How we support young people without a safe place to call home
When a young person has nowhere safe to sleep, homelessness can look like a car, a friend’s sofa or a tent in a public park. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, more than 120,000 people in this country experience homelessness on any given night, and family and domestic violence is one of the main reasons women and children are forced to leave home. For children and young people, losing a safe place to live can upend everything, school, friendships, routines and their sense of belonging.
Save the Children has been supporting children and young people in need for more than 100 years. Today, our services in Australia are delivered as 54 reasons, which provides local, community-based programs with and for children and their caregivers in more than 197 communities across every state and the Northern Territory. Together, our youth homelessness prevention programs and family and domestic violence refuges provide practical support for young people who don’t have a safe place to call home.
Youth homelessness in Australia
For young people, youth homelessness is rarely just about the loss of a house. Many are leaving unsafe home environments, including homes where family and domestic violence is present. In ‘This is not a home’, Save the Children shares real stories of women and children who spent nights in a park, a car or on a friend’s couch after fleeing abuse, places that offered temporary shelter, but never the safety and stability of a home.
Young people in marginalised communities, particularly Aboriginal communities, can also face unsafe home environments and limited access to support. This can lead to youth homelessness, antisocial behaviour, alcohol and drug misuse, and other unsafe practices. Without early help, those pressures can compound, making it much harder for children and young people to stay engaged with school, maintain positive relationships and plan for the future.
That’s why Save the Children and 54 reasons focus on both emergency housing in Australia and early intervention programs that help young people stay safely connected to family, culture, school and community wherever possible.
Early support that keeps young people connected to home, school and community
Our Indigenous Youth Homelessness Prevention Program and other early intervention services are designed to help young people stay off the streets and build the skills, confidence and connections they need to thrive.
Working as 54 reasons, we provide quality services with children and caregivers so that children develop, learn, and feel connected, safe and confident. That includes supporting Aboriginal young people, and those from migrant and refugee backgrounds.
Across these programs, young people can:
- spend time in safe, supervised spaces after school and at night.
- take part in sport, creative activities and cultural programs with friends.
- talk with experienced youth workers about what’s going on at home, at school and in the community.
- learn essential life skills and build self-esteem.
- strengthen their connection to culture, family and community.
- stay engaged with education, training and employment.
In Kununurra, our Night Patrol and youth programs support young people who are on the streets, in contact with the youth justice system or at risk of abuse and neglect. These programs give children and young people a safe place to be, offer advice on the consequences of harmful behaviour, transport them to safe accommodation, and provide Back to Country leadership camps that reconnect them with culture.
Since 2009, more than 1,100 young people in Kununurra have taken part in these initiatives, which have helped reduce offending and substance misuse while increasing connection to culture and engagement in education, training and employment.
In Perth, our Reconnect homelessness prevention program works with Aboriginal youth who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, helping improve living situations and strengthen links with family, work, education, training and community. These early intervention programs show how support for young people can prevent homelessness before it becomes entrenched.
Safe, welcoming refuges for families escaping violence
Sometimes, the only way for a young person to be safe is to leave home immediately. For many women, children and young people fleeing family and domestic violence, refuges provide a critical first step towards healing and long-term housing.
Save the Children has been supporting women and children facing domestic and family violence in Australia for more than 30 years. In partnership with IKEA Australia, we helped launch ‘This is not a home’, a campaign that brought the realities of homelessness driven by domestic and family violence into the spotlight, using installations at the IKEA store in Tempe to show customers what it looks like when cars, tents and sofas become makeshift homes.
Through this partnership, nearly 900 children, young people and women who have experienced domestic and family violence have received life-changing support, including:
- Safe, child-friendly refuge spaces, co-designed with children through creative workshops.
- 150 household packs drawn from the IKEA range, so families leaving refuge can furnish new homes with essentials, delivered free.
- Rent assistance for 29 people to help stabilise their housing after leaving refuge.
These supports show what dignified, child-centred emergency housing in Australia can look like: spaces where children are welcomed, routines can be rebuilt, and families can start to feel safe again.
How you can support emergency housing and youth homelessness programs
Programs that prevent youth homelessness and provide safe places for families escaping violence are only possible because of people and partners who choose to act. Donations help our homelessness prevention programs continue running, employ experienced youth workers, and provide safe spaces where young people can learn, connect and build resilience.
By supporting Save the Children and 54 reasons, you’re helping provide the support young people need: safe places to stay, trusted adults who listen, and opportunities to stay connected to family, culture, community, school and work.
Together, we can help ensure that every child and young person has a place they can truly call home.