Around one million young people aged 12 – 25 live in Victoria, Australia.
Most go to school or have a job.
Most have good health, a stable home and support from parents and friends, but a growing number don’t.
Including 6,117 young Victorians who are homeless on any given night.
Frontyard works with young people in Victoria to address their physical, emotional and social needs.
Services are available to any young person aged 12-25. This year Frontyard:

1 front door / 13 services working together /
55 staff working alongside young people

Frontyard is the largest service of its type in Victoria.

Housing Assistance
Health and Wellbeing
Family Mediation
Legal and Financial Support
Information, Support and Referral
Education, Training, Social
and Recreational Programs

Age

 The average age of Frontyard clients was 19,
the youngest person presenting to Frontyard was 12.

0%
Under 16
0%
16-18
0%
19-21
0%
22+

Gender

 47% per cent of Frontyard’s clients were young women. 52% per cent were young men. 1% were transgender young people.

Family Violence

0%
of young women presenting to Frontyard had experienced family or domestic violence.
0%
of young men presenting to Frontyard had experienced domestic or family violence.

Family Relationships

 Many young people had experienced family breakdown.
21% of young people had been in state/foster care.
32% had no contact with their family.

Country of Origin

 30% of young people presenting to Frontyard were born outside of Australia.

Housing

 Two out of three young people presenting to Frontyard had NO housing.

 There are only 15 ‘Youth Refuges’ in Victoria that provide emergency accommodation.
This adds up to 109 refuge beds for 6,117 homeless young people.
Melbourne City Mission welcomes the recent state governments announcement by the Hon. Martin Foley MP, of a 24 bed youth refuge in the CBD to be run by Melbourne City Mission, and scheduled to be opened in late 2018.

THOSE WHO GOT A REFUGE BED

Got up to 6 weeks of accommodation, support to find longer-term housing and 24/7 care from trained staff.

THE ONES WHO MISSED OUT

Were sent overnight to backpacker accommodation, cheap motels, rooming houses and caravan parks, with no on-site support.

FRONTYARD RELUCTANTLY SPENDS

More than $100,000 a year paying for this kind of accommodation, which does nothing to meaningfully break the cycle of homelessness.

Frontyard wants more housing and support options for young people, including new refuge beds

Health and Wellbeing

29% of young people had concerns about their health and wellbeing.
18% had not seen a nurse or doctor in the past 12 months.

Mental Health

43% of young people had a mental health diagnosis.
35% had concerns about their current mental health.

Mental Health and Substance Use

Mental health issues and drug and alcohol use are often co-occurring. 41% of young people presenting to Frontyard had identified concerns
around both their mental health and drug/alcohol use.

Mental Health and Substance Use

There are limited services for young people who have a dual diagnosis and additional complexity such as homelessness.

WE NEED TO FIX THIS

Education

Young people who came to Frontyard faced major barriers to education and employment.
Whilst 81% of young Australians aged 15 – 24 are ‘fully engaged’ in study or work:

62% coming to Frontyard were not studying
0
89% did not have a job
0
11% were working but these jobs were mostly casual or insecure
0
76% received income support from Centrelink
0

All young people deserve a fair go

Find out more here