A homelessness story & the urgent need for refuge

By Indira Laisram
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Representative Image // Photo by Ev on Unsplash

Ravi* is a permanent resident. Although he has finished his Master’s in Accounting, he lost his job during the pandemic. But his woes did not end there. The girlfriend with whom he was sharing a unit decided to call it quits and asked him to move out. He then moved in with a friend, who allegedly took advantage of his vulnerable self. Ravi ended up doing all the household chores and spending more money. Despite giving two months’ rent in advance, the friend asked him to leave. Right now, he is sleeping in his car.

This is just one example of youth homelessness in the pandemic age. According to Mission Australia, homelessness and mental health are real issues that affect young people, but the pandemic exacerbated many of the existing disadvantages affecting young people.

Between 2020-2021, Mission Australia’s survey data from over 20,000 Australians aged between 15-19 years, reveals that one in 20 survey respondents were homeless for the first time during the peak of the pandemic.

Elvis Martin, Principal Ambassador of the National Youth Commission Australia, Director of Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council (VMIAC), and Council Member of the Mental Health Commission, says, “Family violence and youth homelessness was always an issue, but the pandemic has highlighted how big an issue it is. The cases just went up.”

Speaking from his own lived experience, Martin says homelessness among the 16-24 age group is glaring, and that we need to highlight and address the issue of providing social housing to those fleeing family violence.

At the recent Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute National Homelessness Conference in Canberra, he reiterated the fact that there is a lack of housing and support for people escaping family and domestic violence, especially young people.

Shorna Moore, Head of Public Policy and Government Relations at Melbourne City Mission (MCM) has also highlighted the need for more social housing and specific domestic and family violence services for young people—particularly after lockdowns put young people living in unstable or violent households at significant risk.

From right: Rachel Christie, Leader Mission Australia Centre for Evidence & Insights, Elvis Martin, Principal Ambassador of the National Youth Commission Australia, Director of Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council, and Council Member of the Mental Health Commission, Shorna Moore, Head of Public Policy and Government Relations at Melbourne City Mission (MCM) & Peter McMillan, Executive Officer, NT Shelter Inc at the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute National Homelessness Conference in Canberra on 10 August // Pic supplied

“When the community and government talk about providing social housing to those fleeing family violence, they are focusing solely on women and often younger children. There is rarely recognition of the need for this housing stock for independent young people. It is so important that our local, state and federal decision-makers consider young people as victim-survivors in their own right when it comes to portioning off housing stocking for victims escaping family violence,” says Shorna.

Martin is calling for more family violence specific youth refuges. “Every youth refuge should have one family violence support worker. Young people most of the time are not aware that they are experiencing family violence, so it is important for services to have family violence case workers involved to identify the problem and provide relevant support. Moreover, young people are treated as extensions of their parents and not as victim survivors in their own rights,” he says.

To access services under the current system, Martin says if one is 18, one is expected to have a mother to qualify as a family violence abused victim. “If you don’t have a mother, then you are not eligible. So basically, you are left waiting for five years to get social housing. People go through challenges thus leading to long term homelessness,” he says, adding, “I have been there and I know how hard it is to access family violence support.”

So how can we break that cycle of homelessness?

Martin believes homelessness does not last long if there is proper support for family violence and domestic violence. “Whenever there is a national conversation about housing, there is no conversation about family violence and homelessness and the intersectionality between the two. It is very important for the government right now to focus on including the support for young people.”

Welcoming the Federal government’s recent announcement on creation of a national strategy for homelessness, he hopes the government ensures that young people are properly represented. As a matter of urgency, the government needs to fund targeted youth-family violence responses, he says.

“We need more housing and create more family violence refuges. Housing is a basic human right, nobody should have to decide whether they will go and live in a violent home or be on the street,” says Martin.

(*Name changed for reasons of privacy)


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