ABS works closely with homeless support services for 'best possible count'

The ABS says working with homeless-support services helps to more accurately measure the rate of homelessness across the country.

The ABS says it wants to include more homeless people in the 2016 Census. Source: SBS

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) held a sausage sizzle at the Ruah Centre, a homeless support service, on Thursday to encourage homeless people to engage with it ahead of Census night on August 9.

Western Australia Census director David Weymouth told SBS that: “it's that part of that engagement with service providers to make sure that we get the best possible count that we can”.

Ruah Centre chief executive Debra Zanella said the initiative was important as more people were becoming homeless.                        

“In a country like this and in the funding uncertainty that we have… we desperately need to ensure that people who are homeless are counted,” she said.

In the last census, more than 100,000 people were recorded as homeless, the majority in severely overcrowded conditions and 60 per cent of them younger than 35.

Almost the same number of people stayed in supported accommodation and temporary homes.