Understanding youth homelessness

Young people aged between 12 and 25 years of age are the single largest group assisted by the homelessness service system in Victoria.

It is estimated that on Census night 2001 approximately 630 young people in Victoria were sleeping rough or in impoverished dwellings. Most young people who were recorded as homeless on Census night were accommodated in homelessness services, staying with friends and relatives or in other low cost housing.

There are a number of reasons why young people become homeless. For some young people, it is a time of testing and growing in their lives, so they leave home but lack the resources to make it work. For others, conflict or violence drives them from their home. For these young people, the decision to leave home is one of the toughest decisions they will ever make.

In 2001-02, the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program provided support to an estimated 11,100 young people aged under 25 in Victoria. This was 38 percent of the 29,000 people accessing homelessness services.

Among the population of young Victorians aged 12-24, one in every 104 young men and one in every 62 young women used homelessness services over the 12-month period.

Issues facing young people who are homeless

Young people come from a range of diverse backgrounds. They often face a range of issues that may make them vulnerable to housing crisis and homelessness, including:

• Relationship/family breakdown
• Eviction from private rental 
• Experience of abuse and a history of child protection involvement 
• Difficulties in accessing and sustaining appropriate independent housing 
• Early school leaving 
• Teenage pregnancy and parenting 
• Financial difficulties stemming from high levels of unemployment and relatively low levels of income 
• Domestic and/or family violence (particularly among young women)
• Refugee/asylum seeking

Many young people seeking homelessness assistance have complex needs, including mental health or drug and alcohol issues, and may require assistance to develop the skills necessary to live independently in the community, or to re-establish family links.