Causes of Youth Homelessness in Australia

This essay discusses the two main causes of youth homelessness in Australia, the relation between the two causes and its contribution to youth homelessness. The main argument of the essay is that housing crisis and domestic and family violence are the two key causes of youth homelessness in the country.

Running head: YOUTH HOMELESSNESS CAUSES IN AUSTRALIA
YOUTH HOMELESSNESS CAUSES IN AUSTRALIA
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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YOUTH HOMELESSNESS CAUSES IN AUSTRALIA
Introduction
Homelessness refers to the condition when a person has “inadequate access to
conventional shelter, particularly at night” (Youthcentral.vic.gov.au, 2019). In Australia, youth
homelessness has been a concern for years now but the government has done little in terms of
addressing the issue.
The essay discusses the two main causes of youth homelessness in Australia, the relation
between the two causes and its contribution to youth homelessness. In doing so, the essay will
make use of ten credible sources from the literature including some statistics on youth
homelessness. The main argument of the essay is that housing crisis and domestic and family
violence are the two key causes of youth homelessness in the country.
Discussion
Homelessness is often confused with living on the streets, which is not correct.
Homelessness also means people living in temporary accommodations such as boarding houses,
with friends, in squats or in emergency accommodations. Across the globe, the issue of youth
homelessness has become a serious concern with the numbers increasing each year. According to
a Reuters report, poverty is one of the leading reasons for youth homelessness around the globe.
The report found that about 40 percent of the young people across the world have reported
poverty to be the main cause of their homelessness (Reuters.com 2019). However, in Australia,
poverty is the last reason for youth homelessness as found in the 2018 survey by Council to
Homeless Persons (CHP) (Chp.org.au 2019). The CHP also found that housing crisis, domestic
and family violence and inappropriate or inadequate dwelling are the top three reasons for youth
homelessness in Australia.

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Housing crisis has been the top cause of homelessness of youth in Australia. The crisis in
Australia, related to housing has been worse over the last few years and one of the chief reasons
has been the lack of adequate investment by the government. The rate of homelessness has
grown by 14 percent since 2011 as found in a survey. The things seem to worsen with no fixed
national plan to combat the issue and lack of affordable housing (Sbs.com.au 2019). Housing
crisis in Australia has risen remarkably due to the rising prices of rent, which the low-income
family could hardly afford. Author Wiesel (2014), in his study on homelessness in Australia
found that mobility is a big concern of housing amongst low-income Australian families. The
author conducted a research on the “housing pathways” sixty low-income Australian households
and found that the four types of mobility of disadvantages. These include “hectic private rental
pathways”, “pathways of homelessness”, and pathways out of homeownership” and repeat
moves in and out of social housing” (Wiesel 2014). Out of these four, pathways of homelessness
and repeat moves in and out of social housing are the most severe. In the period between 2011
and 2012, nearly 230,000 Australians were provided assistance due to homelessness (Wiesel
2014). One of the major causes of homelessness as described by the participants in the study has
been eviction from their private rental houses. They also stated that the major difficulty for them
was to find an alternative rental house after being evicted. Added to that, physical disabilities
further created a barrier in their path of finding a home. The youth has been the worst victim of
this housing crisis leading to homelessness. As the author has found, residential mobility has
caused a reduction in youth education and made it more vulnerable to crime and bullying.
The next biggest cause of youth homelessness is domestic and family violence. Watson
(2016) analyzed the issue of homelessness amongst the young women in Australia and found that
domestic violence and homelessness are interrelated. Homeless women especially the young

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women engage in intimate relationships with men to assure themselves of a home and protection.
These women then are victims of domestic violence caused by their male partners. Homeless
young women particularly the street-based homeless women have had to face violence of
extreme kind. Violence is the biggest threat for street-based homelessness, which is considered
the mainstream definition of homelessness in Australia, as opposed to the previously explained
definition. The author provided real life instances of women who have faced domestic violence
that caused them to return to homelessness. The women talked about the way their male partners
would abuse them verbally and physically. As provided in the Department of Social Service of
the Government of Australia, domestic and family violence constitutes an issue that influences a
large proportion of women in Australia (Dss.gov.au, 2019). The DSS provides evidences of
young women facing domestic violence and family violence at home that caused their
homelessness. The women who face such violence reach a tipping point from where it becomes
difficult for them to sustain the abuse and they fear for their safety. This compels them to leave
their homes. Women aged between the age of 15 and 34 are at the highest risk of facing
homelessness due to domestic and family violence as reported in the leading online news portal,
ABC. The report was provided from the survey conducted by the Australian Institute of Health
and Welfare (Abc.net.au 2019).
The relation between housing crisis and domestic violence is quite evident from the
discussion above. People mostly coming from the low-income households face housing crisis
and domestic violence. As author Wiesel (2014) establishes, domestic violence also triggers
homelessness amongst young females who then move out of their homes and take refuge in a
friend’s house. Due to financial constraints and lack of affordable houses, these females become
homeless. Domestic and family violence coupled with housing crisis causes the young women to

