Emergency accommodation policy

Housing SA provides financial assistance into hotels or motels for people who need emergency accommodation. Assistance is of a temporary or bridging nature.

Housing SA may also provide assistance into caravan parks in country areas, if hotel or motel accommodation isn’t available.

This policy sets out:

who’s eligible for emergency accommodation
the amount of assistance Housing SA will provide

Eligibility

People are eligible for assistance into emergency accommodation if they meet all the below conditions:

they’re homeless and unable to return to their usual address due to domestic abuse, severe family or household breakdown, or natural disaster
they can’t access alternative housing options, for example shelter, boarding house, staying with friends or relatives
they live in South Australia at the time assistance is sought
they meet the income and asset limits for the Private Rental Assistance Program, except if they’re experiencing temporary financial hardship
their health and safety is assessed as being at risk if they don’t receive assistance into emergency accommodation
they don’t have a debt to Housing SA, or they make and keep an arrangement to repay a debt to Housing SA

Amount of assistance

Up to 3 nights’ emergency accommodation will be provided. Assistance is for the rental component only, and not for any other charges that may apply.

Assistance won’t exceed 6 nights in total in any given 12 month period except if it’s approved by an Operations Manager and endorsed by a Regional Manager.

Assistance is provided on the condition that the customer:

engages with support provided by Specialist Homelessness Services and Housing SA
provides all the information required, for example proof of income, identity

Housing SA won’t provide further emergency accommodation assistance if the customer’s responsible for damage, theft or disruption while they stay in the emergency accommodation.

If the customer’s in emergency accommodation for an extended period, they may be responsible for paying for some of the nights.

Related information

Supporting guideline

Emergency accommodation immediate response guideline v2

Date this policy applies from

14 April 2020

Version number

The online version of the policy is the approved and current version. There’s no guarantee any printed copies are current.