Four in 10 homeless Australians are under 24 years old

At the moment in Australia, we are facing an enormous crisis on three fronts. We have a housing crisis, a cost of living crisis and a domestic violence crisis. And at the heart of that are 40,000 young people who have nowhere to live. They’re alone and they are seeking support. So it’s a it’s an impending crisis that really effects not just the future of these young people, but also the future of our country and our economy. A youth foyer is essentially a safe place where young people in this situation can live up to two years. It is more than a roof over a young person’s head. It also integrates education and employment and life skills supports so that within two years a young person has the skills they need and the confidence they need to really thrive and be independent adults into the future. And we know that the model gets results. So we have done research that has found that 80% of young people exiting a youth foyer end up with safe and stable accommodation. They are 65%. Engaged in education and the others are in employment. And we also know that they’re 60% less likely to engage with the justice system. So it really gets results across a whole range of outcome areas, not just housing. They’re not a new concept. We currently have 16 Foyers across the country and they have a really strong track record of success. So that is the reason why we are calling for an additional investment in a further 10-4 years nationally. We know right now there are 33 communities across the country calling for new youth foyers. And what we have proposed is a list of those that are actually ready to build right now and meet the urgent needs that we’re seeing in communities across Australia.