Gerald Lynch
Hope Street Youth and Family Services has declared the federal budget as a big win, following policy announcements for homelessness and housing.
Budget announcements delivered by Treasurer Jim Chalmers recognised the importance of more shelter for young people experiencing homelessness.
As part of the Home Time campaign, Hope Street welcomes $1 billion from the National Housing Infrastructure Facility (NHIF) being allocated to young people with no home and women and their children escaping violence.
This funding is set to increase the supply of social housing, of which Hope Street is a strong advocate for in the north-west.
As a leading youth homelessness organisation, 22 per cent of young people that use Hope Street services have experienced family and domestic violence in the last financial year. This has a significant impact on their sense of wellbeing and sense of safety.
Hope Street chief executive Donna Bennett said young people deserve a seat at the table in the homelessness conversation.
“It is time that young people be recognised as their own cohort when experiencing homelessness and fleeing domestic and family violence,” she said.
“Currently only 0.4 per cent of social housing and public housing is provided to young people, although they make up the largest cohort of homeless people in Australia. In Victoria, 25 per cent of people experiencing homelessness are under the age of 25.”
According to the Home Time campaign, the new National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness (NASHH) needs to prioritise children and young people with no home and ensure that dedicated tenancies for young people are linked to support services and payments to cover the rental gap for providers.
Hope Street is committed to continue to support the Home Time campaign and to raise awareness for Hope Street’s nation leading First Response Youth Service – crisis response model as well as its youth housing foyer-like models operating in Melbourne’s north and west.
With facilities in Melton and soon to be Whittlesea, Hope Street strives to achieve its vision of a society in which all young people and young families have a safe place to call home.
