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July 2023 Edition
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IN FANTASTIC NEWS, the Services Union is launching a campaign to support Specialist Youth Homelessness Services and QYHC’s call for 25% increase in funding! The Union has been our greatest advocate over decades in supporting our organisations and workforce in their capacity to deliver safe quality services for young people.
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National NAIDOC Week activities were held across Australia from 2nd – 9th July, to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth. The many highlights of NAIDOC week include the fabulous Awards ceremony.
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A huge Congratulations to 2023’s Youth of the Year, Courtney Burns!! Read about Courtney here
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QYHC was delighted to meet with our Housing and Homelessness Peaks Partnership colleagues and the new Department of Housing Director General, Mark Cridland to hear about the stand alone Department of Housing and its huge remit.
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NCYHC 2023
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The National Child and Youth Homelessness Conference took place in Melbourne and online on July 24th-25th. Hundreds gathered in person and joined online from around the globe to hear from the many presenters including young people with lived expertise, academics and practitioners.
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Key Messages - What we heard
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It’s almost impossible to sum up 2 days of action-packed conversations. However, there were stand out messages which are also consistent with what we hear from young people and SYHS in Queensland.
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- Young people need to be consulted at all stages of policy and programmatic development and amendment.
- Young people need a continuum of housing and support options to ensure they have a choice of service model and support type that fits with their needs and life circumstances.
- Young people are a diverse group with varying needs and interests.
- We need to be ambitious about the future of our young people.
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- Young people in regional Australia have specific vulnerabilities and differing needs that require recognition. The most notable being the lack of access to support and housing which leads them to leave their regions for cities to obtain housing and sometimes employment.
- Youth Workers are at the heart of the youth homelessness sector. How young people are supported by workers matters more than most other factors.
- Investment in children and young people is an investment in early intervention and prevention.
- It’s time for a national plan to address child and youth homelessness and ensure a national foundation and benchmarks.
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Read the NCYHC Report here
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AIF’s Populations, Households and Families Report July ‘23
Key messages and implications for housing
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One in 4 households are now single person residences. Over the last century, Australia’s population has experienced significant change in size and composition. While the number of households has increased, the average household size has declined. Australia’s population is growing and aging, it has also become more ethnically and culturally diverse.
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This update to CHIA’s inaugural report was compiled using 102 of the largest community housing organisations, including 20 operating in Queensland. Read the report here.
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Support your local CafeSmart cafe Friday August 4th
In the lead up to Homelessness Week, over 670 cafes around Australia are raising funds for their local organisations and taking action against homelessness. Last year, Cafes and Coffee roasters helped raise over $159,000 distributed to 130 services.
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Read more about the grant recipients and their local cafes here.
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Find your local cafe raising funds for homelessness services from 1 - 7th August, with Friday 4th being the main fundraising day!
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Homelessness Week is held every year, hosted by Homelessness Australia. In preparation for the Federal Government’s 10 year housing and homelessness plan, the 2023 theme is:
"It is time to end homelessness".
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One in every two hundred Australians are homeless.
This is an opportunity to achieve the scope and scale of changes that are needed to end homelessness. Government needs to be ambitious about what can be achieved. To engage in Homelessness Week, find out more here.
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Housing First has been adopted internationally as best practice for providing sustainable housing for people who have experienced long term or recurring homelessness. Learn more here.
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QYHC is a proud member of the Make Renting Fair in Queensland campaign. The current focus is fair and affordable rents. We need to cap rental increases in line with the CPI.
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Queensland rents have gone up by an average of $104 per week in the last year.
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IT’S TIME TO MAKE RENTING FAIR.
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We are seeing unreasonable rent increases occurring across Queensland. Rental prices are increasing at more than three times the overall rate of the cost-of-living – an average of $104 per week. This is unsustainable.
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We’re calling for rent rises to be restricted to once per annum at the rate of CPI.
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The Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Taskforce will complete its 5-year term in December 2023. These forums are the last opportunity for people who have experienced institutional child abuse, their support services and organisations to provide advice to the Taskforce about the Queensland Government's implementation of the reforms arising from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It will also be an opportunity to learn more about the National Redress Scheme, and the supports and services available to people with lived experience of institutional abuse.
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The two remaining Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Taskforce forums:
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- Beenleigh on 23 August 2023
- Brisbane on 30 August 2023
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Housing and Young People in the News
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Homelessness and housing affordability is impacting the nation. With soaring house prices, dire rental accessibility, and a shortage of homes, it’s a national crisis. With social and affordable housing demand skyrocketing, specialist youth homelessness services are backlogged. Young people are locked out of almost all housing options. July saw further coverage of homelessness including youth homelessness.
