Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS 2015-17

Conditional obligation:

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

DSS specific information:

Clients may enter 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 (ie. For September the 30th is a valid date, but the 31st is not a valid date.)

DSS specific information:

In the SHS NMDS, accommodation end date may be asked for three types of accommodation:

1) Short term or emergency, 2) Medium term or transitional, and 3) Long term.

Clients may have breaks in accommodation, or move between different types of accommodation. Clients may have multiple start and end dates for the various types of accommodation.

DSS specific information:

In the SHS NMDS accommodation end date may be asked for three types of accommodation: 1) Short term or emergency, 2) Medium term or transitional, and 3) Long term.

Clients may have breaks in accommodation, or shift between different types of accommodation. Clients may have multiple start and end dates for the various types of accommodation.

DSS specific information:

In the SHS NMDS, the accommodation type Other (CODE 4) is not a valid permissible value.

Conditional obligation:

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

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.

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).

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected for the current service episode only. It relates specifically to assistance provided by the specialist homelessness agency and not assistance provided by any other source.

This item is repeated 5 times to capture the total amounts for the different types of financial assistance.

The client should provide dollar amounts for each type of assitance that was provided during the reference period (ie up to 5 valid responses).

DSS specific information:

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is collected for the current service episode only. It relates specifically to assistance provided by the specialist homelessness agency and not assistance provided by any other source.

The client may check all types of assitance that applied during the reference period (ie up to 5 valid responses).

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.

Conditional obligation:

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.

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.

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 obtained 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.

Conditional obligation:

Conditional on YES (CODE 1) response to Client—case management plan indicator, yes/no code.

DSS specific information:

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

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, ie each calendar month.

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.

Conditional obligation:

This item 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, ie each calendar month.

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.

Conditional obligation:

In the SHS 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 3), which is equivalent to the code Not stated/Inadequately described (CODE 9) in the Standard.

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.

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.

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 obtained indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (CODE 1).

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.

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 obtained 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.

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.

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.

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 obtained 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.

Conditional obligation:

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

This data element reflects the ABS Labour force status standard variable. Consequently, the value domain definitions explicitly exclude anyone aged under 15.

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.

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.

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 obtained 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.

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 obtained 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, 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.

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.

DSS specific information:

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

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.

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 obtained indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (CODE 1).

Conditional obligation:

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

This data element reflects the 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 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 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 ABS Sources of Income Classification.

Government pensions and allowances

Newstart Allowance

Parenting Payment

Disability support pension (Centrelink)

Youth allowance

Age pension

Austudy/ABSTUDY

Disability Pension (DVA)

Service pension (DVA)

War Widow(er)'s Pension (Including income support supplement) (DVA)

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

Conditional obligation:

In the SHS 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.

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].

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.

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.

DSS specific information:

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

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.

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.

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 99) in the Standard.

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 question allows the client to check all responses that apply, and therefore the client may have up to 4 valid responses for this question.

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 obtained 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.

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 obtained 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 indicator, 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.

Conditional obligation:

Conditional on responding to Person—student/employment training indicator, 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.

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.

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.

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 obtained indicator, yes/no code N, must receive a response of Yes (CODE 1).

This item is also conditional on a response of Yes in the data element Person—previously resided in institution/facility indicator, 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.

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.

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.

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 22) in the Standard.

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.

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.

DSS specific information:

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.