YOUTH HOMELESSNESS

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (15:19): Just before I make some comments about the issue of youth homelessness, particularly in relation to Easter, I want to commend the member for Florey for her work on the Muriel Matters display and inform the house that with us today were year 11 legal studies students from Charles Campbell College, as it is now, and they were most interested in the grille display, as are most school students who come through.

Easter is a time for spiritual reflection and it is a time for families and communities to come together, but for thousands of young people in our community in South Australia it is also a time of social alienation, isolation and unhappiness. Figures released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) showed that more than 45,000 young people across Australia aged between birth and 24 years were among the group seeking accommodation assistance in the September quarter.

To put that into context, that is one in five of the homeless people in Australia seeking help in the September quarter were children under the age of 10. In South Australia that equates to more than 4,500 young people up to the age of 24 seeking urgent housing assistance, and an alarming number of them are very, very young children indeed. Much of this problem is hidden from open sight as many vulnerable young people find themselves in inappropriate or risky accommodation—couch surfing their way through their friends' and acquaintances' homes, allowing themselves to be put into dangerous circumstances rather than getting the help that they need.

The issue of couch surfing is something that I was aware of when I was at university. It is something that often does not show up in the homeless figures because people are in accommodation of some sort even if only for a very brief period of time. They are not necessarily showing up in the figures because they are not actively seeking government support or an NGO support at the time, but they are often in vulnerable circumstances. They can be placed in risky situations. Some of them are there by the grace of their host, which may not be a long arrangement. In some circumstances people are there at the grace of a partner who they may not necessarily wish to be with but they feel like they are forced to.

I am looking at the AIHW report on government-funded specialist homelessness services, and I particularly note that for South Australia the figure of 4,900 was put forward in its 2009-10 figures (the 2011 figures for this one are not out yet as I understand), that is, 400 under the age of 15 years, 2,400 from 15 to 19 years and 2,100 from the ages of 20 to 24. This is again across all those categories—people who are couch surfing, people who are rough sleeping even, and that is very serious, especially at Easter.

This week the Service to Youth Council—which I think is a tremendous non-government, not-for-profit organisation and which does great work across Adelaide, but I know particularly in the northern suburbs, and I see the member for Little Para nodding—launched its new branding on its youth agency. It will be referred to as HYPA, and it will support and assist over 4,000 young people each year to access and maintain safe and appropriate accommodation, to reconnect with families, school, employment and the community, and to address their offending behaviours in some cases.

HYPA Housing apartments offer young people stable accommodation for 12 months at a reduced market rate capped at 30 per cent of their income thereby allowing young tenants to establish a rent history (which many do not have), acquire furniture and gain independent living skills ensuring some stability to pursue a learning or employment pathway. When a young person completes their 12-month tenancy, the Service to Youth Council will work with the client so that they can make a successful transition to other accommodation options.

HYPA Housing is a stepping stone towards independent housing for young people, aged 17 to 25, who find it difficult to get into the rental market. It is affordable housing. It is fantastic work. I really commend the work that SYC are doing in the HYPA Housing project. I think it is terrific. With Easter coming, as families across South Australia are coming together and enjoying reflection, I urge everyone to remember those less fortunate and particularly commend those such as SYC through their HYPA Housing project who are helping the vulnerable at this time.

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