Tasmania has a growing homelessness problem which impacts hundreds of children and young people. In 2021, 2,350 people were homeless on Census night — an increase of 45% since the 2016 Census. In 2021, 911 (39%) of homeless Tasmanians were children and young people aged 0-24 years.[1] Many children and young people who are homeless are accompanied by a parent or another protective adult, but others are alone (or unaccompanied) while homeless, making them even more vulnerable.

See our Glossary for how we have classified children and young people for the Tasmania’s State of Housing Dashboard.

Homeless children and young people might be:

• Staying in supported accommodation for homeless people;
• Sleeping in temporary accommodation;
• Couch surfing;
• Sleeping on the street or in a park; or
• Living in severely crowded dwellings.

See our Glossary for definitions of homelessness.

Homelessness is a problem because it can “profoundly affect a person’s mental and physical health, their education and employment opportunities, and their ability to fully participate in society.”[2] These effects are particularly damaging for children and young people, and include malnutrition, poor dental health, developmental delays and depression and anxiety, social disconnection and loneliness, as well as significant threats to physical and sexual safety.[3]

For insights into Tasmanian children’s experiences of home and homelessness, see Bessell, S, O’Sullivan, C & Lang, M (2024), More for Children Issues Paper: Housing, Children’s Policy Centre, Australian National University.

References:

[1] ABS, Census data from 2016 and 2021, Homelessness.
[2] AIHW, Specialist homelessness services 2023/24: Tasmania.
[3] Mission Australia (2025), ‘Homelessness and its lasting impact on children and young people,’ media release.

Additionally, many children and young people who are homeless and unaccompanied have had traumatic experiences before leaving home, including:

• Domestic and family violence;
• Physical and emotional abuse;
• Sexual abuse;
• Homophobia and transphobia;
• Neglect and abandonment; and/or
• Poverty. [1]

A mix of homelessness and housing services for children and young people is delivered in Tasmania, most of which are funded by Homes Tasmania. These include:

• Youth2Independence facilities: For young people who are “ready to participate in education, training or employment” in Launceston, Devonport, Burnie and Hobart. See: Homes Tasmania, Youth2Independence.
• Youth2Independence homes: Cluster homes or shared homes for young people who “will benefit from living in a small, home-like environment” in Burnie, Devonport, Launceston and Clarence LGAs. See: Homes Tasmania, Youth2Independence.
• Backyard units: Demountable dwellings for young people, available for households of four or more people, living in social housing owned by Homes Tasmania, with at least one person aged 15-25 years. See: Homes Tasmania, Backyard Units.
• Medium- to longer-term accommodation: Accommodation in Kingston for young people aged 12-15 years who are homeless or at risk of being homeless. Funded by the Department for Education, Children and Young People. See: Mission Australia, Kingston House.
• Crisis and transitional accommodation: A mix of accommodation in the south, north and north-west of Tasmania for either: (a) unaccompanied children aged 12-15 years; or (b) young people aged 13-20 years. See: Homes Tasmania, Housing Connect.

There is also a mix of support services targeted to children and young people in Tasmania who are either homeless or at risk of homelessness, such as rental subsidy programs or intensive youth support services, which are generally delivered by community service organisations.

Reference:

 [1] Homelessness Australia (2023), Child and youth homelessness fact sheet.

Indicators:

• In March 2025, 222 children (aged 0-14 years) and 538 young people (15-24 years) were clients of Specialist Homelessness Services in Tasmania.
• In 2023/24, 1,464 young people (15-24 years) presented alone to Specialist Homelessness Services in Tasmania.
• In the June quarter of 2025, 34 unaccompanied children under 18 years of age sought housing assistance from Housing Connect, the housing entry point for people experiencing homelessness or in housing need, which is delivered by Anglicare Tasmania.
• In June 2025, there were 1,130 young people as primary applicants waiting for social housing.

See our Glossary for an explanation of Specialist Homelessness Services.

Figure 4.1

From 2020 to 2024, the number of young people as the primary applicant who were waiting for social housing increased by 16% from 886 to 1,027. In the same period, the number of young people waiting for social housing increased by 27% from 1,208 to 1,540.

Figure 4.2

In 2023/24, Tasmania’s rate of young people presenting alone to Specialist Homelessness Services (231.7 clients per 10,000 people) was the second highest of all states and territories, after the Northern Territory.

Figure 4.3

From 2011/12 to 2023/24, Tasmania’s average annual increase in young people presenting alone to Specialist Homelessness Services (1.2%) was the second highest of all states and territories. In the same period, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory each showed an average annual decrease in young people presenting alone.

Figure 4.4

During 2023/24, Specialist Homelessness Services in Tasmania reported 11,181 unassisted requests for homelessness services. Of these, 6,759 unassisted requests (61%) were for children and young people (0-24 years), compared to 46% of unassisted requests nationally.

Despite the mix of accommodation and support services delivered to children and young people in Tasmania, this cohort still experiences a significant problem with homelessness. This is demonstrated by the data, including: Tasmania’s high rate of children and young people presenting to homelessness services; and the growth in the number of young people presenting alone. The homelessness system in Tasmania is simply not adequately resourced to meet the needs of children and young people, with 61% of people turned away from homelessness services aged under 25 years (2023/24).

At a strategic level, the Tasmanian Government needs to urgently develop a dedicated Child and Youth Action Plan for Homelessness, which would prioritise the specific care needs of children and young people. This plan should include specific commitments to deliver more specialist support services and accommodation to homeless children and young people who are unaccompanied or have other complex needs. As well, the plan should aim to foster better coordination of universal child- and youth-centred services, such as education, family support, mental health and child protection, so as to increase efforts to prevent homelessness for children and young people.

