Efforts to find safe housing for homeless youth have gone backwards. Here's what the new national plan must do differently
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2023
Authors
MacKenzie, D.
Hand, T.
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What needs to change to greatly reduce youth homelessness in Australia? Now is the time to find answers to this question, and not just because it’s National Homelessness Week. The federal government is developing a National Housing and Homelessness Plan and says public consultations will begin soon. In recent years, there have been two parliamentary inquiries into homelessness in Victoria and across Australia. Then came a Productivity Commission review of the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, which expired on June 30 this year. More than a decade ago, the Rudd government made homelessness a national priority. A 2008 white paper, The Road Home, advanced three key strategies: “turning off the tap” – early intervention and prevention “improving and expanding services” – the existing service system “breaking the cycle” – supported housing to prevent homelessness reoccurring. Yet today more people need help because of homelessness than 15 years ago. The ambitious agenda of 2008 has not been fulfilled. The forthcoming plan might just be a second chance for Australia to get it right.
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Copyright 2023 the author. This publication is available under a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/)