Homelessness organisations call for more help for youth in crisis

Australia’s housing and domestic violence crises have left 10,000 teenagers alone and homeless across the country, sparking calls for dedicated youth tenancies and long-term supports.

Clare Armstrong, National Political Editor
Source: Daily Telegraph (Photo: David Crosling)

Australia’s housing and domestic violence crises have left 10,000 teenagers alone and homeless across the country, sparking calls for dedicated youth tenancies and long term supports.

A coalition of more than 120 organisations is urging the federal and state governments to make unaccompanied young people a “priority needs group” for assistance, as they negotiate a new homelessness and housing agreement.

The Home Time campaign also calls for support services to be linked to tenancies for young people, clear targets for dedicated tenancies for young people, addressing the rental gap for people on youth payments and reporting on social housing allocations to young people.

In a letter to Housing Minister Julie Collins, the organisations have warned the cycle of violence is closely linked to homelessness.

“Providing a pathway back into a safe home for this group of victim-survivors is a critical part of our national response to domestic and family violence,” the letter said.

The calls have been backed by Kamilaroi woman Imogen Johnstone, 24, who first experienced homelessness around the age of 14 and struggled with a lack of stable housing for most of her teens.

“I missed out, I had I guess a loss of my childhood,” she said.

Ms Johnstone said she often felt unsafe as a young girl sleeping rough or couch surfing in Melbourne, where she moved after being forced to leave her home in rural Victoria.

“It was really hard, you have to make decisions no child should ever have to make,” she said.

“I found out that a lot of homelessness services I couldn’t access until I was 18.”

By the age of 19, Ms Johnstone was connected to Melbourne City Mission (MCM) services, where she was supported to access housing.

“I was lucky with the support I got and the staff that I encountered, they ultimately changed my life,” she said.

MCM head of policy and advocacy Shorna Moore said the new national agreement on social housing homelessness presented a “real opportunity” to break the cycle of homelessness and violence.

“Every year thousands of children and young people come to us alone and in crisis, and that’s hundreds of children under 18,” she said.

“They’re often escaping violence in their homes and they’re in a constant state of distress and fear.

Ms Moore said about half of the young people accessing homelessness services first became homeless under the age of 18 and had been “bouncing around the system” for years.

She said young people struggle to remain in housing as they have lower incomes and a lack of rental histories.

“There are age related barriers keeping them trapped in homelessness,” she said.

Ms Moore said housing must be linked with the support needed to re-engage young people with education and help them transition to adulthood.

Homelessness Australia chief executive Kate Colvin said the sector welcomed the federal government’s decision to direct housing funding into building homes for young people, women and children fleeing violence, but more supports are required.

“The missing link is that young people who are escaping from homelessness also need longer term support,” she said.

“If you can’t live safely at home when you’re a teenager, then you miss out on all those things a parent would provide, such as helping to stay with education, managing the bureaucracy of life like going to health appointments, interacting with Centrelink or managing issues with an employer or landlord.”

Asked about the difficulty for vulnerable people finding adequate and safe housing in her home state of Tasmania, Housing and Homelessness Minister Julie Collins said $1 billion had been allocated to emergency and transitional accommodation for women, children and young people fleeing violence.

“This is on top of the $100 million that’s coming out of the Housing Australia Future Fund, also to provide emergency and transitional accommodation,” she said.

“It’s on top of the 4000 homes of the 30,000 homes in the first five years of the Housing Australia Future Fund – our $10 billion fund, the single biggest investment in social and affordable housing in more than a decade.”

Ms Collins said the government was working “across the board” to provide more homes to rent, buy and for Australians to have a “safe place to stay”.

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