Youth Homelessness Matters Day 💛
Right now, too many young people in South Australia don’t have a safe place to call home.
Wednesday April 15 is Youth Homelessness Matters Day – a day dedicated to raising awareness about youth homelessness and shining a light on the realities of young people experiencing and at risk of homelessness.
Youth homelessness is largely hidden. Young people experiencing homeless often stay with friends or extended family, and sometimes don’t consider themselves to be homeless.
But ‘couch surfing’ also puts young people in a vulnerable position where they are open to abuse and exploitation.
1 in 4 people accessing Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) in SA are young people aged 12–24.
In 2024–25, 3,456 young people aged presented to South Australian SHS alone.
Of those young people:
📊 29% identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
📊 about a third were 12–17 years old
📊 over 60% were young women
📊 over half had asked for help before.
Why were they most often reaching out for help?
👉 Domestic & family violence
👉 The housing crisis
👉 Family or relationship breakdown
Less than 22% received accommodation, which is the lowest rate in the country.
250 requests for support from children and young people were turned away because there wasn’t enough support available. 200 of these requests were from 18 to 24-year-olds.
Young people presenting alone to SHS were more likely than most other cohorts to be experiencing homelessness at the start of support and end of support.
Youth homelessness services simply can’t keep up with the demand for beds. They don’t get enough funding to provide the wrap-around services necessary to support young people and help them thrive.
Housing is only part of the equation in ending youth homelessness – young people experiencing homelessness also need the right support, safety, and opportunities to thrive.
What can you do?
💛 Learn more
💛 Speak up
💛 Challenge stigma
🔗 Learn more about Youth Homelessness Matters Day via Yfoundations.
Sources:
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Specialist homelessness services annual report 2024–25.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australia's Welfare 2025: In Brief.
