The General Social Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides an understanding of the multi-dimensional nature of relative advantage and disadvantage across the population, and facilitates reporting on people’s opportunities to participate fully in society, including their experiences of homelessness.

The survey has been conducted every 4 years since 2002 to 2019. An additional survey was conducted from 15 June to 5 September 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Detailed information is collected about the personal and household characteristics of persons aged 15 years and over in private dwellings throughout Australia (excluding foreign diplomats, members of non-Australian defence forces, visitors, people living in very remote areas and people living in discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities).

In 2014, the survey collected information about the experiences of people who have been homeless in the past, but who, at the time of survey, were residents of private dwellings. Information from these questions has not been collected in subsequent surveys, and the data presented here refers to 2014 only. A sample of 12,932 dwellings across the states and territories was included in the 2014 survey to generate estimates and relative standard errors for the Australian resident population.

The General Social Survey includes information on a range of social dimensions such as household income, housing costs and financial statistics, financial stress by household composition, demographic characteristics, transport and mobility, education and employment.

General Social Survey data are also used in the following dashboard menu options: Financial statistics (2014), Financial stress (2014), People without a permanent place to live (2019) and Households financial characteristics (2020).

See ABS – General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia (https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/general-social-survey-summary-results-australia/2014) for further information, including in-depth commentary and analysis, in particular the source data Quality Declaration. Source reference Data downloads, tables 3.1, 3.3, 17.1 and 17.3.