Building 827 Lego houses for youth homelessness in South Australia
BY ANTHONY CASTLE
The Salvation Army has helped raise awareness of youth homelessness by building Lego houses at the National Homelessness Conference in Adelaide.
The Salvos are one of more than 140 organisations supporting Home Time’s national campaign to ‘fix housing for young people’.
Participants at the largest housing conference in Australasia last week took the time to build one Lego brick home for every unaccompanied 15 to 17-year-old with nowhere to live in South Australia. There were 827 Lego houses constructed.
“We’re trying to represent the number of young people who are homeless and have presented to services in South Australia,” explains Katie Lawson, the Salvos’ State Manager for Youth. “That 827 number is from the last financial year, that cohort who accessed or sought support from homelessness services in this state.”
The two-day Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) Conference hosted hundreds of delegates to discuss the causes and solutions to homelessness. The National Housing Conference has been staged in partnership with state and territory governments and AHURI for over 20 years. Nearly a quarter of Australians experiencing homelessness are aged between 12 and 24.
“There’s a growing understanding that youth housing is an issue that needs to be treated differently,” says Rob Ellis, The Salvation Army’s Youth Services Specialist.
“Young people don’t have the living skills. We know a lot of young people’s housing breaks down without the support attached to it; that’s a critical part of the puzzle. As we talk about the three main asks of the Home Time campaign: housing, supports and subsidies to make it viable in the broader housing market.”
The Home Time Action Plan calls on federal, state and territory governments to develop and maintain a national pool of 15,000 dedicated youth tenancies. This request also includes linked support services to enable young people to transition to independence and address the rental gap to ensure viability for housing providers and landlords offering tenancies to young people.
“That number, 827, is of the 15 to 17-year-old cohort who presented seeking accommodation last year in South Australia,” Rob says. “That’s an alarming figure because they’re children. When you look at the older cohort, 16-25, that number goes to 3500. And there are huge numbers of young people who are part of family units that are experiencing homelessness – 48,000 across the country. The alarming issue for South Australia is that 827 ... those are children who are presenting alone.
“We are unfortunately seeing a rise in young people sleeping rough who don’t know how to access services.”
Almost 40,000 children and young people have nowhere to live across this country each year. Around 9500 of them are 15 to 17 years old, and thousands more lost their homes when they were children. Thirty per cent of these homeless young people are First Nations. Disconnection from school and family creates lifelong disadvantage.
“We are unfortunately seeing a rise in young people sleeping rough who don’t know how to access services,” Rob says. “And there are many couch surfing, too, which is a hidden number. Domestic violence and family breakdown are major causes of youth homelessness. They escape through a friend’s house, one night here or there. It’s a transient form of accommodation. We know about one-third are First Nations young people. That’s a group we’re very concerned about, with long-term entrenched disadvantage.”
Extreme life events and trauma, such as family violence, abuse, neglect and family breakdown, are the primary causes of homelessness before the age of 18, with the lack of housing and support services often causing children and young people to be trapped in danger and uncertainty for many years.
“The responses here have been good,” Katie says. “The houses are designed to represent the need for suitable housing to be built, to raise awareness, but to also have people make something tangible. To look at the thing in their hand reminds them of what Home Time is doing.”
Home Time is a national campaign backed by over 140 organisations working to fix housing for young people. Organisations supporting Home Time include Homelessness Australia, Community Housing Industry Association, National Shelter, Melbourne City Mission, Australian Youth Affairs Coalition, ACOSS, The Salvation Army, Anglicare Australia, Brisbane Youth Service, Foyer Foundation, YFoundations and the Australian Services Union.
See www.hometime.org.au for more information.
