Youth Homelessness Matters Day (15 April) highlights the need to recognise, listen to and support young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Youth homelessness is real. Last year nearly 43,000 children and young people presented alone for homelessness support in Australia.

Key things to know: 

• Family and relationship breakdown is the leading cause for younger teens seeking help.  
• For 18-to-24-year-olds, the most common reason is experiencing housing crises such as eviction.
• LGBTQIA+ young people are more than twice as likely to experience homelessness compared to their peers. This is often due to discrimination, experiencing family conflict, violence or rejection of their sexual or gender identity. 

Youth homelessness stories 

Youth Homelessness Matters Day is a good time to learn more, build understanding and listen to young people with lived experience of housing insecurity and homelessness. 

You can: 

• watch a short video on the youth homelessness crisis from the ABC’s BTN program
• listen to podcasts like the Young & Homeless podcast from Yfoundations and the Steps out of homelessness podcast series produced by Concern Australia.

Find support 

Our Help at Hand guide has crisis support services and advice for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. 

Find it at your nearest library, our customer service counter and on our homelessness support services and resources page.

We also have advice for what to do you if you see someone experiencing homelessness.

We recognise there isn't enough social housing or funding for homelessness service providers to meet demand. We regularly advocate on behalf of our community to the Victorian and Australian Governments to do more to fund social housing and homelessness services across Australia. 

Learn more

Learn more about homelessness and find ways you can help on our homelessness in Boroondara page.