Children and young people face significant barriers to accessing housing and homelessness services. Private rentals are often inaccessible for a young person who, by virtue of their age, usually lacks a good rental or employment history to support their application. For all Tasmanians, social housing is not really a viable housing option, given the growth in the number of applications on the waitlist (over 5,100 in June 2025) and the long wait time to be allocated social housing (over 18 months for priority applicants in June 2025). Young people experience a further barrier to accessing social housing as their very low income if receiving Youth Allowance and uncertain access to Commonwealth Rent Assistance means social housing providers may not see young people as financially viable tenants. Even if young people can access social housing, it may not be a good fit for them, with limited opportunities for living in shared housing.

Additionally, there is a general lack of medium- to longer-term housing options for children and young people who need support, which risks excluding them from stable and secure housing until they are deemed ‘housing ready.’ Young people who have high support needs (e.g. due to mental health, trauma or substance use) are usually ineligible for independent youth housing offered in Tasmania.

Unfortunately, given health system constraints in Tasmania, many ineligible young people will struggle to access the psychological or alcohol and other drugs services they need to improve their health and wellbeing and thus make them eligible for independent accommodation. For in-depth research into this issue in Tasmania, see Robinson, C (2022), Bigger, Better Stronger: Final Report, Anglicare Tasmania.

With regards to crisis and transitional accommodation for children and young people in Tasmania, there is an obvious need for adequate government funding to enable organisations to operate these services with a staffing model which can support the safety and wellbeing of both clients and staff.

TasCOSS calls on the next state government to:

1. Develop a dedicated Child and Youth Homelessness Action Plan to better coordinate services for homeless children and young people, especially those with unaccompanied or other complex needs.
2. Strengthen child and youth homelessness prevention and early intervention by investing in family and educational supports, adolescent mental health care, tenancy support and dedicated youth social housing.
3. Expand homelessness support and accommodation services for children and young people, across the housing and support spectrum.
4. Adequately fund crisis and transitional accommodation for children and young people to ensure the safety and wellbeing of clients and staff.

Demand for social housing has grown significantly over the last decade, and is outstripping new supply, as reflected in continued growth in the social housing waitlist.

Tasmania’s wait time for social housing for ‘greatest-need households’ is now the second highest in Australia, after the Northern Territory. See: Productivity Commission data. 

This lengthy waiting period is putting financial, practical, relationship and emotional strain on many Tasmanians who urgently need access to safe, affordable and appropriate housing. 

Recent research by Dr Catherine Robinson and others exploring people’s experiences of lengthy waits for social housing in Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland found that waiting for social housing was detrimental to people’s health, wellbeing and safety. People described waiting a long time for social housing as horrible, demoralising, traumatic, nerve-wracking, tiring, dreadful, disappointing and soul-destroying. See: Waithood: The experiences of applying for and waiting for social housing, University of Technology Sydney.

Indicators: 

Updated on 4 August 2025 with the latest available data.

In June 2025: 

• There are 5,163 applicants on the social housing waitlist — the highest number ever. 
• There are 597 homeless applicants on the social housing waitlist who are entirely without housing (e.g. sleeping in a tent or car). There are another 3,356 applicants staying in temporary or insecure accommodation, such as a shelter or they’re couch surfing. 
• There are 727 applicants on the social housing waitlist who are ‘highest priority,’ which includes those leaving homelessness services, prison, hospital or out-of-home care.
• The average wait time for social housing for priority applicants (highest priority and standard priority) is 79.1 weeks, which equates to more than 18 months.

Figure 1.1: The number of applications on Tasmania’s social housing waitlist increased from 3,809 in January 2021 to 5,163 in June 2025. This is an increase of 36% over 4.5 years. 

NB: See our Glossary for explanations of:

• Different definitions of homelessness; and
• Priority categories used for the social housing waitlist. 

Updated on 4 August 2025 with the latest available data.

Figure 1.2:

Tasmania’s social housing waitlist and wait times increased between 2020 and 2024: 

• The number of ‘highest priority’ applicants increased by 73% from 406 in 2020 to 707 in 2024. 
• The number of ‘standard priority’ applicants increased by 30% from 2,390 in 2020 to 3,098 in 2024. 
• The number of all applicants increased by 41% from 3,373 in 2020 to 4,745 in 2024. 
• The number of people on the social housing waitlist increased by 34% from 6,197 people in June 2020 to 8,273 people in July 2024.

NB: See our Glossary for an explanation of the number of applicants versus the number of people waiting for social housing. 

It is unacceptable that Tasmanians are waiting for many months or even years on the social housing waitlist before being allocated a home. Moreover, Tasmanians are waiting longer on average for social housing than people in other states and territories.

This means that, for many Tasmanians, social housing is currently not a realistic solution to their housing insecurity, and many are continuing to struggle in overcrowded, unsafe or unaffordable housing — or sleeping rough.

There is an urgent need for new social housing in Tasmania in addition to what has already been committed. Many organisations, including Shelter Tasmania, the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) and Everybody’s Home, have called on governments to deliver more social housing to achieve a target of 10% of all dwellings in Australia being social housing. Homes Tasmania has committed to delivering around 3,100 social housing dwellings by 2032 — that’s far too few to meet the growing demand in Tasmania.

TasCOSS is calling on the next state government to

1. Take targeted action to significantly reduce the number of applications and people on the social housing waitlist, and reduce the average wait time for social housing for priority applicants. 
2. Commit to an accelerated program of delivering more social housing, including a clear pathway to social housing being 10% of all dwellings in Tasmania.