10 new Youth Foyers to break the cycle of youth homelessness
Over 13,000 young people presented alone to specialist homelessness services in NSW in 2022/23. Housing affordability is at record lows, and around 2 in 3 young people requesting medium term specialist housing support are being turned away. There is an urgent need to support the medium- and longer-term needs of young people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
FoyerInvest is calling on the NSW Government to ensure young people in NSW are not left behind.
FoyerInvest is seeking a commitment of $200m in capital funding and $20m in operating costs each year to construct and operate 10 new Foyers, supporting over 3,000 young people over the ten years.
NSW has the highest number of young people experiencing homelessness in any jurisdiction, but only two of the 27 Youth Foyers in Australia – the Southern Youth Foyer Project (Illawarra) and Foyer Central, which caters specifically for young people with a lived experience of out-of-home care.
Five locations – Wyong, Penrith, Orange, Dubbo and Tweed Heads – are ready for investment. Many more areas have high levels of unmet need and the social infrastructure and conditions necessary for a Foyer to succeed, for example Newcastle, Wagga Wagga, the Mid-North Coast, New England, Bathurst and numerous locations across Greater Sydney, like Parramatta, Bankstown, Liverpool and Hawkesbury.
This investment will create 400 new homes for young people, dedicated to social and affordable housing in perpetuity. Unlike typical social housing investments, the infrastructure costs create benefits for more individuals over time as young people move through the Youth Foyer to independence at a self-determined length of stay. The 10 Foyers will support over 3,000 young people to transition to independent, thriving futures over the next 10 years.
The Foyer Foundation and FoyerInvest Consortium members look forward to working with the NSW Government.
Read our full pre-budget Submission here..
