Pathways to homelessness

The Department of Communities and Justice commissioned analytics and actuarial consultancy Taylor Fry to complete detailed analysis on the government services people use before, during and after experiencing homelessness  to improve the evidence base for homelessness prevention and early intervention programs.

Dataset and interactive dashboard

The linked dataset created for the Pathways to Homelessness report (PDF 2.42MB) is one of the most comprehensive datasets related to homelessness in Australia, covering 625,000 people across 19 NSW and Commonwealth government services including housing, health, welfare, justice, education, and out-of-home care.

The Pathways to Homelessness report is accompanied by an interactive data dashboard, where the data informing the report can be explored further. Instructions for using the dashboards are attached below.

The analysis helps us to:

• understand the factors that lead people to seek assistance from homelessness services,
• identify opportunities to help people sooner
• support investment in initiatives with the greatest potential to improve outcomes across the whole service system.

Evidence briefs

5 Evidence Briefs are also available. These provide detailed analysis of patterns in service use for groups identified with an elevated risk of experiencing homelessness. These groups include:

1. People sleeping rough
2. Young people leaving out-of-home care
3. People exiting custody
4. People experiencing domestic and family violence
5. People experiencing mental health issues.

The Evidence Briefs are designed to make the original research findings more accessible to policymakers and support agencies to implement the findings.