Workplace trauma on the housing and homelessness frontline

People experiencing homelessness and accessing social housing are some of the most disadvantaged members of the community, with significant experiences of trauma. This high incidence of trauma can have significant detrimental impacts on the health and wellbeing of frontline staff in these sectors.

This project will examine the prevalence and impacts of workplace trauma on frontline workers in social housing and homelessness services in Australia.

The research will address the following questions:

1. What is the nature and extent of workplace trauma for frontline workers in the housing/ homelessness sectors? 
2. What are the drivers of workplace trauma in housing and homelessness service delivery (e.g. traumatised clients, staffing models, service design, systemic issues) and what is currently being done to address this issue? 
3. What are the impacts of workplace trauma on housing and homelessness workers, organisations and service delivery? 
4. What can organisations and policy makers do to reduce workplace trauma and mitigate its impacts?

The project will provide policy makers and service providers with a solid evidence base about the nature of the problem and its impacts, as well as key principles and policy options to reduce and mitigate workplace trauma in the social housing and homelessness sectors.

Lead Researcher: Dr Deborah Batterham, Swinburne University of Technology

Project Number: 51329