Emergency housing
Emergency housing can be really hard to find. Homelessness is a fast growing issue in Australia.
If you don’t have access to conventional shelter, especially at night, you may be considered to be homeless.
There are heaps of causes of homelessness. It can be anything from escaping from a troubled relationship or a situation that is violent to unemployment, to relationship breakdown.
There are many programs in Australia that aim to relieve homelessness. The services include advice, financial support and temporary accommodation. If you are currently without a place to live or face the risk of losing your home the following services may be able to help you:
Centrelink crisis or special help
Payments for people who are in severe hardship and have been forced to leave their home on Centrelink’s Crisis or special help pages. Follow the link to the ‘accommodation and renting issues’ to find out more information about Centrelink housing assistance.
http://www.centrelink.gov.au/Internet/Internet.Nsf/individuals/crisis_index.htm
Community youth outreach
Community youth outreach has a list of useful resources for locating charity organisations that provide accommodation for young people who are homeless and bungalows to families where a young person is at risk of becoming homeless.
http://www.youthoutreach.org.au/
Infoxchange homelessness
Find out about the Victorian strategy for homelessness, join a discussion forum or search the accommodation registry. Special projects such as ‘Speaking of Homelessness’ present stories and images about surviving without a stable home.
http://www-old.infoxchange.net.au/menu/hh.html
Community.gov.au
A list of links that you can compare and research services, strategies across Australia for homeless people.
Homelessnessaustralia.org.au
The range of resources at this site extends from statistics and reports to personal stories, poems and images from the homeless and young people living on the streets.
www.homelessnessaustralia.org.au
Reconnect Young Refugees Program
Translated into several languages, this information brochure describes services for new arrivals and refugees aged 12-18 who are having problems at home or who have recently left home. The site’s ‘Publications’ area also contains research on the impact of settlement services, education, employment and training on migrant and refugee youth homelessness. Explore the rest of the site for more general information on government policy that relates to issues for multicultural youth.
http://www.cmy.net.au/Reconnect
SAAP housing
The Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) provides assistance to homeless people and women and children escaping domestic violence. This is transitional housing – until you are able to find something more permanent and secure.