Table 8: Presenting issues, Anglicare and the Salvation Army Anglicare The Salvation Army Category Examples Category Examples Financial, accommodation and unemployment Accommodation/housing Tenancy problems; homelessness Accommodation/housing Eviction, previous accommodation ended, overcrowding, itinerant Unemployment Loss of job Unemployment Loss of job, loss of income Problems managing finances Problems managing finances Budgeting problems Financial Significant financial debts; credit card debts; gambling na na Unexpected or extraordinary expenses na na financial difficulty Mostly unspecified, but also includes gambling debts, increased medical expenses, and Centrelink quarantined income Health and relationships Mental health na Mental health na Physical health na Physical health na Substance use Drug/alcohol addiction Substance use Drugs, alcohol Issues with family relationships na Issues with family relationships Family relationships breakdown, needing time out, interpersonal conflicts Issues with children na na 6.1 Financial, accommodation and employment issues Figure 15 below shows the percentage of visits in each quarter (from July 2007 to December 2009) at which issues relating to finances, accommodation, and unemployment were cited by clients who received emergency relief at the Sydney Anglicare centres. The upper panel shows financial issues and the lower panel shows accommodation and unemployment. The most common issue, cited by 64 per cent of clients over the whole period, is problems with managing finances (upper panel). The next most frequently cited issue is unemployment (24 per cent of all visits), followed by
fall into the ‘Christmas Cheer’ category at this time. In this report, Christmas Cheer items that could be identified as food cards/vouchers and food parcels/meals were moved into the ‘food’ category, and utilities vouchers into the ‘financial’ category. Other Christmas Cheer items such as children’s toys and vouchers for stores like K-Mart were retained within the Christmas category. Cheques to creditors, Anglicare: Cheques to creditors are an assistance item that ‘typically covers large one-off expenses such as a rental bond, shortfalls in rental payments, household goods, funeral expenses, and green slips’ (Swann et al., 2009, p. 10). Table 16: Types of assistance, Anglicare and the Salvation Army Anglicare The Salvation Army Category Examples Category Examples Food Food-in-kind na Food parcels and meals na Food cards/vouchers na Food cards/vouchers e.g. supermarket Material na Material (in kind) Clothing, blankets, nappies, toys, household Christmas Christmas Child toys, hampers Christmas Child toys, material assistance nec Financial Utilities vouchers EAPA, PAS, and Telstra vouchers(a) Utilities voucher Water, gas and electricity, telephone Cheque to creditor na Cheque of education, petrol and car costs, rent, rates and medical items Other financial Opshop vouchers, vouchers nec, cash Other financial Opshop vouchers, vouchers nec, transport, cash Non-financial assistance Advocacy on behalf of client na Advocacy Liaise with utilities providers, Centrelink Information Help filling in other information Information & advice Help with forms and applications, e.g. tax returns, loan applications