One in six (17.1 per cent) young people aged 15 to 19 who responded to Mission Australia's Youth Survey 2019 have been homeless.
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These are striking findings from Mission Australia's recently released report Staying Home: A Youth Survey report on young people's experience of homelessness.
For these young people, homelessness could look like spending a period without a fixed address, living in a refuge or transitional accommodation or spending time couch surfing.
Some young people experienced homelessness with their families, while others experienced it alone.
Close to one in eight (11.5 per cent) Youth Survey 2019 respondents from NSW reported a couch surfing experience.
Of the young people who reported couch surfing nationally (13.0 per cent), almost one in five (18.8 per cent) said that they had first done so when they were under the age of 12.
Many had couch surfed more than once, with a small but important minority staying away for longer than six months, putting them on the path to longer term homelessness without an intervention.
This report not only shines a spotlight on the magnitude of child and youth homelessness here in Australia, but also gives us a clearer understanding of how the experience of homelessness unfairly chips away at these young people's lives, their wellbeing and their futures.
Through our Youth Survey 2019, young people who have been homeless told us they're facing a great deal of stress and mental health concerns.
They're experiencing dangerous levels of bullying, lower levels of happiness, and they're facing seemingly insurmountable barriers as they move into their adult lives.
Young people who had been homeless were twice as likely as those who hadn't faced homelessness to have been bullied in the past year (39.7 per cent vs. 16.7 per cent).
They were also twice as likely to report psychological distress (51.7 per cent vs. 21.1 per cent).
For young people who had been homeless, they were more likely to identify barriers to achieving their study or work goals (67.8 per cent vs. 44.8 per cent).
They were also more likely to express personal concerns about family conflict, mental health, financial security, suicide and coping with stress.
Finding such as these cannot be ignored.
On a personal level, and together as a community, we must ask ourselves how we respond.
More must be done to improve the wellbeing and address the concerns raised by young people who are homeless or who have experienced homelessness.
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At Mission Australia, we are calling for more action to end youth homelessness that is developed in consultation not only with the sector, but in collaboration with young people who have experienced homelessness.
It's vital that young people with lived experience are at the centre of design and implementation of services intended to meet their needs, and that services cater to the diverse experiences of young people.
Our experience of COVID-19 has further emphasised that safe, affordable and appropriate housing is essential for a young person's economic, mental, physical and social wellbeing.
We need a national homelessness strategy with clear targets to end homelessness.
Ultimately, early intervention is key to ensuring these young people don't continue on a path of homelessness.
We're urging governments to do everything it takes so that young people can avoid homelessness, or move quickly out of homelessness if it does occur, so they are supported to thrive now, and into their futures.
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