Young people experiencing homelessness call on the government to give them a fair shot at housing (ABC, 7/3/25)

Finding a home as a young person in the midst of Australia's housing crisis is a challenge.

For 25-year-old Atlas — who has grappled with homelessness for years — it at times felt impossible.

"I left home with no money. Just a duffle bag full of clothes and no idea what I was doing," they said.

"I was too young to access payments like JobSeeker and I didn't understand the system. I didn't understand what was needed of me to access housing because I'd never had to before".

They say their struggle with homelessness not only left them feeling hopeless at the time, but also left them feeling held back in the long run.

"I spent years couch surfing and moving from crisis accommodation to park benches to strangers' couches with nowhere to go and no foreseeable way out," they said.

"Now when I'm applying for housing, the real estate [agent] is comparing my application to that of someone in their 30s, and they have references. They have more income.

"Even someone my age, who isn't homeless, can put their parents on their application. I just can't compete with that."

Shorna Moore heads up the policy team at Melbourne City Mission — one of the city's leading community service providers for young people experiencing homelessness.

Shorna Moore says the campaign is calling on the government to even the playing field for young people. (Supplied)

She said her organisation had seen a significant surge in teenagers accessing homelessness support.

"We have thousands of children and young people who are coming alone to Melbourne City Mission, who are in fear, who are traumatised," Ms Moore said.

"They've grown up their whole lives experiencing, often, violence at home. And they are being told over and over again that there's just no housing for them."

She said more needed to be done.

"Despite the federal housing announcements and investments over the last three years, the number of unaccompanied children and young people, generally aged 15 to 24 seeking crisis help each year, has basically remained the same across the country," she said.

"Unless the next federal government prioritises young people, no amount of investment in …housing will change the picture."

Melbourne City Mission is one of more than 160 organisations and bodies rallying behind Home Time — a national campaign pushing to give young people a fair shot at housing, and reduce youth homelessness.

Recent research by the Grattan Institute has found the number of older Australians unable to afford rent is growing, and women are disproportionately affected.

Ms Moore and Atlas are among the campaigners who travelled to Parliament House late last year to call on politicians for more action.

Ahead of the anticipated federal election, the campaign has outlined several key areas for investment and reform.

Atlas said one of these included building a housing system "for young people".

"Where young people aren't competing in a system against adults. Where we have the opportunity to succeed," they said.

Waiting to be taken seriously

Ryn, 24, said he had been in and out of crisis accommodation since he was 16, after fleeing a violent home.

The toughest part, he said, was learning how to get access to the help he needed.

"Navigating the system takes a massive toll on you, emotionally and physically," he said.

"Having to sit and wait, and you're not sure if you're going to get help, or the type of support you're going to get … it takes a mental toll on you."

He said it was not until he accessed Youth Allowance — government financial support for 16 to 24-year-olds — that he realised the barriers he was up against in trying to find housing.

"When you first start going to Centrelink and finally getting on payments and Youth Allowance they try to provide you with somebody to help you apply for rentals," he said.

"You get told multiple times, 'never tell a private rental you're on Youth Allowance' — they just look at you like a joke, they're not going to take you seriously at all.

"It's really silly to expect a young person to push through life when you're basically telling them, 'you've got to wait until you're 25 before you can be taken seriously and get the support that you need'."

Ms Moore said she had heard similar stories from the young people she worked with who received Youth Allowance.

"There is no reason why this occurs apart from their age," she said.

"So a young person trying to compete, even with people on JobSeeker, which we acknowledge is a very low rate, has no chance of getting into a private rental or into community housing."

Shorna Moore says she has seen thousands of young people access homelessness services at Melbourne City Mission. (Supplied: Collections from Him)

According to Services Australia, the maximum fortnightly payment able to be received on Youth Allowance for someone over 18 who is single and needing to live away from home is $663.30.

For comparison, the maximum for someone in a similar situation on JobSeeker — available to those over 22 years of age — is $778.00.

"It makes it very difficult for them to be able to get into any type of housing when their income can be collected by a social housing provider or is trying to pay very high market rents," Ms Moore said.

Last year, the annual Anglicare Australia report recorded its lowest ever amount of affordable rentals across the country.

It revealed that no property in the country was affordable for someone on Youth Allowance.

Research data from the University of New South Wales also found that the standard formula used to calculate social housing rent fails to consider lower rates of social security payments for people under the age of 22.

The Home Time campaign describes this as a "youth housing penalty", and argues that it causes young people to miss out on tenancies as it makes them less financially viable to housing providers.

Home Time campaigners attended an event at Parliament House in November last year. (Supplied: Collections from Him)

One of their proposed solutions to this, as put to the major parties ahead of the federal election, is calling for a commitment for 15,000 youth tenancies.

"Investing in creating a pool of dedicated youth tenancies means that these young people are on an even playing field, and they're not competing against adults for the same housing," Ms Moore said.

"So a 16-year-old is not competing against a professional couple in the same market trying to get housing.

"And if there's dedicated tenancies and targets, it means that they need to be met. The housing is built for them, and therefore community housing providers will be supported viably".

'Steady stream' needs to continue, advocates say

With some investment already underway, advocates are hoping the campaign will gain traction.

Last month, it was revealed Labor's signature $10 billion social housing fund made more than twice its target rate of return in its first year of operation, which Housing Minister Clare O'Neil described as "a secure stream of revenue" to chip away at the social housing shortage.

Labor has also pledged to set aside $6.2 million for grants to homelessness peak bodies as part of its $1 billion investment towards more transitional and crisis accommodation under the National Housing Infrastructure Facility (NHIF).

It says these grants will support peak bodies to "provide valuable policy advice to government on addressing housing insecurity".

Details of these grants haven't been finalised, but the government maintains that it is working closely with the housing and homelessness sector.

When asked about the federal coalition's plans for affordable housing, a spokesperson for shadow housing minister Michael Sukkar said the opposition would have more to say in the lead-up to the election.

CEO of Homelessness Australia, Kate Colvin, said the federal government's investment was a positive, but more momentum was needed.

"We need to see those investments continue, and that's why it's such a priority in the federal election for all parties to bring new commitments, to continue to grow the amount of youth housing that's available, so that if young people can't live safely at home, there is a safe home for them," she said.

Shorna Moore from Melbourne City Mission also welcomed the investment, but said meaningful support would require cooperation with the Victorian government.

"Housing children and young people is everybody's responsibility, all levels of government and the community," she said.

"There is this intersect between housing policy and between social security and income support, and the governments do need to work together in order to address this gap."

It comes as Victoria's independent advisory body Infrastructure Victoria outlined the need for 60,000 new social housing homes over the next 15 years, calling on the state government to fund 95 per cent (with an estimated cost of up to $29 billion).

It also recommended the federal government funding the remaining 5 per cent of costs.

A fork in the road

Melbourne City Mission estimates around a third of young people in Victoria who are experiencing homelessness have been homeless for more than five years.

Ms Colvin says realising the goals set out by this campaign could be a circuit-breaker for many of these youths.

"We know that people who do experience long term homelessness, a good proportion of them were homeless for the first time when they were less than 16 years old," she said.

"So this is also an opportunity where young people are at a fork in the road in their life, we can provide the housing and support that they need."

For Atlas, the next government elected has a huge task at hand.

"If our parents and our guardians aren't being responsible for us and the child protection system isn't taking us, then I think it is morally a governmental responsibility," they said.

"Having a housing system where young people are at the very least considered is something that the government should be required to do."

Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-07/youth-homelessness-housing-crisis-victoria/105012206