Young people are “disproportionately represented” in the state’s homeless population, according to the Youth Network of Tasmania.
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On Wednesday the organisation called for a long-term approach to address the crisis, as part Youth Homelessness Matters Day.
YNT CEO Tania Hunt said “systematic issues” needed to be addressed, with family breakdown and violence the main reasons young people reported being homeless.
“Young people continue to be disproportionately represented in the homelessness population in Tasmania,” she said.
“This is clearly unacceptable and more needs to be done to ensure that our young people have access to affordable, appropriate, safe and secure housing.”
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Interim Commissioner for Children and Young People David Clements said more than a third of young people accessing specialist homelessness services in Tasmania were children and young people.
“While it is hard to gain a true picture of the numbers of children affected, we do know in 2016/17 couples and single people with a child or children made up 45 per cent of all clients of specialist homelessness services in the state,” he said.
“We also know that last financial year nearly 1200 young people aged 15 to 24 years presented to specialist homelessness services alone.”
Housing Minister Roger Jaensch said the government was committed to investing in crisis and support accommodation, including the expansion of Launceston’s Thyne House and a 25 unit youth accommodation facility in Devonport.
But Anglicare’s state manager for housing and homeless services Belinda Jones said young people were at risk of falling through the cracks.
“When the houses are full, they are full,” she said.
“More support services and early intervention is one of the best ways to break this cycle. We see the warning signs when a family gets into trouble, but if the resources aren’t there before the breakdown occurs it can become a case of too little too late.”