Breaking News

Breaking cycle of a hidden problem

Friday 25 April, 2008 12:01am

THE number of homeless youth in western Sydney is increasing and more accommodation must be found quickly before the situation reaches crisis point, Marist Youth Services executive manager Sue Smalls says.

A report by the National Youth Commission released last week found the number of homeless young people in Australia has doubled in the past 20 years.

The document, Australia's Homeless Youth, was the first national investigation into youth homelessness since the Burdekin Report in 1989.

The inquiry found there are now 22,000 homeless young people in Australia aged 12 to 18.

This figure rises to 36,000 when young adults up to the age of 25 are included.

Ms Small said Marist Youth Services aimed to provide housing for young people aged 12 to 20 in areas such as Penrith, Hawkesbury, Blue Mountains and Blacktown.

"Many of these children experience family breakdowns or have personal issues that force them to leave home," she said.

"All the indicators show that the number of young homeless people out there is rising."

Under their residential housing program, Marist Youth operate 17 houses across western Sydney for young people under 20.

Ms Small said because of the high need for housing in the area Marist Youth was struggling to meet the demand for beds and currently have a waiting list.

"The problem is that government support stops for young people at 18, which is a very young age," Ms Small said.

"We are waiting for more beds to become available so we can help more youth."

Ms Small said homelessness was often hidden and a young person didn't necessarily have to be living on the street to be homeless.

"Quite often homelessness for many young people is about, 'who can I put the hard word on this morning so I can stay at their house tonight'," she said.

"Many are sleeping in car ports, the floors of friends and, of course, the street."

Ms Small said the government needed to provide more assistance for counselling and accommodation while these youths attempt to find work.

"It's a catch 22 for these kids because they are looking for work but have no experience," Ms Small said.

"Many are on the street because support from DoCS stops at too young an age.

"Any kid living on the street is not going to present well in an interview.

"It makes it very difficult to break the cycle."

She said Marist Youth Service was doing all it could to provide a ciruit-breaker and offered a wide range of programs to teach the young people living skills so they could become self-sufficient.

"We teach cooking, budgeting and (a sense of) responsibility to assist them into independence," Ms Small said.

"We also maintain an after-care program for when they have left us. Without programs like ours so many more young people would have nowhere to go. But we need more assistance."

STORIES IN THIS SECTION: