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Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS 2019-

Data Set Specification Attributes

Identifying and definitional attributes

Metadata item type:Help on this termData Set Specification
METEOR identifier:Help on this term689064
Registration status:Help on this term
  • Homelessness, Standard 10/08/2018
DSS type:Help on this termNational Minimum Data Set (NMDS)
Scope:Help on this term

The Specialist Homelessness Services National Minimum Data Set (SHS NMDS) aims to provide quality information about people who are either homeless or at risk of homelessness and who are seeking services from specialist homelessness agencies.

This collection is intended to obtain information about clients receiving ongoing or short-term support, as well as people who are seeking assistance but did not receive any services. Data collection includes basic socio-demographic information and the services required by and provided to each client. Details about accompanying children are also recorded. Additionally, information is obtained about the client circumstances before, during and after receiving support.

The base unit of this collection is a person who presents to a Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) agency requesting a service or services. A person becomes a client once they receive a service or services. The period of time a client receives assistance from a SHS agency is commonly referred to as a support period. It relates to the provision of assistance and/or supported accommodation. A support period is considered finished when the relationship between the client and the agency ends or the client has reached their maximum amount of support.

During a support period there are, in most cases, a series of service episodes or assistance, other than supported accommodation, provided to the client by the SHS agency. For the purposes of the SHS NMDS, assistance also includes contact with a client, or work on behalf of a client.

The SHS NMDS has three ‘views’ for collection purposes, they are: Unassisted person, Client and Specialist homelessness agency.

An ‘Unassisted person’ in the context of this collection is any person who seeks assistance from an agency and is not successful in obtaining that assistance. A ‘Client’ is a person who receives services either directly or indirectly from an agency. A 'Specialist homelessness agency' is an organisation which receives government funding to deliver a specialist homelessness service to a client.

The SHS NMDS provides for information to be collected for each person who seeks services, irrespective of whether they are on their own or part of a family or other group. The ‘Presenting unit’ describes a single person or a group of people, and the relationship between members presenting for services. The ‘Presenting unit head’ describes a person in the ‘Presenting unit’ used to determine how people within the group are related.

Collection and usage attributes

Guide for use:Help on this term

For jurisdictions who have high volume central intake or localised entry point agencies (for example Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory), data for unmet demand and unassisted requests for services are not directly comparable with other states and territories.

Comments:Help on this term

The 2011 SHS NMDS was developed to support the collection of data under the Intergovernmental Agreement on Federal Financial Relations for Homelessness. It replaced the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) collection from July 2011.

In 2008 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to reform federal financial relations to improve the quality and effectiveness of government services. These reforms led to the establishment of the National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA) and the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (NPAH), which includes specific performance measures in relation to homelessness.

In conjunction with these reforms, the Australian Government initiated a comprehensive policy review, setting out a national approach to reducing homelessness in the White Paper: The Road Home, A National Approach to Reducing Homelessness.

The SHS NMDS 2019- continues to reflect the outcome based performance framework promoted by the COAG Reforms and White Paper. It supports the collection, analysis and reporting of client-based data. This allows for the production of statistical information about clients’ circumstances, the assistance they receive and the outcomes that are achieved for them. This information can be used to inform policy design, evaluation, service improvement and monitoring of specialist homelessness services in Australia.

The collection has developed over time to provide improved information about clients of SHS agencies. Changes in 2013 provided for the collection of information about clients with disabilities. Following this, in 2017 changes enabled the collection of data about clients who are former or current members of the Australian Defence Force.

The SHS NMDS 2019- provides for further collection enhancements including:

  • Data about family and domestic violence, for example services for victims and perpetrators of family and domestic violence.
  • Improved data for identifying culturally and linguistically diverse clients.
  • Scope to collect data for clients who are not male or female.
  • Identification of clients who are receiving an agreed package of support from the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Source and reference attributes

Submitting organisation:Help on this term

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Relational attributes

Related metadata references:Help on this term
Supersedes Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS 2017-19
  • Homelessness, Superseded 10/08/2018
See also SAAP Administrative National Minimum Data Set (NMDS)
  • Community Services (retired), Retired 01/07/2011

Metadata items in this Data Set Specification Help on this term

Show more detail
Seq No.Help on this termMetadata itemHelp on this termObligationHelp on this termMax occursHelp on this term
-Specialist Homelessness Services accommodation type and start/end date cluster

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

Clients may have start and end dates for each of the accommodation types provided during the collection month.

