Youth Homelessness Matters Day has raised awareness about the realities of children and young people experiencing and at risk of homelessness.
Yfoundations senior policy officer Shai Mikus said organisations are reporting family breakdown and domestic violence as the main reasons young people are seeking assistance.
“For young people needing to leave the family environment to find and maintain their own housing in the current system is impossible,” Ms Mikus said.
“What’s happening with these young people is that if they are coming across child protection, it may be ascertained there is not enough risk in the home for them to be taken in as wards of the state.
“Therefore, the responsibility rests within the homelessness sector.”
ABS Crime and Justice statistics has shown an 8 per cent increase in Family Domestic Violence (FDV) offenders from 2023-24 to 2024-25: the largest annual increase since reporting began in 2019-20.
Ms Mikus said younger generations are being priced out of the housing market due to availability and the cost of living crisis.
“What we are seeing now because of the cost of living crisis and housing crisis is a rise in middle-class homelessness where families are experiencing more stress than they were,” Ms Mikus said.
“High proportions of households experience rental strain and cost of living pressures as rental markets tighten across those coastal areas due to short term rental conversions.”
Mandy Booker, CEO of Wollongong Homeless Hub & Housing Services, has echoed the need to develop further availability of housing as well as emergency shelters.
“Demand is definitely increasing as families break down and the housing crisis exacerbates in this area due to the rental crisis and shortage of housing,” Ms Booker said.
“The affordability of any rental properties for young people, particularly their on own, is something that’s not available at all.”
Statistics show that each night across Australia one in two children and young people are turned away from crisis refuges due to shortage of beds and lack of appropriate accommodation.
Ms Booker, aligned with Youth Homelessness Matters Day, advocated for funding to increase for early prevention as well as temporary and transitional accommodation.
“We definitely need funding increases to specialist homeless services supporting young people,” she said.
“We know without a stable and foundational secure housing then they really don’t get the opportunity to thrive.”
Ms Booker said many young people don’t report their homelessness as they move between refuges and couch surfing.
