Definition
The Specialist Homelessness Services National Minimum Data Set (SHS NMDS) aims to provide quality information about people who are either homeless or at risk of homelessness and who are seeking services from specialist homelessness agencies.
This collection is intended to obtain information about clients receiving ongoing or short term support as well as people who are seeking assistance but did not receive any services. Data collection includes basic socio-demographic information and the services required by and provided to each client. Details about accompanying children are also recorded. Additionally, information is obtained about the client circumstances before, during and after receiving support.
The base unit of this collection is a person who present to a Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) agency requesting a service or services. A person becomes a client once they receive a service or services. The period of time a client receives assistance from a SHS agency is commonly referred to as a support period. It relates to the provision of assistance and/or supported accommodation. A support period is considered finished when the relationship between the client and the agency ends or the client has reached their maximum amount of support.
During a support period there are, in most cases, a series of service episodes or assistance, other than supported accommodation, provided to the client by the SHS agency. For the purposes of the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, assistance also includes contact with a client, or work on behalf of a client.
The SHS NMDS has three ‘views’ for collection purposes, they are: Unassisted person, Client and Specialist homelessness agency.
An ‘Unassisted person’ in the context of this collection is any person who seeks assistance from an agency and is not successful in obtaining that assistance. A ‘Client’ is a person who receives services either directly or indirectly from an agency. A 'Specialist homelessness agency' is an organisation which receives government funding to deliver a specialist homelessness service to a client. If clients present collectively information is collected for each client but the group is referred to as a 'Presenting unit'.
The 2011 SHS NMDS was developed to support the collection of data under the Intergovernmental Agreement on Federal Financial Relations for Homelessness. It replaced the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) collection from July 2011.
In 2008 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to reform federal financial relations to improve the quality and effectiveness of government services. These reforms led to the establishment of the National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA) and the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (NPAH), which includes specific performance measures in relation to homelessness.
In conjunction with these reforms, the Australian Government initiated a comprehensive policy review, setting out a national approach to reducing homelessness in the White Paper: The Road Home, A National Approach to Reducing Homelessness.
The 2013-14 SHS NMDS continues to reflect the outcome based performance framework promoted by the COAG Reforms and White Paper. It supports the collection, analysis and reporting of client-based data. This allows for the production of statistical information about clients’ circumstances, the assistance they receive and the outcomes that are achieved for them. This information can be used to inform policy design, evaluation, service improvement and monitoring of specialist homelessness services in Australia.
In addition the 2013-14 SHS NMDS provides for the collection of information about SHS clients with disabilities. This information will be used to better understand the circumstances and experiences of clients with disabilities who access SHS agencies.
Metadata items in this Data Set Specification
Below is a list of all the components within this Dataset Specification.
Each entry includes the item name, whether the item is optional, mandatory or conditional and the maximum times the item can occur in a dataset.
If the items must occur in a particular order in the dataset, the sequence number is included before the item name.
| Reference | Data Element | Data Type | Length | Inclusion | # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Address: Australian Postcode, (Postcode datafile) NNNN
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is reported twice, for:
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Number | 4 | conditional | 2 | |
|
Address—suburb/town/locality name, text X[X(45)]
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is reported twice, for:
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
- | - | conditional | 2 | |
|
Child—care arrangements, care and protection order code N[N]
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:
Only one permissible value is selected in each case.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the AIHW. The data element Client—consent obtained indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (Code 1). This data element is only collected for clients aged less than 18 years, who have a care and protection order. |
Number | 2 | conditional | 4 | |
|
Client—case management goal status, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the end of each reporting period, ie each calendar month.
Conditional Inclusion:
Conditional on YES (CODE 1) response to Client—case management plan indicator, yes/no code. |
- | - | conditional | 1 | |
|
Client—case management plan indicator, yes/no code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the end of each reporting period, ie each calendar month.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Number | 1 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Client—consent obtained indicator, yes/no code N
Specific Information:
The data collected in the Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) NMDS will be used for policy development and agency activity reporting in a non-identifiable form. This information will enable better placement of agency services and enhance service provision to clients of homelessness agencies.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Boolean | 1 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Client—reason case management plan does not exist, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the end of each reporting period, ie each calendar month.
