An increase in crisis accomodation would halt the “merry-go-round” currently trapping families between homelessness and stable housing, according to the state’s peak housing body.
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A new Mission Australia report on youth homelessness and its link to mental illness, released this week, found young people aged between 12 and 24 made up one quarter of the nation’s homeless population.
The report found Tasmanian teenagers aged between 15 and 19 years old living with a serious mental illness were three times more likely to have been homeless.
Shelter Tasmania executive officer Pattie Chugg said the report reflected what the organisation already knew, that there was a critical shortage of accomodation in the state that was suitable for young people.
Ms Chugg said this lack of affordable housing was a major cause of homelessness, with one in five clients of homelessness services under 15 years old.
“The shelters do an excellent job but they are under-resourced and lack any legal authority to provide the guardianship these young people deserve,” she said.
“Being neither eligible for help from Housing Connect or Children and Youth Services, and with no legal guardian, many end up in emergency shelters.”
Human Services Minister Jacquie Petrusma said the issue of homelessness was not a new one for the state, and that the government had introduced several accomodation services for those at risk.
“We did consultation for nearly a year on what our Affordable Housing Strategy would look like, and these are the suggestions from the non-government sector,” Ms Petrusma said.
“We have our crisis youth drop-in centres … which young people can go to at a really young age.”
