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2049.0.55.001 - Information Paper - Methodology for Estimating Homelessness from the Census of Population and Housing, 2012  
Latest ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 05/09/2012  First Issue
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Contents >> Methodology Used to Calculate Homeless Estimates >> Persons staying in other temporary lodging

PERSONS STAYING IN OTHER TEMPORARY LODGING

The homeless operational group 'Persons staying in other temporary lodging includes people who reported having 'no usual address' on Census night who were enumerated in non-private dwellings which were identified by the Census Area Supervisors and collectors as non-private dwellings and classified by the building owner / manager as ‘hotel, motel, bed and breakfast’. People staying in other temporary lodgings who have no usual address lack of the 'element' of 'security of tenure of the dwelling'. The rules then consider the income and employment status of these people to determine whether they could be considered to be homeless based on a lack of accommodation alternatives.

This group will differ from the estimates provided for this group in the Review estimates that the ABS published in Discussion Paper: Methodological Review of Counting the Homeless, 2006 (cat. no. 2050.0.55.001) because a number of non-private dwelling categories were included in the preliminary estimates that are specific exclusions from the ABS statistical definition of homelessness. As outlined in the ABS definition, they are excluded because although their living conditions lack one or more of the key elements of 'home':

  • they may have chosen to live in these circumstances and have accommodation alternatives; or
  • are required by law to living in these circumstances; or
  • are acceptable temporary living arrangements (such as student halls of residence); or
  • it is essential for their broader health and wellbeing to be living in these conditions.

So they are a specific exclusion:
  • people confined in prisons, detention centres and other institutions such as juvenile correctional facilities or hospitals;
  • students living in halls of residence; and
  • members of religious orders such as monks and nuns living in seminaries and nunneries and similar establishments.

For the same reasons, people in non-private dwellings which were classified as 'other welfare institutions' were not considered to be homeless and not included in this homeless operational group. Other welfare institutions include institutions providing mainly residential care for adults in need of care such as benevolent homes and drug / alcohol rehabilitation centres.


Rules for estimating Persons staying in other temporary lodging

The following table presents the rules that are applied to identify the persons who were most likely to be homeless on Census night and staying in other temporary lodgings. The rule start with the persons enumerated in the non-private dwelling category of 'hotel, motel, bed and breakfast' who reported no usual address and is refined to remove people who were, on balance, unlikely to be homeless on Census night.

Diagram: Rules for estimating Persons staying in other temporary lodging





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