What is homelessness?
Homelessness includes people who are sleeping rough, as well as people staying in temporary, unstable or sub-standard accommodation. Many people who are homeless cycle between homelessness and marginal housing.
Homelessness is not just a housing problem - it is impacted upon by some of the following issues:
- Family breakdown
- Family conflict
- Long term unemployment
- Substance abuse
- Mental health issues
Homelessness
- There are an estimated 32,444 young people between 12 to 24 years who are homeless in Australia [1].
- Family conflict and breakdown is the main cause of youth homelessness in Australia [2].
- Young people aged between 12 and 18 are the largest group experiencing homelessness [3] and Indigenous Australians are more likely to experience homelessness than other Australians [4].
- Young People aged between 12 and 25 years of age are the single largest group assisted by the homelessness service system in Victoria [5].
- Without successful intervention, at-risk and homeless young people are more likely to transition from youth to adult (chronic) homelessness [6].
- The Institute of Family Studies estimates that the cost to the community of a person being homeless from mid-adolescence to death is $2 million.
Education
- Students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are less likely to continue to tertiary education and tend to achieve lower results across all years of education [7].
- A study conducted by the Business Council of Australia revealed that 21% of young men and 59% of young women who left school in year 9 remained unemployed seven years after leaving school [8].
- The lifetime net benefit of keeping homeless young people in formal schooling is $474 million [9].
- Applying strategies to overcome disadvantage while young people are still in school is the most effective form of intervention and is less intensive than trying to address the issue once a young person becomes chronically homeless [10].
Problematic substance use
- The consumption of alcohol in young people is a major contributing factor in injury, homicide and suicide, three of the leading causes of death for adolescents [11].
- Polysubstance abuse is common with at-risk young people, particularly in the 12 to 17 age group, with young people using multiple illicit substances as well as consuming alcohol [12].
[1] Department of Families, Housing, Community Services & Indigenous Affairs, unpublished table from ABS Census 2001 and 2006 data
[2] Homeless People in SAAP, SAAP National Data Collection annual report 2007-08
[3] The Road Home: A National Approach to Reducing Homelessness, Commonwealth of Australia 2008
[4] A hand up not a hand out: Renewing the fight against poverty, Community Affairs Reference Committee, March 2004
[5] Office of Housing, Department of Human Services, State Government of
[6] Homeless Careers: Pathways In and Out of Homelessness, MacKenzie and Chamberlain, May 2003
[7] The Brotherhood’s Social Barometer – Challenges Facing Australian Youth 2006
[8] A hand up not a hand out: Renewing the fight against poverty, Community Affairs Reference Committee, March 2004
[9] Counting the Cost of Homelessness, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Research & Policy Bulletin, Issue 24, July 2003
[10] The effectiveness and cost effectiveness of homeless prevention and assistance programs, AHURI, 2006
[11] Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol, National Health and Medical Research Council, 2009
[12] Statistics on drug use in Australia 2006, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2007
Mum and I were fighting all the time and it wasn’t a happy place for me anymore. I had told Mum that one of her relatives had sexually abused me. I don’t know why but she didn’t believe me. I think that is what hurt me the most – I’m her daughter and she is supposed to protect me but when I finally got up the courage to tell her what had been going on, she turned her back on me.
In 2007, Open Family Australia secured funding through the Property Industry Foundation for the refurbishment and fit out for a mobile youth outreach service for Sydney. Recognising that Sydney's CBD is well catered for by other agencies, Open Family Australia decided to launch this service into Sydney's western suburbs, frequenting hot spots in the Warwick Farm, Liverpool and Fairfield regions. 
The Melbourne Chatterbox operates three nights a week in Melbourne's CBD and inner suburbs. The service is manned by a team of volunteers headed up by Open Family Australia's Volunteer Coordinator and Chatterbox Volunteer Committee. The service has been operational in Melbourne since 2002 and is proudly supported by Cabrini Health, the Tattersalls Foundation and PFD Foods.
Our recycled boutique stocks a large range of quality women's, men's and children's clothing and accessories as well as books and bric 'a' brac.
Open Family Australia works in Victoria and NSW, providing Outreach support to young people at risk in these communities. 
Assertive Outreach is a model that offers youth focused services to street frequenting young people in the environments where they congregate. This model of providing comprehensive ongoing support in all aspects of a young person’s life, rather than just concentrating on one issue is successful, as it provides the young person with support from a worker who is available for all their needs and who also works to integrate them into mainstream society.
The Facts