‘Hard to sleep’: Australia is facing a ‘harrowing’ crisis

Australia is facing a “harrowing” crisis that is having a significant and enduring impact on our young people.

Elma Foster had just turned 18 when she found herself facing homelessness.

Up until that point, the young Queensland woman had spent her whole life in foster care in Townsville.

“I have been in the foster system since I was a baby, so I can’t even remember going into it,” she told news.com.au.

Before she turned 18, she was supposed to be receiving help with finding an apartment but, unfortunately, did not have a transition officer assigned to assist her with the process.

Ms Foster tried to her best to find accommodation on her own but, as a 17-year-old, trying to find your own apartment is not a simple process.

After her birthday, she was no longer able to stay in the residential care home where she had previously been living, which meant she now found herself with nowhere to go.

Having no other options, the 18-year-old began living in a tent, a situation she describes as “not that easy”.

She said it was “very hard to sleep at night” as you find yourself having to go without the most basic of needs and comforts.

Ms Foster lived this way for three weeks before finding short term crisis accommodation through Iona House, a residential youth shelter that helps young women who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

She stayed there for five months before learning of Mission Australia’s Youth Foyer, which provides an integrated learning and accommodation setting for young people who are at risk of homelessness.

Ms Foster applied through the Townsville branch, which offers 40, fully furnished, one-bedroom units where eligible participants can stay for up to 24 months.

She has been living in one of these units for a month now and is grateful to finally have a save haven and her own space.

She is also studying construction, which she says is going “really well”.

“I am one of those people who believes that if you have multiple skills, a lot of doors will open up for you,” she said.

Ms Foster’s story is one of many, with a recent survey from Mission Australia finding nearly one in 10 young Australians aged 15-19 have endured the challenges of homelessness in the previous 12 months.

These young people were homeless either with or without their families, and recently spent time without a fixed address, living in a refuge or transitional accommodation, or spent time away from home because they felt they couldn’t return.

Mission Australia chief executive Sharon Callister said the report demonstrates the “harrowing impact” homelessness has on young lives.

“Whether enduring the harsh realities of sleeping rough, seeking refuge in crisis or transitional accommodation, or couch surfing, our Youth Survey confirms the experience of homelessness for young people can be distressing and scarring,” she said.

The Unfair Divide report, which compiles data from more than 19,500 respondents, shows Australia is facing a stark reality when it comes to youth homelessness.

The report shows just how much of an impact not having stable housing has on a young person.

Of those surveyed, two in five who experienced homelessness said they had a mental health condition, compared to 13 per cent of their housed peers.

Almost half of the people who had lived without a home were lonely all or most of the time, compared to 18 per cent of those with stable living conditions.

Homeless young people also reported higher rates of struggling to fit in socially, financial hardship and having strained or poor family relationships.

Mission Australia says these findings are proof that more needs to be done to address the systemic issues perpetuating youth homelessness and help young Aussies who are facing these hardships.

“It should be unacceptable for any young person on the cusp of adulthood to be forced to experience homelessness in Australia,” Ms Callister said.

“Every young person deserves a safe, secure home as a launch pad into adulthood. Empowering young people to start their journey to adulthood on a solid footing can transform lives.”

The organisation has made a series of recommendations off the back of the report, including introducing a $500 million Homelessness Prevention Transformation Fund, which would deliver targeted prevention programs and policy reform for groups of young people with elevated or immediate risk of homelessness.

Mission Australia is also calling for an increase in youth housing options in social housing and private rentals, which would include a national pool of at least 15,000 dedicated social housing youth tenancies and constructing ten new 40-unit Youth Foyers over the next three years.

The report also recommends increasing Jobseeker and Youth Allowance to $80 a day. The former payment is currently sitting just under $54.50 daily and the latter is $45.64 for those 18 or older who live away from their parent’s home.

Ms Callister said ending youth homelessness in Australia “is possible” but requires a “comprehensive approach”, like the recommendations outlined.

“Recent investment from the Federal and some State and Territory governments will make a useful contribution. However, with youth homelessness remaining persistently high, we must keep working together to invest in effective solutions,” she said.

“We want to see an Australia where homelessness is rare, brief and non-recurring. But currently, for too many young people, it is neither.

“Together, we must create a future where every young person has a safe, secure place to call home and the support and care they need to thrive.”