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become homeless. Young children also accompany their mothers as they escape from the violent
environment and struggle to find a permanent residence. Mission Australia, a nonprofit
organization finds in its report that thousands of young women and children are forced into
homelessness due to lack of affordable housing and domestic and family violence. It was also
revealed that most of the homeless women and children who have been victims of domestic and
family violence did not receive any homelessness service. According to the Australian Institute
of Health and Welfare, in 201, only 4 percent of the women who were victims of domestic and
family violence and who had approached the homelessness service, had actually received long-
term housing facility (Aihw.gov.au, 2019). James Toomey, the CEO of Mission Australia raised
concern about the issue stating that a “severe shortage of social and affordable homes and
increased level of housing stress are tipping too many victim-survivors into unsafe and insecure
living situations” (Missionaustralia.com.au 2019). This shows the relation between housing crisis
and domestic and family violence leading to youth homelessness in Australia.
Conclusion
Therefore, in conclusion it could be reiterated that housing crisis and domestic and family
violence are the two major causes of youth homelessness in Australia. The essay conducted an
extensive research on the issue using two primary sources – one by Ilan Wiesel and the other by
Juliet Watson. Apart from these two primary sources, several news, government and
organization sources were also used for the research. It was found that housing crisis and
domestic and family violence constitute the top two causes of homelessness amongst the
Australian youth especially women. The essay then tried to explain the housing crisis as a reason
for homelessness. It found that lack of affordable houses and proper investment from the
government on the issue are major reasons for housing crisis being the top cause of

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homelessness. Furthermore, domestic and family violence especially faced by women caused
them to leave their homes and then again engage in intimate relationships with male partners
who would abuse them thus forcing them to return to homelessness.

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References:
Abc.net.au (2019). 'You feel guilty for your children': facing life on the street with young child.
[online] ABC News. Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-04/homeless-woman-
domestic-violence-victims/10072242 [Accessed 4 May 2019].
Aihw.gov.au (2019). Specialist homelessness services annual report 2017–18, Contents -
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. [online] Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Available at: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/homelessness-services/specialist-homelessness-
services-2017-18/contents/contents [Accessed 4 May 2019].
Chp.org.au (2019). Youth Homelessness. [online] Chp.org.au. Available at: http://chp.org.au/wp-
content/uploads/2018/04/1.-Youth-homelessness-fact-sheet.pdf [Accessed 4 May 2019].
(Chp.org.au, 2019)
Dss.gov.au (2019). Women, Domestic and Family Violence and Homelessness: A Synthesis
Report | Department of Social Services, Australian Government. [online] Dss.gov.au. Available
at: https://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/women/publications-articles/reducing-violence/
women-domestic-and-family-violence-and-homelessness-a-synthesis-report?HTML#3b
[Accessed 4 May 2019].
Missionaustralia.com.au (2019). Domestic and family violence and affordable home shortage
pushes thousands into homelessness. [online] Missionaustralia.com.au. Available at:
https://www.missionaustralia.com.au/news-blog/news-media/domestic-and-family-violence-and-
affordable-home-shortage-pushes-thousands-into-homelessness [Accessed 4 May 2019].

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Reuters.com (2019). Poverty to blame for most youth homelessness worldwide. [online] U.S.
Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-homeless-youths/poverty-to-blame-for-
most-youth-homelessness-worldwide-idUSKCN0X12BQ [Accessed 4 May 2019].
Sbs.com.au (2019). Homelessness crisis linked to housing affordability. [online] SBS Your
Language. Available at: https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/italian/en/article/2018/08/20/
homelessness-crisis-linked-housing-affordability [Accessed 4 May 2019
Watson, J., 2016. Gender-based violence and young homeless women: femininity, embodiment
and vicarious physical capital. The Sociological Review, 64(2), pp.256-273.
Wiesel, I., 2014. Mobilities of disadvantage: The housing pathways of low-income
Australians. Urban Studies, 51(2), pp.319-334.
Youthcentral.vic.gov.au (2019). Homelessness in Australia | Homeless Youth | Youth Central.
[online] Youthcentral.vic.gov.au. Available at: https://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/advice-for-
life/housing/homelessness/about-youth-homelessness [Accessed 4 May 2019].