You might have already read this important information in the AIHW Newsletter, but if not..
Currently, only half of Unassisted Persons have a valid Statistical Linkage Key (SLK).
Valid SLKs help the AIHW understand how many Unassisted Persons become clients at a later date and how many never receive any assistance from agencies.
The SLK consists of the 2nd and 3rd letters of the given name and the 2nd, 3rd and 5th letters of the family name, together with the sex of the person and their full date of birth.
The most common cause of an invalid SLK is an incomplete date of birth.
Please review your current practices for collecting this information and ensure it is collected for as many Unassisted Persons as possible.
The SHS Collection also includes information about the type of housing where a client is living- the type of dwelling, tenure and conditions of occupancy.
This information is used to distinguish between clients who are ‘homeless’ and those who are ‘at risk of homelessness’. It is also used to measure the change in a client’s housing status between the start of support and at the end of support.
This outcome measure shows any improvement in housing status due to the assistance provided by your agency.
When completing the status update each month, please ensure housing information has been completed as much as possible.
Note that the housing status at the end of support should record where the client will be living after leaving your agency.
Further information on each of these questions is detailed in the SHS Collection Manual (pg 59-66).