Multiple accommodation types, start dates and end dates may be entered. In a month of 31 days, up to 16 accommodation types, and related start dates or end dates are possible. The dates selected should be valid for the collection month (i.e. September the 30th is a valid date, but the 31st is not a valid date).

Conditional16
-Specialist Homelessness Services activity cluster

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

Conditional1
-Specialist Homelessness Services disability flag cluster

Conditional obligation:

 In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

 In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at presentation.

Conditional1
-Specialist Homelessness Services financial assistance type and amount cluster

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this cluster is collected at the end of the reporting period (for the current service episode only).

Conditional1
-Statistical linkage key 581 cluster

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this cluster is collected at the date of presentation.

For the purposes of the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS the SLK of the Presenting Unit Head will be recorded on each their accompanying member’s forms.

Mandatory1
-Address—Australian postcode, code (Postcode datafile) NNNN

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is reported twice, for:

  • where the person lived one week before the first service contact (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY
  • where the person lived the last time they had a permanent place to live.

Conditional2
-Address—suburb/town/locality name, text X[X(45)]

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is reported twice, for:

  • where the person lived one week before the first service contact (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY)
  • where the person lived the last time they had a permanent place to live.
Conditional2
-Child—care arrangements, care and protection order code N[N]

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The data element Client—consent indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (Code 1).

This data element is only collected for clients aged less than 18 years, who have a care and protection order.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:

  • one week before the start of the support period (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the date of presentation
  • at the end of the reporting period (the Service event—last service provision date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the end of the support period (the Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY)

Only one permissible value is selected in each case.

Conditional4
-Client—case management goal status, code N

Conditional obligation:

Conditional on a Yes (Code 1) response to Client—case management plan indicator, yes/no code N.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the end of each reporting period, i.e. each calendar month.

Conditional1
-Client—case management plan indicator, yes/no code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the end of each reporting period, i.e. each calendar month.

Conditional1
-Client—consent indicator, yes/no code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

The data collected in the Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) NMDS will be used for policy development and agency activity reporting in a non-identifiable form. This information will enable better placement of agency services and enhance service provision to clients of homelessness agencies

Conditional1
-Client—reason case management plan does not exist, code N

Conditional obligation:

This data element is conditional on a response of No (Code 2) in the data element Client—case management plan indicator, yes/no code N.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the end of each reporting period, i.e. each calendar month.

Conditional1
-Client—reason case management plan does not exist, text A[A(49)]

Conditional obligation:

This data element is conditional on a response of Other (Code 8) for the data element Client—reason case management plan does not exist, code N.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the end of each reporting period, i.e. each calendar month.

Conditional1
-Person—Australian Defence Force indicator, yes/no/not stated/inadequately described code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only collected for clients aged 18 years and over.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

This collection records a response of Don't know (Code 99) which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (Code 9) in the Standard. Where a client is aged less than 18 years a response of Not applicable (Code 0) may be used. 

Conditional1
-Person—Australian state/territory identifier, code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is reported twice, for:

  • where the person lived one week before the first service contact (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY)
  • where the person lived the last time they had a permanent place to live.
Conditional2
-Person—conditions of occupancy, code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:

  • one week before the start of the support period (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the date of presentation
  • at the end of the reporting period (the Service event—last service provision date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the end of the support period (the Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY)

Only one permissible value is selected in each case.

Please note that Leased tenure - nominated on lease (Code 1) - and Lease in place - not nominated on lease (Code 2) are only selected if a lease is in place. Codes 3 to 6 only apply if the person's name is not on a lease.

Conditional4
-Person—country of birth, code (SACC 2016) NNNN

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

This data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the AIHW. The data element Client—consent indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (Code 1).

Conditional1
-Person—first service request indicator, yes/no/unknown/not stated/inadequately described code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is only collected for turnaways. Turnaways are people who have not received any requested services or assessment. This data element is applied to an individual 24-hour reporting period.

Conditional1
-Person—formally diagnosed mental health condition indicator, yes/no/don't know/can't remember code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The data element Client—consent indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (Code 1).

