Rushing from his morning RMIT science classes, Melbourne’s trams have made him late. Rubbing his watery eyes to warm up, he gratefully accepts a cup of hot tea – white, no sugar. Composing himself and sitting down at the table, he sweeps the mass of thick, black hair away from his forehead. Bright, piercing eyes fix their gaze on me. In a soft and articulate voice, he introduces himself. His name is Jay, he is now nearly 21 years old, and has been homeless, on and off, for nearly four years.
Growing up in New South Wales, Jay was the “angstiest teenager possible.” His parents, sick of the constant fighting, kicked Jay out of the family home three weeks after his 17th birthday. After couch-surfing with friends for a few weeks, he was placed in emergency housing. From this fibro-flat, Jay completed his year 12 studies.
Jay was forced to abandon his studies at the University of Canberra after being hospitalised with major health issues. Eventually relocating to Melbourne for a fresh start, he moved into a “dodgy, dangerous” share house. Verbally abused and physically threatened by his landlord, Jay again found himself homeless.
On any given night, over 64,000 Australians are homeless. More than half of these people are under the age of 25.
***
In a recent press release, Victorian Government Housing Minister Wendy Lovell outlined why the government is focused on supporting homeless young people to get back on track as soon as possible.
“We know that young people aged between 12 and 18 are more likely to be homeless than other age groups,” Ms Lovell has said, “and those aged between 15 and 24 are the largest users of homelessness support services.”
***
Jay is one of Salvation Army Outreach Worker Pip Fowler’s many clients. Her appointment book has been full for weeks. Months. It’s been this way ever since she started. Today, like all others, she is run off her feet. Youth homelessness, Fowler says, is not a problem that’s going away. “It is certainly not a situation that is getting better.”
Fowler is concerned stereotypical misconceptions of homeless young people are hindering an effective response to the issue by clouding the public’s understanding of the issues involved.
“People don’t get homeless youth are all just humans, who each has a story,” Fowler says, “no matter what the reason is, homelessness has been the result. But the reasons are very varied.”
When most people think of homeless youth, Fowler explains, they think the worst. Drug and alcohol abuse, anger problems, prostitution, runaways. Often overlooked are serious mental health issues involved, and the overwhelming incidence of family breakdown and conflict. While there is no “typical” client for Fowler, very rarely to young people choose to be homeless.
Jay inches forward on the chair, shifting his weight onto his forearms against the edge of the table. He pauses, making sure our eyes meet before he makes his point.
“People aren’t informed – they don’t know,” Jay says, “they don’t understand anything can go wrong, and that’s how you end up homeless.”
***
Open Family Australia’s National Marketing and Sponsorship Manager Tammy Schlitz explains the “if-you-can’t-see-it-it’s-not-there” mentality makes tackling youth homelessness hard.
“You don’t see it every day, but it can’t be overlooked,” Schlitz says.
“It’s happening to our people, in our backyard. As we look to the rest of the world, sometimes we miss what’s right in front of us.”
Part of the reason, Schlitz says, is that some homeless young people are in places the broader population rarely venture, “In squats, in parks, under bridges.” Yet not all homeless youth are in this position. Some are couch-surfing, getting by day to day. Others are staying in crisis accommodation or refuges. Some, like Jay, are in transitional housing. Because there isn’t an archetypal homeless young person, Schlitz says, there can’t be a “one size fits all” approach to addressing the problem.
***
The door bell at Open Family’s South Melbourne office is broken. It has been for a while, but they’ve been too flat out to get it fixed. The morning I arrive – unannounced, Schlitz is standing over a desk, frantically folding and inserting a stack of mail-outs into envelopes. Soon she looks up and acknowledges me with a broad smile. Schlitz welcomes me, wiping the ink from her hands onto her pants before extending her arm to shake my hand. She has been in overdrive, desperate to get the word out about Open Family’s upcoming fundraiser, The 21 Challenge.
The challenge is to get people to do or not do something original, from June 1 to June 21, gathering sponsorship donations for their efforts. Open Family hope to involve 3000 people and raise $400,000 to continue and expand their assertive outreach programs.
“Our approach is about going out there and finding these people who have fallen between the gaps,” Schlitz says, “working with them to work through their myriad of needs, whatever that might be, to reconnect them to their communities.”
Jay believes assertive outreach is the most effective way to help those unwilling or unable to approach support services. “There are a lot of people, especially homeless people, that don’t actually know that there is support,” Jay says, “and they don’t know what to do to get it.”
“As a community,” Schlitz says, “we must support these young people to get them into accommodation, to connect them with their communities, and to give them the best chance in life.”
***
Jay leans back, washing down a gulp of tea. He considers whether enough people care about at-risk youth. “The people that do care, care a lot,” Jay reflects, “but most people don’t; because they’re not informed, they’re not aware.”
“To really connect with people and get them to care, you need awareness campaigns that are accessible, not invasive.”
Open Family and the Salvation Army derive the majority of their funding from individual donors. This money goes towards a plethora of services – including, but not limited to -accommodation, health services, education and employment initiatives. However, there is simply not enough funding to meet the ever-present need.
“The lack of resources is terribly frustrating,” Fowler says.
Schlitz explains although Open Family intensively supports around 2,000 young people each year, “With 32,000 young people being homeless in this country, it’s obvious there’s a lot more work to be done.”
Both Open Family and the Salvation Army are around 25% government funded. Whilst the government is certainly doing a lot to help, there is an overwhelming sense they could be doing much more.
***
In the 2012 – 13 Victorian State Budget, released on Tuesday, 1 May, homeless assistance funding has decreased from $226.1 million to $222.8 million.
Fowler and Schlitz are equally unflinching in highlighting what is, in their eyes, the biggest hurdle in combating youth homelessness: housing.
“The lack of housing is devastating,” Fowler says.
In Victoria, there are well over 70,000 people on the wait-list for public housing. Often, even people on priority applications must still wait up to two years.
A report by the Auditor-General report released in March revealed the situation for public housing is critical. According to the report, an unsustainable operating model has been compounded by poor planning, poor asset management and poorly informed decision-making, culminating in Victorian public housing reaching crisis point. The report urges the Department of Human Services to adopt decisive direction and a sustainable operating model to address the problem.
Minister Lovell insists her Coalition government inherited the public housing crisis from the previous Labour government. However, the Auditor-General’s report indicates the situation has developed over at least a decade and argues a bipartisan approach is required to address the problem.
The report has been lauded by those working within homeless youth services.
“There is simply not enough housing to meet the need,” Schlitz says, “and ultimately, we don’t want anyone sleeping on the streets.”
***
Standing to leave my interview with Jay, I notice him reach into the pocket of his Woolworths-issued work pants, pulling out a folded sheet of paper torn from an exercise book. Keen to move on from his time-limited transitional housing, Jay smiles, producing a shortlist of possible share houses he and Fowler will evaluate together.
“It’s been a rollercoaster ride. Next, I’m going to study social work,” Jay says, “I’ve been helped, and now I’m going to help.”
