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Definition

A code set representing support services for homelessness clients.

Conceptual Domain

Homelessness Services Activity Type
Statuses: [FACSIAR Data Governance Committee: Standard, Nov. 25, 2021]
The type of service activity for which a person may seek support, or have provided to them, or be referred for.

Representation

Data Type NUMBERSTRING
Format NN
Maximum character length 2

Values

Value Meaning Definition Start Date End Date
Permissible Values Housing/accommodation
1 Short-term or emergency accommodation - refers to homelessness accommodation that is owned or directly managed by a specialist homelessness service, such as a refuge or crisis shelter. Includes emergency accommodation an agency arranged and paid for in places such as hotels, motels and caravan parks. Does not include financial assistance for rent or other housing costs.
2 Medium term/transitional housing - refers to medium-term accommodation provided or managed by a specialist homelessness agency or other medium-term housing that is not expected to be long term. Generally, this would be longer than 3 months in duration. Transitional housing refers to when a client is paying money to occupy accommodation for transition towards independent living or towards returning home. The accommodation is generally more stable and provided for longer than crisis accommodation, and is linked to external support through another agency.
3 Long term housing - independent housing such as public housing, private rental accommodation, community housing or owner-occupied housing. Does not refer to assistance to sustain a tenancy in long-term housing—see Assistance to sustain tenancy or prevent tenancy failure or eviction.
4 Assistance to sustain tenancy or prevent tenancy failure or eviction - refers to support to maintain a tenancy by assisting the client to meet rental payments or arrears, maintain property standards and/or organise their finances to meet rental payments, such as using Centrepay. Also includes mediation with housemates and/or neighbours, and advocacy and liaison with housing agencies, landlords or real estate agents and so forth.
5 Assistance to prevent foreclosures or for mortgage arrears - refers to support such as assisting the client to assess his/her financial situation and advocating and liaising with lenders.
General assistance
6 Assertive outreach for rough sleepers - mostly targeted at rough sleepers and refers to agency workers visiting clients in their usual or familiar environment to find flexible and creative ways of meeting their needs. Service delivery is generally intensive and not dependent on the client turning up to the service centre for appointments. Workers might visit clients in a boarding house, an inner city homelessness agency, a coffee shop, a park bench or any other place that the client may be located. Assertive outreach should not be selected if the client does not have a history of sleeping rough and the client is being visited to assist them to sustain their tenancy.
7 Assistance to obtain/maintain government allowance - refers to help or support aimed at obtaining social security income, such as completing Centrelink applications or accompanying a client to an interview with a Centrelink officer.
8 Employment assistance - refers to assistance to obtain a job and/or access to employment assistance programs.
9 Training assistance - refers to assistance to access training programs.
10 Educational assistance - refers to assistance to access education or assist the client to remain in education.
11 Financial information - refers to informal discussions aimed at helping the client to understand their financial affairs and raise awareness of some options to address their financial management issues. Includes assisting the client to budget using Centrepay.
12 Material aid/brokerage - refers to money given to, or on behalf of, the client for bond/rent/transport and so forth and other non-monetary assistance, such as clothing, food vouchers and bus/train tickets. This assistance is not expected to be repaid.
13 Assistance for incest/sexual assault - refers to one-to-one discussion sessions with the client, usually provided on more than one occasion, dealing with incest or sexual abuse.
14 Assistance for domestic/family violence - refers to one-to-one discussion or group sessions with the client, usually provided on more than one occasion, focused around violence inflicted on the client by a family member. Includes referring the client for counselling to a domestic violence support group, or specialised domestic violence support service. Exclude children if not the victim themselves (include in Assistance for trauma if counselling required).
15 Family/relationship assistance - refers to discussion sessions or support dealing with family and relationship problems or issues.
16 Assistance for trauma - Assistance for trauma refers to assistance for clients who have experienced or witnessed an event that threatened their life or safety, or that of others around them. Events include serious accidents, physical or sexual assault, child abuse, suicide of a family member or friend, natural disasters such as bushfires or floods, acts of violence such as an armed robbery, torture, war or terrorism. Excludes sexual assault or domestic/family violence against the client themselves. Includes children who have witnessed domestic violence.
17 Assistance with challenging social/behavioural problems - includes assistance with managing behaviour that is disruptive and/or verbally or physically harmful to other people or animals. Includes assistance for children’s behavioural problems and may include teaching social skills (that is, building friendships), anger management and conflict resolution skills.
18 Living skills/personal development - refers to help to enhance clients’ independence or self-esteem. This help is more than normal everyday contact with the client and includes assistance to develop cooking skills, literacy skills and personal care.
19 Legal information - refers to information about legal issues, such as family law matters or information from a tenancy advice service, where the information provider is not actively working on behalf of the client. Also includes assistance to obtain legal documentation of a client’s identity. Does not include specialised legal assistance—see Professional legal services.
20 Court support - refers to attending, or assisting with, court hearings.
21 Advice/information - refers to advice or information for the client relating to their needs as identified by the worker. Includes information about other services where it is left to the client to follow up the information. For example, where a client is given the names of three counselling services to contact. In the case of a child, it refers to information given to the child, or parent/guardian on behalf of the child, that relates to the needs of the child as identified by the worker.
