Homelessness: A Consequence of Abuse of Women in Brisbane, Australia

Chamberlain and MacKenzie (1992) argue that the definitions and kinds of homelessness are quite complex. Therefore, not only is it important to conceptually and operationally define homelessness, but also it is imperative to distinguish different experiences within homeless populations, for example, among gender-specific populations. Chamberlain and Johnson (2001) point out there will always be individual homeless people who are hard to classify. Currently, in an Australian context, there are three sections of the homeless population relevant to the official definitions: primary, secondary, and tertiary homelessness. Primary homelessness encompasses those without conventional accommodation, most commonly people living on the streets (Chamberlain and MacKenzie, 2009). Secondary homelessness includes people who move frequently from one form of temporary shelter to another (Chamberlain and MacKenzie, 2009). Tertiary homelessness encompasses people who live in boarding houses on a medium to long-term basis, operationally defined as 13 weeks or longer (Chamberlain and MacKenzie, 2009). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), in 2011, the number of homeless people in Australia reached 105,237, which was 8% higher than five years previously. Further, women represented 44% of the overall homeless population, which enumerated to 45,813 homeless women, compared to 38,569 homeless women in 2006 (ABS, 2011). Moreover, a recent annual specialist homelessness services (SHS) report found that 229,247 Australians accessed SHS during 2011-2012, with females representing 59% of the overall number (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW], 2012).