DSS specific information:

 In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

Evidence suggests that the longer persons with mental health problems are supported by specialist homelessness services, the more likely they are to move into public, or community housing or rental housing rather than return to rough sleeping. Access to a range of longer-term supports and community-based services will increase the early intervention and recovery support options for people who are homeless with a mental illness and substance abuse disorders.

Conditional1
-Person—full-time/part-time status, code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients. This item is conditional on a response of Employed (Code 1) in the data element Person—labour force status, code N.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:

  • one week before the start of the support period (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the date of presentation
  • at the end of the reporting period (the Service event—last service provision date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the end of the support period (the Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY)

Only one permissible value is selected in each case.

This collection records a response of Don't Know (Code 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (Code 9) in the Standard.

Conditional4
-Person—government funding identifier, Centrelink customer reference number N(9)A

Conditional obligation:

 In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the consent of the client.

DSS specific information:

The states and territories have agreed to include Centrelink customer reference numbers in the NMDS, however this information is not currently recorded as issues of confidentiality are yet to be resolved.

Conditional1
-Person—housing tenure type, homelessness code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:

  • one week before the start of the support period (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the date of presentation
  • at the end of the reporting period (the Service event—last service provision date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the end of the support period (the Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY)

Only one permissible value is selected in each case.

Conditional4
-Person—Indigenous status, code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The data element Client—consent indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (Code 1).

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

Conditional1
-Person—labour force status, code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:

  • one week before the start of the support period (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the date of presentation
  • at the end of the reporting period (the Service event—last service provision date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the end of the support period (the Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY).

Only one permissible value is selected in each case.

This collection records a response of Don't Know (Code 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (Code 9) in the Standard.

Conditional4
-Person—living arrangement, homelessness code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:

  • one week before the start of the support period (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the date of presentation
  • at the end of the reporting period (the Service event—last service provision date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the end of the support period (the Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY)

Only one permissible value is selected in each case.

This collection records a response of Don't Know (Code 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (Code 9) in the Standard.

Conditional4
-Person—main language other than English spoken at home, code (ASCL 2016) N[NNN]

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

Where a client is without a home, record main language spoken other than English.

This collection records the ABS classification supplementary code Not Stated (0002).

Conditional1
-Person—mental health services received indicator, yes/no/not stated/inadequately described code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The data element Client—consent indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (Code 1).

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

Conditional1
-Person—mental health services received timeframe, code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the AIHW. The data element Client—consent indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (Code 1).

This item is also conditional on the client responding to the data element Person—mental health services received indicator, Yes/no/not stated/inadequately described code N with Yes (Code 1).

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

Conditional1
-Person—new client indicator, code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is used to gain an idea of the 'trend of homelessness'. It does this by collecting data as to whether or not the presenting person has accessed a specialist homelessness agency before.

Conditional1
-Person—number of people presenting, total N[N]

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

Mandatory1
-Person—participation in National Disability Insurance Scheme indicator, yes/no/not stated/inadequately described code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

This collection records a response of Don't know (Code 99) which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (Code 9) in the Standard.

Conditional1
-Person—period of time since last permanent living place, code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

This collection records a response of Don't Know (Code 99), which is equivalent to the code Don't know/Not sure (Code 9) in the Standard.

Conditional1
-Person—previously homeless status, code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected a minimum of twice (for the client):

  • within the previous month
  • within the previous year.

If a client has indicated that they were homeless in the last month, then by default they should be recorded as homeless in the last 12 months.

This question allows the client to check all responses that apply, and therefore the client may have up to 3 valid responses for each instance of this question.

This collection records a response of Don't Know (Code 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (Code 9) in the Standard.

Conditional6
-Person—previously resided in institution/facility indicator, yes/no/not stated/inadequately described code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation. This data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the AIHW. The data element Client—consent indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (Code 1).

Conditional1
-Person—principal source of cash income, code NNNN

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

This data element reflects the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Sources of income standard variable. Consequently, the value domain definitions explicitly exclude anyone aged under 15.

If income information on children under 15 years is sought for the Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) NMDS, these persons may also be asked the sources of income questions. However, if comparability with ABS collections is required, the SHS data can be filtered using the age data element to remove responses for children aged under 15.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:

  • one week before the start of the support period (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the date of presentation
  • at the end of the reporting period (the Service event—last service provision date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the end of the support period (the Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY)

Only one permissible value is selected in each case.