22 Retrieval/storage/removal of personal belongings - refers to worker’s time to assist with the client’s personal effects.
23 Advocacy/liaison on behalf of client - involves work on behalf of a client to ensure the client has proper representation and access to services. Includes liaison with police, probation officers, legal services, Centrelink, housing agencies and so forth. Excludes liaison with schools on behalf of a child—include this in School liaison.
24 School liaison - refers to work on behalf of a child that is related to the child’s education. Includes, for example, assistance with enrolments, and discussion with teachers, administrators or counsellors concerning the child’s progress or behaviour.
25 Child care - refers to care of a child by someone other than the child’s parents (where parent is taken to mean biological, adoptive or step parent of the child, the child’s legal guardian, or the de facto partner of the child’s parent). Includes care of a school-aged child after school (after school care) or during school vacations or holidays (holiday/vacation care).
26 Structured play/skills development - refers to play or skill development for a child’s development, such as building social skills and living skills, or to achieve particular goals.
27 Child contact and residence arrangements - refers to support to the client to negotiate and facilitate child access arrangements. Support may include ensuring that both parents have adequate access to the child, and ensuring that access is provided in such a way that satisfies the terms set out in a court order, protects the child and guarantees the return of the child to the appropriate custodian. This includes arranging or supervising access visits.
28 Meals - includes actual provision of food for the client. Excludes money or vouchers to purchase food as this should be included under the category Material aid/brokerage.
29 Laundry/shower facilities - refers to use of such facilities that are managed by the specialist homelessness agency.
30 Recreation - refers to the provision and coordination of leisure activities for clients.
31 Transport - includes driving a client to an appointment or location. Excludes money for a tram, train or bus.
32 Other basic assistance - refers to other support that is not specialised and is not listed in the categories above.
Specialised services Specialised services refer to those services that require knowledge or skills and are usually undertaken by someone with qualifications to provide the particular service.
33 Child protection services - refers to services for children who are, or may be, at risk of significant harm and for whom intervention is needed for their ongoing safety. Includes the statutory Child Protection Service and Placement Service for children who are unable to live at home.
34 Parenting skills education - refers to teaching skills to care for children, such as referring clients to baby health-care clinics, running groups or enrolling parents in classes to teach parenting skills.
35 Child specific specialist counselling services - refers to support from a specialist counselling service that specifically caters for children’s issues.
36 Psychological services - refers to support or assistance from a qualified psychologist.
37 Psychiatric services - refers to support or assistance from a qualified psychiatrist.
38 Mental health services - refers to support from mental health services.
39 Pregnancy assistance - refers to advice, support and assistance relating to pregnancy issues.
40 Family planning support - refers to advice, support and assistance relating to family planning issues.
41 Physical disability services - refers to support and assistance specifically for the client’s physical disability.
42 Intellectual disability services - refers to support and assistance specifically for the client’s intellectual disability.
43 Health/medical services - includes assessment of the client’s health and medical needs and any treatment provided.
44 Professional legal services - refers to support provided by professional legal services.
45 Financial advice and counselling - refers to support from a specialised financial counselling adviser or service for advice focused around financial management issues. Includes referral to a Centrelink Financial Information Service officer.
46 Counselling for problem gambling - refers to counselling, support or assistance provided to clients who have a gambling addiction/habit/problem and need to develop skills to cope with the problem on a day-to- day basis.
47 Drug/alcohol counselling - refers to support and assistance specifically to address problems related to the client’s problematic drug, alcohol or substance use.
48 Specialist counselling services - refers to counselling provided other than financial, gambling or drug/alcohol counselling (recorded in categories above).
49 Interpreter services - refers to assistance to facilitate communication with clients from non-English-speaking backgrounds, or clients who are hearing impaired.
50 Assistance with immigration services - refers to support or assistance provided to clients who need help liaising with government departments or other assistance regarding immigration issues.
51 Culturally specific services - refers to support and assistance delivered in a way that is sensitive to the client’s ethnic or cultural background.
52 Assistance to connect culturally - refers to helping clients of all ages, linguistically diverse and cultural backgrounds to participate in the broader community. Also includes assisting Indigenous Australians and clients from diverse cultural backgrounds to connect with their cultures.
53 Other specialised service - refers to other specialised support that is not listed in the categories above.
Family/Domestic violence
54 Assistance for domestic/family violence - victim support services - One-to-one discussion or group sessions with the client, usually provided on more than one occasion, focused around violence inflicted on the client by a family member. Includes referring the client for counselling to a domestic violence support group, or specialised domestic violence support service for victims of family and domestic violence. Exclude children if not the victim themselves (include in Assistance for trauma if counselling required).
55 Assistance for domestic/family violence - perpetrator support services - One-to-one discussion or group sessions with the client, usually provided on more than one occasion, focused around the family and domestic violence the client has perpetrated. Includes referring the client for counselling to a perpetrator support group, or specialised perpetrator support service.

Related content

Relation Count
Data Elements implementing this Value Domain 4