Trauma on the frontline: protecting housing and homelessness workers

New AHURI research reveals workplace pressures and traumatic event exposure has left nearly half of the housing and homelessness frontline with symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

Study lead Dr Deb Batterham said a centrepiece of the research – a survey of 578 frontline staff – filled a blind spot on the extent and impact of trauma in the sector.

Survey data revealed 90% of participants reported moderate-to-high vicarious trauma (trauma caused by exposure to others’ distress), 61% reported symptoms of burnout, and 43% reported PTSD symptoms warranting further assessment.

“To put that in perspective, rates of significant PTSD symptoms among the housing and homelessness frontline appear higher than among Australian emergency service workers,” Dr Batterham said.

Anonymised testimonies from frontline staff highlighted the kinds of trauma endured, and these were reinforced by survey data showing 99% of frontline staff had experienced severely distressed clients, 91% had witnessed family violence, and 75% had witnessed child abuse or neglect.

Exposure to death and drug use was also prevalent: 78% of frontline staff had experienced a client death, 78% had experienced a client suicide or suicide attempt and 71% had a client who overdosed.

Rates of abuse of frontline staff were similarly high: 96% experienced trauma due to verbal aggression, 59% due to physical assault, 28% due to sexual assault, and 60% reported experiencing weapons.

Dr Batterham, a Research Fellow at Swinburne University of Technology, said frontline staff understood client and tenant behaviour was driven by trauma and their unmet needs (such as mental health and housing) from multiple service systems.

Many staff exhibited moral injury from being unable to help clients, and workplace trauma impacted staff’s motivation, productivity and ability to connect with clients.

Trauma was found to be largely driven by operational contexts, such as high caseloads, and staff shortages along with systemic factors, such as managing emergencies arising from other services’ failures and lack of housing.

“It is the context that makes it so hard for frontline workers - three-quarters of participants reported inadequate responses from services like mental health, drug, family violence and child protection, causing significant stress,” Dr Batterham said.

“Researchers concluded the housing and homelessness sector was significantly exposed to trauma as a last-resort service for individuals with complex needs, including mental health difficulties, substance use challenges, and complex trauma.”
 

Designing a better system

The report outlined options to mitigate trauma, including increasing accountability and responsiveness of allied service sectors and improved information-sharing.

Other recommendations included increased staffing in the housing and homelessness sectors, dedicated time for paperwork and job/task rotation to facilitate downtime for workers and mandating a two-worker model for tenant visits.

“Improved pay, leave options, skills training and upskilling of managers should be considered, and a government-funded employee assistance program should be set up and delivered by a sector-specific provider, similar to those provided to police and other emergency services,” Dr Batterham said.

The research also called for more social housing, crisis accommodation and associated support, so more people could be meaningfully assisted.

The research was undertaken for AHURI by researchers from Swinburne University of Technology, University of New South Wales, and University of Tasmania.