MORE homeless shelters was simply putting a band aid on a massive social problem, the St Vincent de Society’s Queensland president Tim O’Connor said.
Mr O’Connor said that while the society supported the finding of the 2001 youth census report released on July 16, it was important for governments to acknowledge the causes.
‘Unless the causes are addressed, we will simply be like a child going to the ocean and putting in a teaspoon of sugar and saying ‘oh look I’m sweetening the ocean’.’
The report found that Australia’s youth homelessness had grown 8.4 per cent in the last seven years to more than 26,000 people aged 12 to 18.
Queensland had the third highest rate with 18 in every 1000 young people without stable accommodation.
The Federal Government has been reported as saying it was tackling the problem with grants and a task force and called for the states to implement school-based prevention programs.
Mr O’Connor said the main causes of youth homelessness were family breakdown, poor education and financial pressures.
