Youth homelessness advocates are calling for next week's budget to include funding for 10 new shelters known as "youth foyers". Foyer Foundation CEO Liz Cameron-Smith says the benefits of the shelters goes beyond just providing homes for young people.
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00:00At the moment in Australia we are facing an enormous crisis on three fronts.
00:07We have a housing crisis, a cost of living crisis and a domestic violence crisis.
00:12And at the heart of that are 40,000 young people who have nowhere to live, they're alone
00:18and they are seeking support.
00:21So it's an impending crisis that really affects not just the future of these young people
00:25but also the future of our country and our economy.
00:28A youth foyer is essentially a safe place where young people in this situation can live
00:34for up to two years.
00:36It is more than a roof over a young person's head, it also integrates education and employment
00:41and life skills supports so that within two years a young person has the skills they need
00:48and the confidence they need to really thrive and be independent adults into the future.
00:53And we know that the model gets results.
00:55So we have done research that has found that 80% of young people exiting a youth foyer
01:01end up with safe and stable accommodation.
01:04They are 65% engaged in education and the others are in employment.
01:10And we also know that they're 60% less likely to engage with the justice system.
01:15So it really gets results across a whole range of outcome areas, not just housing.
01:19They're not a new concept, we currently have 16 foyers across the country and they have
01:24a really strong track record of success.
01:27So that is the reason why we are calling for an additional investment in a further 10 foyers
01:32nationally.
01:33We know right now there are 33 communities across the country calling for new youth foyers
01:38and what we have proposed is a list of those that are actually ready to build right now
01:43and meet the urgent needs that we're seeing in communities across Australia.