The City of Sydney Street Count
REGISTRATIONS CLOSED
Under it’s Homelessness Strategy 2007-12 the City of Sydney has committed to a goal of reducing overall homelessness and ending chronic homelessness in the inner-city by 2017. A key action under the Homelessness Strategy is the coordination of bi-annual Street Counts of rough sleepers in the City of Sydney Local Government Area (LGA) to monitor progress toward that goal.
Service and policy responses to homelessness must be based on evidence of outcomes and monitored regularly to assess the effectiveness of those approaches. The regular collection and comparison of data gives policy makers and service providers the means to measure the impact of existing responses to homelessness.
Counting the numbers of people experiencing primary homelessness is only one method of collecting the data to inform policy development but it is an important one.
City of Sydney Street Count August 2009
On the morning of 18 August 2009 the City of Sydney’s Homelessness Unit will coordinate the Street Count of rough sleepers between 1am – 3am.
The aim of the Street Count
The aim of the count is to collect accurate and up-to-date information about the numbers of people sleeping rough and in overnight shelters and homelessness hostels across the City of Sydney local government area (LGA).
Who will be counted?
The Street Count does not aim to investigate the total number of people who are homeless in the LGA. The focus of the count will be on the number of people experiencing primary and secondary homelessness in the City of Sydney LGA. For that reason people living in boarding houses, staying with friends or living in other forms of non-secure housing will not be counted.
The count of rough sleepers will be complemented with an audit of homelessness hostel beds and health facility beds occupied on the night of the Street Count.
How often do counts take place?
The counts will take place every 6 months and will cover the warm and cold seasons in the city to measure changes in the number of people sleeping rough including any seasonal differences in numbers. Counts are planned for February and August every year.
How will the results be used?
The results of the Street Counts will assist the City’s Homelessness Unit to develop appropriate responses to homelessness and to monitor the effectiveness of those and other approaches to homelessness in the Local Government Area.
The results will also be used to advocate to state and federal government for the resources necessary to achieve enduring solutions to homelessness.
During the count no rough sleeper will be woken or approached. No information regarding the specific locations of rough sleepers will be released in the results of the count.
Involving Advisors with direct experience of homelessness
The City will actively seek the assistance of people who are currently homeless or who have experienced homelessness as advisors and participants.
How do I volunteer?
Results of the August 2008 and February 2009 Count
Roughly two thirds of the City’s LGA was covered in both counts.
Approximately 165 volunteers, including about 20 Advisors, participated in each Street Count.
| Aug. 2008 | % of total | Feb. 2009 | % of total | |
| Rough Sleepers / over night shelters | 354 | 41% | 340 | 43% |
| Occupied Homelessnesss Hostel Beds | 469 | 54% | 424 | 54% |
| In-Patients at St Vincent’s Hospital who were registered as homeless | 43 | 5% | 27 | 3% |
| Total | 866 | 791 |
Downloads
- Volunteer Application Form | PDF 89Kb
More Information
For further information contact:
Katie Price
Homelessness Project Coordinator
Tel: 02 9265 9667
Email: kprice@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
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Last Updated: Friday 31 July, 2009