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‘Laying Down the Law’
Online Training
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Youth Advocacy Centre’s ‘Laying Down the Law’ online version of their highly sought after youth worker training program has launched!!!
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Fantastic training for those in the youth support sector that can be completed from your home or office.
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Responding to Young People’s
AOD Use
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In other exciting news Dovetail recently released a new practice video which targets Specialist Youth Housing workers and OoHC Resi workers!
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Coercive Control Literature Review
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Families and 'Us' Practice Forum
Join the Community Living Association for this informative and engaging event exploring ways to support families when a parent experiences intellectual disability. This is for social work and allied health professionals, legal practitioners, disability workers, and academics to explore what it takes to ensure the rights of parents with intellectual disability are upheld.
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Featuring Dr Margaret Spencer (University of Sydney) who will share her work focusing on engagement and supported decision making. She will facilitate interactive sessions to apply this in practice contexts.
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The program includes presentations from parents with lived experience including a panel, practitioners and representatives from Child Safety and NDIA.
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Find out more and register here.
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Young People Living with Parents
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Leaving the parental home typically represents one of the main steps that young people make in the transition to an independent adult life. AIF’s latest facts & figures show that young people are increasingly living with their parents well into their late teens and early twenties. Read the research paper here here.
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INFORMATION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
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Seeking Talented Youth Actors
Mind Blanks is a mental health promotion charity seeking young talented actors to become part of their acting ensemble in Brisbane and surrounding areas. If you know any local young talented creative artists who would love a chance to make a real difference in the community, Mind Blank has a wonderful opportunity to provide:
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- paid casual employment to support a creative career
- social education and youth development experience
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AOD Program for LGBTQIA+
Young People
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The Alcohol and Other Drug Program at Open Doors Youth Service provides psychosocial interventions to LGBTIQ+ young people between the ages of 12 to 24 who are experiencing problematic alcohol and other drug use, or who are impacted by the alcohol or drug use of others. Refer here.
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Helping Hands TV
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Helping Hands TV have recently launched a series accessible on 9Now. Vignettes are presented on the Benefits of Community connection, Young People and Anxiety, Paying It Forward and many others.
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Support your mental health
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Smiling Mind is Australia’s #1 mindfulness app supporting every mind to thrive. It provides daily mindfulness and meditation guides at your fingertips. Their evidence-based tools support people to learn the skills to maintain their mental health in fun and interactive ways. Find out more here.
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The Sleep Ninja App
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Sleep Ninja is a free adolescent focused app which helps young people improve their sleep. Over 6 weeks, the six training sessions go through the importance and role of sleep, raise own awareness of habits that are contributing to poor sleep hygiene and teaches behavioural and cognitive strategies to change unhelpful sleep patterns. Find out more here.
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Everybody’s Home is a national campaign to address the housing crisis. It focuses on working together to call on Australian governments to bring balance back to the system, so that everybody has a place to call home.
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The campaign will be working with their 42,000 partners to strengthen the Government’s 10 year National Housing and Homelessness Plan and the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement. We simply cannot end the current shortfall without Government funding.
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Everybody’s Home survey of housing, homeless and welfare organisations found:
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- Nine in ten (89%) organisations said the housing crisis had increased casework complexity
- Three in five (61%) said their staff were at risk of burnout or leaving their roles
- Two thirds (67%) said homelessness was the biggest impact of the housing crisis on clients, and;
- Nine in ten (94%) said staff and volunteers were personally impacted by the crisis.
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Save the Date
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The campaign to Raise the Rate for Good is key to reducing poverty and inequality in Australia. QYHC is an avid advocate for raising the rate. Poverty in childhood is a key indicator of long-term homelessness for young people. Eradicating poverty is key to addressing many social ills faced by members of our society. A level of income support for young people that that ensures they can actively socially and economically participate is essential.
Find out more here.
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Call to Halve Child Poverty by 2030
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Poverty affects far too many Australian children and families, diminishing their life opportunities now and into the future. As one of the wealthiest countries in the world, it’s just not right that 1 in 6 of our children grow up in poverty.
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The campaign calls upon all politicians to commit to halve child poverty by 2030. QYHC is cognisant that childhood poverty is strongly connected to homelessness as a young person and in later life. Addressing poverty is essential. Find out more here.
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