Tuesday, 4 March 2025

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (19:04): (1463) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Children, and the action I seek is for the minister and her department to personally meet with Kids Under Cover as part of the government’s 2025–26 budget deliberations. Each night in Victoria almost 12,000 children and young people are homeless, with about 36 per cent of them being First Nations young people – a crisis that has actually worsened under the Allan Labor government. It is alarming to know that half of rough sleepers in inner Melbourne first faced homelessness as children, and they remain trapped in a cycle of poverty into adulthood. In major local government areas, such as Shepparton and Bendigo in my own electorate, young people make up over 30 per cent of those experiencing homelessness on any given night.

Kids Under Cover is doing remarkable work housing nearly 1000 young people at risk of homelessness each night. Their mission, Target450, aims to house an additional 450 young people each night. Through their Village 21 project’s studios and mobile pods, they are not only housing vulnerable young people but preventing homelessness before it begins, breaking the cycle for those who need it the most. To reach their goal, Kids Under Cover is seeking $26.4 million in the upcoming 2025–26 state budget to rapidly deliver 200 studios housing 300 at-risk Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people each night in partnership with the Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency and deliver 100 one- and two-bedroom studios with wraparound care for 150 young people in contact with the out-of-home care system over the next two years.

This investment will mean Kids Under Cover studios will reduce youth homelessness across the state by 17 per cent – a critical step in addressing this crisis. It is not just the right thing to do, it also makes economic sense, because Kids Under Cover’s interventions have proven returns on investment that surpass even major infrastructure projects. In fact eradicating youth homelessness in Victoria would save the state $432 million over the next 30 years. Evidence clearly shows that providing secure housing to vulnerable young people at risk of homelessness saves money, reduces youth crime and reduces burdens on health and mental health systems. Kids Under Cover are ready with solutions to end youth homelessness. This in turn will also reduce downstream adult homelessness. I urge the minister and her department to meet with Kids Under Cover and discuss their vital work and the funding they require to make a real difference in the lives of vulnerable young Victorians as part of the government’s upcoming budget deliberations.