Friday, 14 November 2025

 John MULLAHY (Glen Waverley) (17:30): (1418) My adjournment matter is directed to the Minister for Housing and Building, and the action I seek is for the minister to join me at the Holmesglen youth foyer in Glen Waverley. The Holmesglen youth foyer is an inspiring program that provides safe, stable accommodation for young Victorians with lived experience of homelessness, but it goes far beyond providing a roof over their heads. It delivers opportunities that nurture ambition, confidence and long-term independence. Whether it is access to TAFE courses delivered through Holmesglen, academic support, pathways into training and employment or essential mental health services, this is an extraordinary initiative that offers real hope to young people who need it most. It recognises that housing stability is only one part of the equation and that dignity, safety and opportunity must go hand in hand.

Importantly, the youth foyer also provides crucial support for young people from the LGBTQIA+ community, who experience homelessness at disproportionately high rates due to family rejection, discrimination or violence. For many of these young people, programs like this are not just about accommodation. They are a refuge, an affirmation and a chance to be accepted for who they are. I am proud that the Holmesglen youth foyer is a place where LGBTQIA+ young people can feel generally safe, respected and supported to thrive.

In last year’s budget the Allan Labor government invested $1.8 million in this project, and I am incredibly proud of this commitment and of the work that continues in partnership with Launch Housing and the Brotherhood of St Laurence to deliver these critical services. Their dedication is changing lives every single day. Our young people deserve the dignity of a secure home and the confidence that they can dare to dream – that they can imagine a positive and meaningful future where they can contribute to the community and shape their own paths.

Early intervention matters. It helps break the cycle of homelessness, hardship and despair, and it places young people on a path to purpose, empowerment and long-term safety. This is life-changing work. This is exactly what good governments should be about, not dividing communities or attacking vulnerable people but supporting them, lifting them up and ensuring that no young person, whether queer, culturally diverse or otherwise marginalised, is left behind. I thank everyone involved in the youth foyer for their extraordinary contribution, and I look forward to welcoming the minister to Glen Waverley to see firsthand the profound impact this program is having on young Victorians. I will open it up to the chamber that when I have the minister down there I would like more of the members here to come along and visit as well and see the great work that they do at the youth foyer.