For young people in NSW, the situation is vastly different than for past generations. The housing context for young people today is characterised by declining homeownership rates, decreasing housing and rental affordability, a decline in the availability of social housing, and rising youth homelessness. The review of the RTA must therefore consider how regulatory frameworks can support young people to access stable and appropriate housing in a vastly changed landscape.

Youth Action welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the NSW Department of Fair Trading regarding the review of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (RTA). Young people are important stakeholders with unique experiences and different needs. Youth Action’s submission seeks to highlight areas in the RTA where improvements can be made to better service young people in NSW. 

For young people in NSW, the situation is vastly different than for past generations. The housing context for young people today is characterised by declining homeownership rates, decreasing housing and rental affordability, a decline in the availability of social housing, and rising youth homelessness. The review of the RTA must therefore consider how regulatory frameworks can support young people to access stable and appropriate housing in a vastly changed landscape.

There are provisions in the RTA that have exacerbated housing issues for young people. First, the RTA lacks sufficient protections on excessive rent increases, which has placed young people who rent in further financial stress and at risk of homelessness. There is also ambiguity in the RTA regarding the respective rights of landlords and tenants to make repairs and alterations to rental premises, which has resulted in young people being uncertain about when and if they can enforce their rights. Third, the provisions in the RTA regarding long-term tenancies are limited and therefore do not reflect the current housing situation in NSW whereby young people are far more likely to be long-term renters (i.e. less young people moving from renting to homeownership) than past generations. Finally, the RTA allows landlords to evict without grounds, which places young people in further rental stress as they are at risk of eviction even if they are fully compliant with the original rental agreement.

Youth Action makes specific recommendations to address these issues arising in the RTA for young people in NSW. These recommendations seek to ensure that the needs of young people in NSW are met under the regulatory framework, and that this framework is adjusted for the current era of housing. 

Download Submission

January 2016: Around a quarter of young people in NSW miss breakfast on a regular basis. Missing breakfast has significant negative impacts on educational and health outcomes for young people and, alarmingly, has been linked with obesity in adolescence.

Obesity in childhood and adolescence, and failure to achieve at school, have life-long consequences not only for young people but also for our communities.  

Drivers for breakfast skipping are complex. While as many as 1 in 7 young people in NSW experience poverty and deprivation, breakfast skipping is not solely due to food insecurity or deprivation. Some young people are choosing to forgo breakfast. 

Breakfast programs both internationally and in Australia have been found to combat the health and educational impacts of breakfast skipping. While some schools and communities in NSW currently have breakfast programs, these programs are likely not available to every young person who would benefit, nor young people who are most in need. 

May 2015: The limited number of affordable housing options for young people is a significant issue in Australia’s current economic and social climate. Young people are increasingly finding it more and more difficult to locate housing that is within their budget and within geographical areas that provide easy access to their workplaces, places of education, their communities and friends. This, in turn, has a flow on effect on young peoples abilities to maintain work and study and save for future housing or other projects.

The majority of older Australians, if given the choice, would prefer to age at home, rather than move into residential facilities or centres, and often this means remaining in their family home which previously housed an entire family and now houses an individual or a couple. Many older Australians and Australians with disabilities may, at some point, have to make the decision to engage with privately paid services or services funded by the government in order to remain living in their own homes.

This policy paper will address the issues of housing that effect these two groups by proposing an alternative option for affordable housing for young people, based on an already existing international and domestic model of shared housing, known as ‘Homeshare’. 

Download Homeshare Paper

May 2015: In 2014, Youth Action and the White Ribbon Foundation surveyed over 3,000 young people across Australia on their attitudes to Domestic, Family and Teen Dating Violence. This included questions on attitudes to gender equity and how common young people felt domestic violence was in Australia society.

This research forms the largest and most comprehensive survey of Australian young people’s attitudes in 15 years.

Two reports based on this research have been developed by Dr Jesse Cale and Associate Professor Jan Breckenridge from the Gendered Violence Research Network at UNSW. 

The first of these reports details our findings broken down by Gender and Age. The second focuses on differences in response by whether young people are at School, University or not in education.

