Policy, Submissions & Research

Policy and Submissions

Yfoundations develops evidence-based policy positions and submissions, and makes representations to Parliament, parliamentary inquiries and departmental reviews. These have included the:

• Position Paper on Youth Housing Models
• Yfoundations Background Paper - Youth Housing Models
• Position Paper on the Reform of Temporary Accommodation in NSW
• Yfoundations Position in Relation to the NSW Government’s Reform of the Temporary Accommodation Program - Background Paper
• Yfoundations submission on the $1 Billion Increase to the National Housing Infrastructure Facility
• Yfoundations submission to Senate Economics Legislation Committee on the ‘National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2)’
• 2024–25 Federal Pre-Budget Submission
• ACYP Special Inquiry into the experience of children and young people in alternative care arrangements (ACAs) in NSW
• National Housing and Homelessness Plan Consultation
• 2023–24 Federal Pre-Budget Submission
• National Housing Legislative Package submission to Treasury
• National Housing and Homelessness Agreement (NHHA) Review Submission to the Productivity Commission
• National Strategy to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Final Development Consultation Paper
• Inquiry into Child Protection and Social Services System
• Inquiry into the High Levels of First Nations People in Custody Oversight and Review of Deaths in Custody
• Pre-Budget Submission 2022–23
• Submission to the NSW Housing Strategy Implementation Unit
• Inquiry into SHS Intake Policies and Practice Regarding Clients with High and/or Complex Needs.

In preparing our submissions, we consult with leaders in the youth homelessness sector, specialist homelessness services (SHS) workers, and young people with a lived experience of homelessness.

We also work with other organisations and peak bodies to produce joint statements and submissions relevant to child and youth homelessness, and important initiatives relating to children, young people and their communities, e.g. the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Research

Our youth justice research report, Young, in trouble and with nowhere to go: Homeless adolescents’ pathways into and out of detention in NSW expands on our earlier research to explore the pathways homeless adolescents, both sentenced and unsentenced, take into and out of detention in NSW. Our report is informed by consultations with over 144 stakeholders across support services about the challenges faced by young people experiencing homelessness when they encounter the youth justice system.

Our research shows young people face several challenges when leaving detention, which often results in a perpetuating cycle of disadvantage. The report offers six key recommendations to break this cycle.

Find out more about the report, read the Executive Summary and our Q&A, and check out our podcast.

Off the back of our Regional Youth Homelessness Forums held during Homelessness Week in 2022 in conjunction with Mission Australia and Social Futures, we produced a report that encapsulates the discussions and frames the recommendations from the forums across four themes:

• Regional housing crisis
• Service system gaps
• Domestic, family and sexual violence
• Couch surfing.

The report shines a spotlight on regional youth homelessness issues and the concerns of regional youth homelessness services workers who attended the forums in Ballina in the Northern Rivers area, and Wagga Wagga and Dubbo in the Riverina and Orana regions respectively.

Yfoundations also participates in research reference groups to provide expertise and input on the particular experiences and needs of children and young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. One example is the Shelter NSW Severe Overcrowding Research Project for which we provided input on severe overcrowding among young people, particularly students.

Our ‘Research Bites’ summarise key research reports of interest to the sector. These include:

• Evaluating the Premier’s Youth Initiative
• Responses to Homelessness.

Visit our Resources hub to access and download our policy papers, submissions, research, articles, factsheets, research bites and other output.