The coalition, a group of not-for-profit organisations, reported that between January and June this year, 19 youth accommodation services across the Perth metropolitan area recorded 2,653 occasions where they could not provide a young person with a place to stay. On average, 69 homeless young people were competing for just 1.83 crisis beds. A growing proportion of those seeking help are employed.
On August 20 alone, 114 unaccompanied young people aged 25 and under were recorded sleeping rough in Perth and Rockingham.
Sector workers described turning away children as young as 12, saying "youth workers watch them walk away, knowing they face unimaginable dangers".
The coalition's pre-budget submission includes five key actions, calling for $2 million per year on early intervention to prevent homelessness, $350,000 to create a dedicated plan to end child and youth homelessness across the state, $44.5 million in capital funding and $6.71 million a year to operate new crisis accommodation in Albany and Bayswater, and $150,000 for a feasibility study in Broome.
Anonymous accounts from those experiencing homelessness described the system as "dehumanising, alienating, and humiliating". One person said they did not want any more referrals because they could not "deal with the feeling of rejection". Another said they "got my hopes up for nothing and left feeling not good enough". Others described "living on the edge", with every day exhausting to survive.