Conditional Inclusion:
This item is conditional on a response of No (CODE 2) in the data element Client – case management plan indicator yes/no code N. |
Number | 1 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Person (employed)—full-time/part-time status, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:
Only one permissible value is selected in each case. This collection records a response of Don't Know (CODE 3), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (CODE 9) in the Standard.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the SHS NMDS, this item is only asked of clients. This item is conditional on a response of Employed (CODE 1) in the data element Person—labour force status, code N. |
- | - | conditional | 4 | |
|
Person—Australian state/territory identifier, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is reported twice, for:
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Number | 1 | conditional | 2 | |
|
Person—conditions of occupancy, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:
Only one permissible value is selected in each case. Please note that Leased tenure - nominated on lease (CODE 1) - and Lease in place - not nominated on lease (CODE 2) are only selected if a lease is in place. Codes 3 to 6 only apply if the person's name is not on a lease.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Number | 1 | conditional | 4 | |
|
Person: Country of Birth, Code (SACC 2011) NNNN
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation. This data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the AIHW. The data element Client—consent obtained indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (CODE 1). |
Number | 4 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Person—first service request indicator, yes/no code N
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is only collected for turnaways. Turnaways are people who have not received any requested services or assessment. This data element is applied to an individual 24-hour reporting period. |
Number | 1 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Person—formally diagnosed mental health condition indicator, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation. Evidence suggests that the longer persons with mental health problems are supported by specialist homelessness services, the more likely they are to move into public, or community housing or rental housing rather than return to rough sleeping. Access to a range of longer-term supports and community-based services will increase the early intervention and recovery support options for people who are homeless with a mental illness and substance abuse disorders.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the AIHW. The data element Client—consent obtained indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (CODE 1). |
- | - | conditional | 1 | |
|
Person—government funding identifier, Centrelink customer reference number N(9)A
Specific Information:
The states and territories have agreed to include Centrelink customer reference numbers in the NMDS, however this information is not currently recorded as issues of confidentiality are yet to be resolved.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the consent of the client. |
String | 10 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Person—housing tenure type, homelessness code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:
Only one permissible value is selected in each case.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Number | 2 | conditional | 4 | |
|
Person—Indigenous status, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the AIHW. The data element Client—consent obtained indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (CODE 1). |
Number | 1 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Person—labour force status, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:
Only one permissible value is selected in each case. This collection records a response of Don't Know (CODE 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (CODE 9) in the Standard.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients. This data element reflects the ABS Labour force status standard variable. Consequently, the value domain definitions explicitly exclude anyone aged under 15. |
Number | 1 | conditional | 4 | |
|
Person—living arrangement, homelessness code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:
Only one permissible value is selected in each case. This collection records a response of Don't Know (CODE 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (CODE 9) in the Standard.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Number | 1 | conditional | 4 | |
|
Person—mental health services received timeframe, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the AIHW. The data element Client—consent obtained indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (CODE 1). This item is also conditional on the client responding to the data element Person—mental health services received, code N with Yes (CODE 1). |
Number | 1 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Person—new client indicator, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is used to gain an idea of the 'trend of homelessness'. It does this by collecting data as to whether or not the presenting person has accessed a specialist homelessness agency before.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
- | - | conditional | 1 | |
|
Person—number of people in the presenting unit, total N[N]
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.
|
Number | 2 | mandatory | 1 | |
|
Person—previously homeless status, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected a minimum of twice (for the client):
If a client has indicated that they were homeless in the last month, then by default they should be recorded as homeless in the last 12 months. This question allows the client to check all responses that apply, and therefore the client may have up to 3 valid responses for each instance of this question. This collection records a response of Don't Know (CODE 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (CODE 9) in the Standard.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Number | 1 | conditional | 6 | |
|
Person—reason for seeking assistance, homelessness code N[N]
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation. This data element is collected twice (for the client):
In both cases the reasons are those nominated by the client. This question allows the client to check all responses that apply for all the presenting reasons for seeking assistance (up to 26 valid responses). The client should also select one main reason for seeking assistance.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the SHS NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Number | 2 | conditional | 27 | |
|
Person—reason services not provided, code N[N]
Specific Information:
This question allows the person to check all responses that apply, and therefore the person may have up to 11 valid responses.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected only for 'turnaways'. Turnaways are people who have not received any requested services or assessment. |
Number | 2 | conditional | 11 | |
|
Person—relationship to the presenting unit head, code N[N]
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.
|
String | 2 | mandatory | 1 | |
|
Person—residential type, homelessness code N[N]
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:
Only one permissible value is selected in each case. This collection records a response of Don't Know (CODE 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (CODE 99) in the Standard.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
String | 2 | conditional | 4 | |
|
Person—school enrolment and attendance status, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation. This collection records a response of Don't Know (CODE 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (CODE 99) in the Standard.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS this data element is collected for all clients from age 4 to 18 years (inclusive). This data element is not collected for children aged 4 years who have not started school. |
Number | 1 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Person—service requested, homelessness code N
Specific Information:
This question allows the client to check all responses that apply, and therefore the client may have up to 4 valid responses for this question.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is only collected for 'turnaways'. Turnaways are people who have not received the requested services or assessment. |
Number | 1 | conditional | 4 | |
|
Person—source of information on a mental health condition, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation. This data element is collected from the perspective of the agency worker. The agency worker may answer this question based on their personal observations, or from information volunteered by the client. If the client does not agree to answer the questions which require consent, the agency worker will be unable to report this information.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the AIHW. The data element Client—consent obtained indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (CODE 1). It is also conditional on a response of Yes (CODE 1) to Person—source of information on a mental health condition indicator, code N. |
Number | 1 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Person—student type, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:
Only one permissible value is selected in each case. This collection records a response of Don't Know (CODE 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (CODE 9) in the Standard.