REPORT SNAPSHOT: Young People's Attitudes to Domestic, Family & Teen Dating Violence

DOWNLOAD REPORT 1: Gender, Age and the Perceived Causes, Nature and Extent of Domestic and Dating Violence in Australian Society.

DOWNLOAD REPORT 2: Gender, Education and the Perceived Causes, Nature and Extent of Domestic and Dating Violence in Australian Society.

Below are the commitments we have achieved from the Baird Government on the 9 vital youth issues in our 2015 election agenda.

Prevention & Early Intervention Services:
Commit to increase the Child, Youth and Family Support program budget by $52 million.

74 Youth Action members lobbied their local candidates, and we received support from many politicians who have since been elected to the NSW Parliament.

The Government did not commit to increasing funding for the Child, Youth and Family Support program budget.
We will continue to campaign to highlight the amazing work that youth services and youth workers do, and push for a commitment from government for an increase in funding.

Housing:
Commit to improving housing affordability for young people.
The Government has pledged to set up a $1 billion fund for social and affordable housing and $20 million for a Social Housing Community Improvement Fund. Further details on these plans are still needed, but this is a promising sign.

Because the government has not released details on this plan, Youth Action NSW will continue to campaign to hold them accountable, ensuring that the government makes a tangible impact on housing affordability. 

Domestic & Family Violence:
Respond to the findings of the Youth Action & White Ribbon Foundation’s research on youth attitudes to violence.
WIN: The Government announced a significant plan to eliminate domestic and family violence and created a new Ministerial Portfolio devoted to this issue.

In June 2015, the Government announced the inclusion of Domestic & Family Violence into the mandatory NSW 7–10 Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) syllabus. Youth Action continues to advocate for the interests of young people in the process. 

Mental Health:
Fund training for rural youth workers to enable them to identify and work with young people on Mental Health issues, and to assist them to better understanding referral pathways.
WIN: As a direct result of our campaign, the Government pledged $250,000 for youth mental health first aid training in NSW. The training will develop the skills of youth workers, particularly those in rural and regional areas, to recognise the signs and symptoms of mental health problems in young people and respond effectively.

This training will be rolled out over the next 4 months in all areas of the state, so stay tuned to announcements on how you can access this free training!

Apprenticeships and Traineeships:
Funding for the expansion of the Sydney Alliance Working Start program – which links disadvantaged young people into local apprenticeships.
The Sydney Alliance Working Start program was not funded by the NSW Government. However, the Government has recognised the crisis in youth unemployment, and has committed to give scholarships to 200,000 disadvantaged youth to undertake industry apprenticeships and traineeships. The Government has also committed to providing $25 million for 25,000 scholarships for students to take on traineeships and apprenticeships in technology-based industries.

We will continue to work with government to ensure that support is provided to apprentices and trainees, not just before they get a job, but during the first 6 months of them starting work.

Justice Reinvestment:
Fund a pilot of Justice Reinvestment in Bourke.
The Government has committed to funding a plan to develop a pilot Justice Reinvestment program in Bourke run by Just Reinvest NSW.

However, details as to the nature of this funding have not yet been forthcoming and so it is important to hold the Government to their election promise.

School Suspension:
Commit to an independent review of School Suspension and Discipline Policy and Practice within the first 100 days of forming government.
No mention was made of the school suspension by the Government during the election campaign, but Youth Action is committed to pressing for an independent review of School Suspension and Discipline Policy and Practice.

Supportive Schools:
Increase youth workers in schools through the Student Support Officer programs and through better linkages between schools and youth services.
WIN: Within its $150 million ‘Supported students, successful students’ funding package, the Coalition has devoted $51.5 million of flexible funding to respond to issues such as cyber safety or bullying. This funding is equivalent to an additional 200 Student Support Officers.

Alcohol and Other Drugs:
Develop comprehensive alcohol education programs for young people aged 15-17.
The Government has not addressed Youth Action’s recommendation that the Government develop a comprehensive alcohol education program for young people. Youth Action will continue to press the Government on this subject.

You can download the comprehensive election agenda below. 

Download Election Agenda