Definitions of Homelessness
The HOME Advice Program uses the 3-tiered definition of homelessness described by Chamberlain & McKenzie:
Primary homelessness is defined as:
-people without conventional accommodation, such as people living on the streets, sleeping in parks, squatting in derelict buildings, using cars or railway carriages for temporary shelter, or living in improvised dwellings.
Secondary homelessness includes:
-people who move frequently from one form of temporary accommodation to another including: people using various types of emergency accommodation (such as hostels, night shelters and refuges);
-people residing temporarily with other households (because they have no accommodation of their own); and
-those using boarding houses on an occasional or intermittent basis.
Tertiary homelessness encompasses:
-people who live in single rooms in private boarding houses on a medium to long-term basis. They do not have a separate bedroom and living room; they do not have kitchen and bathroom facilities of their own; their accommodation is not self-contained; and they do not have security of tenure provided by a lease.