Conditional Inclusion:
Conditional on responding to Person—student/employment training indicator, code N with a Yes (CODE 1).
|
Number | 1 | conditional | 4 | |
|
Person—student/employment training indicator, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:
Only one permissible value is selected in each case. This collection records a response of Don't Know (CODE 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (CODE 9) in the Standard.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Number | 1 | conditional | 4 | |
|
Person—time elapsed since last permanent residence, code N
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation. This collection records a response of Don't Know (CODE 99), which is equivalent to the code Don't know/Not sure (CODE 9) in the Standard.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Number | 1 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Person—type of institution recently left, homelessness code N[N]
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation. This data element refers to institutions or facilities the client may have been in during the last 12 months. This question allows the client to check all responses that apply, and therefore the client may have up to 7 valid responses. The value Other (CODE 98) is not used by this collection.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the AIHW. The data element Client—consent obtained indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (CODE 1). This item is also conditional on a response of Yes in the data element Person—previously resided in institution/facility indicator, code N. |
- | - | conditional | 7 | |
|
Person—urgency of requested assistance, time period code N
Specific Information:
This collection records a response of Don't Know (CODE 99), which is equivalent to the code Don't know/Not sure (CODE 7) in the Standard.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is only collected for 'turnaways'. Turnaways are people who have not received the requested services or assessment. |
Number | 1 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Person—year of first arrival in Australia, date YYYY
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation. The supplementary code Don't know (Code 9999) is used to process client data if a valid year of arrival is not provided.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this Data Element is ascertained for all clients who have indicated that their Country of Birth is not Australia.
|
Date/Time | 4 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Referral—formal referral source, homelessness code N[N]
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation. This collection records a response of Don't Know (CODE 99), which is equivalent to the code Don't know/Not sure (CODE 22) in the Standard.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Number | 2 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS this data element is the support period end date.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Date/Time | 8 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS this data element is the support period start date.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Date/Time | 8 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Service episode—service cessation reason, homelessness code N[N]
Specific Information:
This collection records a response of Don't Know (CODE 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/unknown (CODE 99) in the Standard.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients if the support period has finished.
|
Number | 2 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Service episode—service ongoing indicator, code N
Specific Information:
The code Not stated/inadequately described (CODE 9) is not used by this collection.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Number | 1 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Service event—assistance request date, DDMMYYYY
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this Data Element is relevant to 'turnaways' and clients. It captures the date on which a person sought assistance from a Specialist Homelessness Agency. This may not be the same date the assistance or service is received by the client. |
Date/Time | 8 | mandatory | 1 | |
|
Service event—first service contact date, DDMMYYYY
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected for all clients. This data element is collected for the first service contact date within the reporting period. If the first service contact was also the start of the service episode, as recorded by the data element Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY, then the same date will be recorded for both data elements. If the service episode is ongoing but the service event is new, then the actual date of the new service event should be recorded. This data element should ascertain the actual date of service, not the date when the data is recorded.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Date/Time | 8 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Service event—last service provision date, DDMMYYYY
Specific Information:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected for all clients. This data element is collected for the last service provision date within the reporting period. If the last provision of a service was also the end of the service episode, as recorded by the data element Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY, then the same date will be recorded for both data elements. If the last provision of a service is not the end of the service episode (i.e. where other services continue to be provided) the actual date of the end of the service event should be recorded. However if the service event within the service episode is ongoing to the next reporting period, ie ongoing to the following month, then the Service event—last service provision date, DDMMYYYY will be recorded as the last day of the current month. This data element should ascertain the actual date of service, not the date when the data is recorded.
Conditional Inclusion:
In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.
|
Date/Time | 8 | conditional | 1 | |
| Service provider organisation—organisation identifier, NNNNNA | String | 6 | mandatory | 1 |
Comments
Guide for use:
For jurisdictions who have high volume central intake or localised entry point agencies (for example ACT and Victoria), data for unmet demand and unassisted requests for services are not directly comparable with other states and territories.
References
Related content
| Relation | Count |
|---|---|
| As a numerator in an Indicator | 0 |
| As a denominator in an Indicator | 0 |
| As a disaggregation in an Indicator | 0 |