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The NSW Government has agreed to hold a summit to tackle youth homelessness and mental health and will consider implementing recommendations from a NSW Liberal/Nationals forum held last week, Shadow Minister for Youth, Mike Baird said today.
The Minister for Youth, Mr Graham West, told a Parliamentary Estimates Hearing he would be “delighted” to meet with a delegation from the Coalition’s youth forum and committed the Government would hold a further summit to bring about necessary change.
“The problems of youth homelessness and mental health are above politics. If we are to make a meaningful difference, we need a bipartisan approach,” Mr Baird said.
“It was reassuring to hear the Minister agree to expand on the recommendations made at the Coalition’s summit, where we had 40 experts give their insights on what needs to be done.
“We called the summit to act on the momentum generated by the National Inquiry into Youth Homelessness released in April, which basically found the problem has only got worse in the 20 years since the last national inquiry.”
Following are some of the recommendations made at the Coalition’s summit, held last Friday in Bondi Junction and attended by specialists in the youth, housing and mental health sectors:
- Counsellors needed in every NSW school for early intervention;
- Co-locate services to improve access for youth who do not go from place to place to seek help;
- Case workers must work across government departments to help youth navigate the system;
- Tax incentives for landlords to provide cheap accommodation;
- Mentoring programs for young people by young people;
- Long-term recurrent programs rather than project-based funding of limited duration.
“The Minister for Youth himself acknowledged a multidisciplinary approach is needed. Young people should not have to tell their story to five government departments to get help.
“We now call on the Premier to attend the summit and provide his full support. Every night in NSW 11,000 children are homeless – it is every Member of Parliament’s responsibility to change that.”
MEDIA: Lisa Harrington - 0406 726 880
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