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Making young people a priority – why we need a dedicated National Youth Housing and Homelessness Plan  

Australian young people urgently require a dedicated National Housing and Homelessness Plan, according to The Salvation Army General Manager for Youth, Natalee O’Brien. This Homelessness Week 2023 (7-13 August), Natalee explains that young people face significant and unique challenges to overcoming homelessness, so strategies must effectively address those unique challenges.  

Young people across Australia urgently require a dedicated National Housing and Homelessness Plan that is responsive to their unique needs, says The Salvation Army’s General Manager for Youth Services, Natalee O’Brien.

Attitudes among landlords towards young adults with little rental history or income, long rental queues, the decades required to save for a house deposit and the complexities of disadvantage, mean young people face more significant challenges to overcoming homelessness than those in other demographics.  

“Generally, young people are subject to overarching, adult-focused housing, along with homelessness funding and policies that do not meet their unique needs,” Natalee says. “For more disadvantaged young people, understanding their pathways becomes even more critical in order to develop effective and appropriate responses.” 

Youth housing services and plan needed in homelessness response

Natalee suggests that a priority area for the government should be a dedicated National Youth Housing and Homelessness Plan, and that current solutions are failing to adequately meet the needs of everyone.

“While youth refuges and transitional accommodation programs provide a critical emergency response for many young people experiencing homelessness, they must be delivered as part of a broader housing and support continuum that ensures flexibility and suitability in responding to diverse needs.

“We know that growing up in poverty can limit a young person’s chances of thriving at school, which in turn affects their potential and limits overall life outcomes, thus continuing the cycle of disadvantage,” she adds.

“Our work with young people experiencing highly challenging circumstances has shown that they can thrive when the drivers of disadvantage, discrimination and poverty are removed.”

Challenges of housing assistance for youth

Natalee says that, unlike for other cohorts, finding more permanent supported housing solutions did not need to be a priority for all young people, adding that it could in fact be counterproductive for some.

Supported housing should instead be seen as a transition point for young people into more self-sustaining housing solutions, as most young people require housing and support responses that empower and inspire them and help them to build confidence, self-sufficiency and resilience.

“Life-long supported housing solutions can compromise and unintentionally constrain the pursuit of independence, personal responsibility and aspiration among young people,” Natalee says. 

Issues flowing on from youth homelessness

Natalee says while the nature and extent of disadvantage varies widely between individuals, homelessness tends to cause other serious and ongoing issues for young people.

“Without appropriate intervention, young people experiencing homelessness are at a much higher risk of failing to gain an education, entering the labour market, or receiving support to recover from past trauma or substance misuse.

“These experiences significantly contribute to long-term psychological, social and economic harm. Most importantly, many young people will remain isolated and excluded from society and not be provided with the opportunities necessary to achieve their potential as adults,” Natalee says.

“Governments and the community at large need to listen to the specific ways that exclusion, discrimination, exploitation and opportunity can be addressed to better facilitate participation, hope, fairness and wellbeing for all young people through access to appropriate affordable housing.”

Learn more about the work of The Salvation Army in assisting people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, including ways in which you can support this work.
Homelessness Week 2023

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