Centre for Rural Health and Community Development, University of SA
The Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University
Flinders University Rural Clinical School
Guy Robinson, Jennifer Cleary, Doris Carson, Dean Carson and Susan Robinson
Indigenous people in remote parts of Australia frequently travel away from their remote communities to towns and regional centres, as well as to other remote locations. These circular patterns of mobility from and back to their remote home communities often lead to Indigenous people being ‘homeless away from home’ when they visit regional service centres. The movement of Indigenous people into urban centres is considered to be a challenge for urban centres and for urban-based service agencies – particularly in the health, housing, social and education sectors – which may be confronted with service populations that at times exceed their capacities. Lack of adequate housing options for mobile Indigenous people has further exacerbated service delivery challenges in urban centres.
Understanding why people travel is critical to improving the design of services available for mobile Indigenous people in urban centres. Available official standard data sets have proved insufficient to the task of identifying and analysing the complexities involved in temporary Indigenous mobility and the associated service requirements.
This research project, funded under the 2009-13 National Homelessness Research Agenda, aimed to address the gap in knowledge around temporary Indigenous ‘homelessness away from home’ by examining mobility-related homelessness in two urban centres in South Australia: Ceduna and Port Augusta. The project developed a data dictionary and protocols based on an ‘ideal’ information model which could contribute to more consistent data collection on temporary homelessness associated with mobility. The project also raised awareness of the difficulties associated with improving local data collections in rural and remote locations.
Below are links to the full report and the evidence note that provides a summary of the report findings.