DEMAND for youth homelessness services is skyrocketing in Brisbane as providers report they are struggling to keep up with requests for help.
St Vincent de Paul national vice president Jacob Miller said escalating house prices, rising rents and the lack of social housing are pushing more and more young people into homelessness.
“These young, vulnerable people are living in cars, couch surfing or sleeping rough,” Mr Miller said.
“They deserve our help.
“As a society we can’t leave them without a place to call home – not when there are urgent and economically sound solutions.”
Brisbane Youth Service recorded a 336 per cent jump in requests for support from January to March 2021 in comparison to the same period last year.
They reported 42 per cent of homeless in Brisbane are under 25 years old.
The increased demand is putting extreme pressure on already stretched frontline service providers.
At the same time, the Federal Government has announced proposed cuts of over $56 million to homelessness services across the country from June 2021.
Vinnies and other service providers have joined The Everybody’s Home campaign, which is calling for:
- Support for first home buyers
- A national housing strategy
- A better deal for renters
- Immediate relief for Australians in chronic rental stress
- A plan to end homelessness by 2030
Vinnies reported more than 25,000 young people under 18 years of age are homeless each night.
Their estimates put youth and child homelessness at 44 per cent of all individuals who need help from homelessness services.
About 70 per cent of people seeking help from specialist homelessness services are aged 15-24.
Almost 42,400 of these young people and children are seeking out these services on their own.
“The overwhelming majority of Australia’s top economists and housing experts believe our pandemic economic recovery strategy would be boosted by a large-scale national social housing program,” Mr Miller said.
“So the solutions are feasible.
“But failure to act will leave thousands of young people behind to experience poor educational outcomes and long-term economic disadvantage, perpetuating the cycle of homelessness into adulthood.
“Which means the impact of homelessness – and therefore of the solutions that we create – can be long lasting, even life long.”
Today is Youth Homelessness Matters Day, which provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the significant challenges faced by vulnerable young people.
In addition to a lack of safe and affordable housing they are often struggling with mental health concerns, exposure to family violence, and financial and legal issues.
