Yfoundations strongly supports the roll-out of additional funding under the National Housing Infrastructure Facility (NHIF) for crisis and transitional accommodation targeted to young people at risk of and experiencing homelessness.

The chronic under-funding of the specialist homelessness services (SHS) sector and resulting 50% turn away rate and limited access to transitional accommodation for young people seeking assistance from the sector, point to the need for substantial new investment in this area.

Yfoundations has long called for national leadership on the development of a standalone National Child and Youth Homelessness and Housing Plan that has as its core objective, ending child and youth homelessness in this country. There is significant potential for the NHIF to begin the process of reversing the shortfall in crisis and transitional accommodation as an essential component of a national standalone plan.

To help inform effective utilisation of the new funding under the NHIF, this submission provides detailed background information about youth homelessness and the challenges to, and requirements of, providing crisis and transitional accommodation for this cohort.