For the purposes of the SHS collection the following list is used which aggregates to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Sources of Income Classification.

Government pensions and allowances

Newstart allowance

Parenting payment

Disability support pension (Centrelink)

Youth allowance

Age pension

Austudy/Abstudy

DVA pension or payment

Sickness allowance

Carer allowance

Carer payment

Other government pensions and allowances

Other sources of income

Employee income

Unincorporated business income

Other income nec

Nil income

Not stated/not known/inadequately described

Conditional4
-Person—proficiency in spoken English, code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is conditional on the client speaking a language other than English at home. The data element Person—main language other than English spoken at home, code (ASCL 2016) N[NNN] must receive a response of Yes, other - please specify for this data to be collected. This data element is also only collected for clients aged 5 years and over.

For clients who respond to the data element Person—main language other than English spoken at home, code (ASCL 2016) N[NNN] No, English only and for clients aged less than 5 a Not applicable response is recorded.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

This collection records a response of Don't know (Code 99) which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (Code 9) in the Standard.

This collection records a response of Not applicable (Code 0) which is equivalent to the code Not applicable (Code 7) in the Standard.

Conditional1
-Person—reason for seeking assistance, homelessness code N[N]

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

This data element is collected twice (for the client):

  • for all the presenting reasons for seeking assistance; and subsequently
  • for the main presenting reason for seeking assistance

In both cases the reasons are those nominated by the client.

This question allows the client to check all responses that apply for all the presenting reasons for seeking assistance (up to 26 valid responses). The client should also select one main reason for seeking assistance.

Conditional27
-Person—reason for seeking assistance, text A[A(49)]

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation. This data element is conditional on the person responding with Other (Code 26), in the data element Person—reason for seeking assistance, homelessness code N[N].

Conditional1
-Person—reason service not provided, code N[N]

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected only for 'turnaways'. Turnaways are people who have not received any requested services or assessment.

DSS specific information:

This question allows the person to check all responses that apply, and therefore the person may have up to 11 valid responses.

Conditional11
-Person—registered/awaiting government payment indicator, yes/no/not stated/inadequately described code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is only collected for clients who report nil income (Code 17) in Person—principal source of cash income, code NNNN.

This question establishes whether clients may have applied for a government benefit, pension or allowance, but are still awaiting their first payment.

DSS specific information:

This data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:

  • one week before the start of the support period (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the date of presentation
  • at the end of the reporting period (the Service event—last service provision date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the end of the support period (the Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY).

Only one permissible value is selected in each case.

This collection records a response of Don't Know (Code 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (Code 9) in the Standard

Conditional4
-Person—relationship to the presenting unit head, code N[N]

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

Mandatory1
-Person—relationship to the presenting unit head, text A[A(49)]

Conditional obligation:

This data element is conditional on the person responding with Other relationship (Code 15), in the data element Person—relationship to the presenting unit head, code N[N].

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

Conditional1
-Person—residential type, code N[N]

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:

  • one week before the start of the support period (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the date of presentation
  • at the end of the reporting period (the Service event—last service provision date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the end of the support period (the Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY).

Only one permissible value is selected in each case.

This collection records a response of Don't Know (Code 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (Code 99) in the Standard.

 

Conditional4
-Person—school enrolment and attendance status, code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS this data element is collected for all clients from age 4 to 18 years (inclusive). This data element is not collected for children aged 4 years who have not started school.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

This collection records a response of Don't Know (Code 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (Code 9) in the Standard.

Conditional1
-Person—service requested, homelessness code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is only collected for 'turnaways'. Turnaways are people who have not received any requested services.

DSS specific information:

This question allows the person to check all responses that apply, and therefore the person may have up to 5 valid responses for this question.

Conditional5
-Person—source of information on a mental health issue, code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The data element Client—consent indicator, yes/no code N must receive a response of Yes (Code 1).

It is also conditional on a response of Yes (Code 1) to Person—source of information on a mental health condition, Yes/no/not stated/inadequately described code N.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation. This data element is collected from the perspective of the agency worker. The agency worker may answer this question based on their personal observations, or from information volunteered by the client. If the client does not agree to answer the questions which require consent, the agency worker will be unable to report this information.

