% of
        income on rent, people who live in overcrowded conditions);
       Other (one parent families, people living in public housing, domestic violence incidents
        reported to police).


Based on the indicators, statistical local areas (SLAs) are ranked and assigned to quintiles from
highest risk to lowest risk of homelessness for the whole of Australia. Many SLAs within the
Noosa Shire scored poorly on a range of indicators that can be used to indicate risk of
homelessness. For Noosa Shire, 24.3% of the population was in the highest risk quintile, and
55.0% were in the second highest risk quintile, compared to 23.8% and 20.8% for Queensland
(Queensland Government 2016f).

Implications for Housing
The above analysis suggests that in 2013 there were around 150 people in Noosa Shire who are
homeless. This number may have increased with deteriorating economic conditions and the
increasing unaffordability of housing since.

Noosa Shire was found in Section 3.2.2 to have a small network of service providers who attempt
to assist these people. There is however a lack of emergency accommodation in the Shire, which
is only partially offset by rural campgrounds, showgrounds etc.

Of equal concern is the high proportion of households who were found to be in the second
highest risk quintile for homelessness. The latter is nearly three times the proportion for
Queensland as a whole. Many such households will be struggling to make ends meet and are
particularly vulnerable to rent increases, job losses etc.

The implication for housing is that further affordable housing must be provided in the Shire to
prevent increases in homelessness.

4.1.7    People with Mental Health Issues
People with mental health issues may require special accommodation in the community as an
option to inpatient care. The closest options available to people in Noosa Shire are shown below.




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