Aboriginal support services needed as homelessness crisis hits young First Nations peoples

The social and economic strain caused by COVID over the past few years has resulted in a massive spike in the number of young people at risk of homelessness, and none have been more highly impacted than young Aboriginal people.

The number of young Aboriginal people at risk of homelessness is stark. At the start of COVID, there were 6668 Aboriginal children in out-of-home care in NSW; that’s 40% of the total number of young people at risk of homelessness. And that number is projected to double by the year 2030, despite Aboriginal people only comprising 3% of the population.

The challenges around young Aboriginal people at risk of homelessness are unique and need to be treated differently due to the history of dispossession and separation of families in the past. Connection to culture needs to be front and centre in a way it hasn’t been before.