Conditional1
-Person—source of information on a mental health issue, yes/no/not stated/inadequately described code N

Conditional obligation:

 In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The data element Client—consent indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (Code 1)

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

Conditional1
-Person—student type, code N

Conditional obligation:

Conditional on responding to Person—student/employment training indicator, Yes/no/not stated/inadequately described code N  with a Yes (Code 1).

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:

  • one week before the start of the support period (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the date of presentation
  • at the end of the reporting period (the Service event—last service provision date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the end of the support period (the Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY).

Only one permissible value is selected in each case.

This collection records a response of Don't Know (Code 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (Code 9) in the Standard.

Conditional4
-Person—student/employment training indicator, yes/no/not stated/inadequately described code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected four times, for the following points in time:

  • one week before the start of the support period (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the date of presentation
  • at the end of the reporting period (the Service event—last service provision date, DDMMYYYY)
  • at the end of the support period (the Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY).

Only one permissible value is selected in each case.

This collection records a response of Don't Know (Code 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (Code 9) in the Standard.

 

Conditional4
-Person—type of institution or facility previously resided in, code N[N]

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is conditional on the client providing consent to release their personal data to the AIHW. The data element Client—consent indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (Code 1).

This item is also conditional on a response of Yes (Code 1) in the data element Person—previously resided in institution/facility indicator, Yes/no/not stated/inadequately described code N.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation. This data element refers to institutions or facilities the client may have been in during the last 12 months. This question allows the client to check all responses that apply, and therefore the client may have up to 7 valid responses.

The value Other (Code 98) is not used by this collection.

Conditional7
-Person—urgency of requested assistance, time period code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is only collected for 'turnaways'. Turnaways are people who have not received the requested services or assessment.

DSS specific information:

This collection records a response of Don't Know (Code 99), which is equivalent to the code Don't know/Not sure (Code 7) in the Standard.

Conditional1
-Person—year of first arrival in Australia, date YYYY

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is ascertained for all clients who have indicated that their Country of Birth is not Australia.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

The supplementary code Don't know (Code 9999) is used to process client data if a valid year of arrival is not provided.

Conditional1
-Referral—formal referral source, homelessness code N[N]

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the SHS NMDS, this data element is collected at the date of presentation.

This collection records a response of Don't Know (Code 99), which is equivalent to the code Don't know (Code 23) in the Standard.

The collection also records a response of No formal referral (Code 88).

Conditional1
-Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS this data element is the support period end date.

Conditional1
-Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS this data element is the support period start date.

Conditional1
-Service episode—reporting period, date MMYYYY

DSS specific information:

This data element reflects the month that information was collected from the person. It is recorded for both clients and turnaways.

Mandatory1
-Service episode—service cessation reason, homelessness code N[N]

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients if the support period has finished.

DSS specific information:

This collection records a response of Don't Know (Code 99), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Unknown (Code 99) in the Standard.

Conditional1
-Service episode—service ongoing indicator, yes/no/not stated/inadequately described code N

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

The code Not stated/inadequately described (Code 9) is not used by this collection.

Conditional1
-Service event—assistance request date, DDMMYYYY

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is relevant to 'turnaways' and clients. It captures the date on which a person sought assistance from a Specialist Homelessness Agency. This may not be the same date the assistance or service is received by the client.

Mandatory1
-Service event—first service contact date, DDMMYYYY

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected for all clients.

This data element is collected for the first service contact date within the reporting period. If the first service contact was also the start of the service episode, as recorded by the data element Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY, then the same date will be recorded for both data elements. If the service episode is ongoing but the service event is new, then the actual date of the new service event should be recorded.

This data element should ascertain the actual date of service, not the date when the data is recorded.

Conditional1
-Service event—last service provision date, DDMMYYYY

Conditional obligation:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this item is only asked of clients.

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected for all clients.

This data element is collected for the last service provision date within the reporting period. If the last provision of a service was also the end of the service episode, as recorded by the data element Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY, then the same date will be recorded for both data elements.

If the last provision of a service is not the end of the service episode (i.e. where other services continue to be provided) the actual date of the end of the service event should be recorded. However if the service event within the service episode is ongoing to the next reporting period, ie ongoing to the following month, then the Service event—last service provision date, DDMMYYYY will be recorded as the last day of the current month.

This data element should ascertain the actual date of service, not the date when the data is recorded.

Conditional1
-Service provider organisation—organisation identifier, NNNNNAMandatory1
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