The National Youth Coalition for Housing Council chose this theme to reflect the fact that youth homelessness affects a range of young people in different circumstances and for different reasons. 

 

The theme for YHM day 2010 links to the Homelessness Australia campaign of “Will you be homeless in 2020?” by starting the countdown in 2010 to reduce the number in real terms across all areas of primary, secondary and tertiary homelessness.

 

This theme also aims to highlight the Australian Governments current commitment to reduce homelessness as identified in “The Road Home: A National Approach to Reducing Homelessness” and that homelessness is “everyone’s responsibility”. 

 

Youth homelessness is often only seen by the general community to be in the area of primary (street) homelessness however most homeless young people are in secondary (youth shelters, couchsurfing) homelessness. This means that homeless young people are more likely to be:

·    a young person in school who is sleeping on friends’ couches and moving from friend to friend;

·    a young person in a youth shelter who is on income support; and

·    a young person who is in an apprenticeship or traineeship who is living in a tent.

 

It must also be recognised that there are some groups of young people that face particular challenges due to cultural or social factors such as:

·    indigenous young people who are living in substandard or overcrowded conditions;

·    culturally or linguistically diverse young people who may have language difficulties, learning new cultural norms and the need to understand different political and social system/s including the homelessness service system; and

·    lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender young people.

 

The new national agenda has a strong focus on rough sleeping, however research has identified that if young people are not properly supported when they first experience homelessness, they have a higher chance of becoming homeless in their adult lives. For this reason we want to highlight that homeless young people are often not the stereotypical street person and need appropriate support to reach their full potential as active, happy and productive community members and citizens.

 

The ‘Countdown – Everyone Counts’ theme will allow young people and services to highlight the issues for a range of young people and to articulate strategies that can end homelessness.  

 

The theme relates to Homelessness White Paper targets to 2010 and interim targets to 2013, such as:

 The year 2013 will be an important progress marker for all young homeless people and Federal and State governments.