Children and young people receiving support alone
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Key findings and insights Client characteristics Client needs and main reason for assistance Housing situation and outcomesKey findings and insights
In 2024–25:
- SHS agencies assisted around 40,500 children and young people receiving support alone, the fourth largest SHS client group, making up around 14% of all SHS clients.
- Among children and young clients who received support alone, over half (57% or 6,200) of those aged 12–17 and two-thirds (69% or 20,400) of those aged 18–24 needed accommodation-related assistance.
- The rate of children and young people receiving support alone was 91 per 10,000 people, the highest among all SHS client groups.
This chapter presents the characteristics, service use patterns and housing outcomes of children and young people receiving support alone. This group is defined as SHS clients aged 12–24 who presented to a specialist homelessness agency alone at the start of their first support period (see data quality and reporting notes).
In 2024–25, children and young people receiving support alone accounted for 1 in 7 (14%) SHS clients. Children and young people are at a greater risk of homelessness due to a combination of factors including difficult family relationships, family and domestic violence, trauma, discrimination, mental health issues and the challenges of exiting custodial and out-of-home care arrangements (Flatau et al. 2022, Kalemba et al 2022). For those receiving support alone, these challenges are compounded by a lack of social support and difficulties navigating support services (Morgan et al. 2025).
For more information on children and young people receiving support alone from SHS agencies, and the policy landscape and government response, please see Children and young Clients.
Children and young people receiving support alone are defined as SHS clients aged 12–24 who, in the reporting period, presented to a specialist homelessness agency by themselves at the start of their first support period. The age of the client is defined as the client’s age on the start date of their first support period in the reporting period. For those who were existing clients at the beginning of the reporting period, the client’s age on the first day of the reporting period is used.
It is important to note that the definition – based on clients presenting alone at the start of their first reporting period – underestimates the number of children and young people who received support alone at any point during the financial year.
The three reasons why children and young people may be recorded as receiving support alone are: 1) they presented to the agency alone, without a parent or guardian; 2) they were accompanied by a parent or guardian, but only the child or young person received the service; and 3) they were not properly linked to the parent’s record.
Children and young people are excluded from the definition if:
- they presented with family members or unrelated individuals who stopped receiving support before them
- they presented to an SHS agency in a group with other children or young people (for example, siblings)
- they were a young parent presenting with their child or children.
Note: Previous SHS annual reports defined ‘young people presenting alone’ as those aged 15–24. Because this report uses a broader age range (12–24), comparisons with earlier reports should be made with caution.
For SHS reporting on unaccompanied children (individuals or groups aged 12-17 presenting without adults), see Unaccompanied children receiving specialist homelessness services.
Client characteristics
In 2024–25, children and young people receiving support alone were most likely to be female (65%); aged 18–24 years (73%); and not enrolled in any form of education or training (72%).
Figure YOUNG.1: Key demographics, children and young people receiving support alone, 2024–25
Dashboard shows the number of children and young people receiveing support by sex, by states and territories, by homelessness, by vulnerabilities, by Indigenous status, and by education and enrolment status.
To compare selected characteristics and experiences across the SHS client groups presented in this report, please refer to the Client group comparison visualisations.
Service use patterns
In 2024–25 (Supplementary table CLIENTS.48):
- The average number of support periods per child and young person receiving support alone was 1.8 support periods per client.
- The length of support provided to children and young people receiving support alone was a median of 66 days; higher than the median for all SHS clients (58 days in 2024–25).
- The median number of nights accommodated per child and young person receiving support alone was a median of 57 nights. This is higher than the median of all SHS clients (34 nights in 2024–25).
New or returning clients
In 2024–25, almost two-fifths (39% or 16,000) of children and young clients receiving support alone were new to SHS services. Around three-fifths (61%) of clients were returning clients, lower than all SHS returning clients (63% for all SHS clients) (Supplementary table CLIENTS.2, Supplementary table CLIENTS.42).
More young people aged 18–21 (46%) were returning clients than those aged 12–15 (6.4%), 16–17 (15%) and 22–24 (33%).
Education and enrolment status
In 2024–25, (Supplementary table YOUNG.7):
- Around 3 in 4 (72% or 26,900) children and young people receiving support alone were not enrolled any form of formal education or training.
- Around 28% (or 10,600) of children and young people receiving support alone were enrolled in some form of education, with 6,500 in secondary school and 2,200 in vocational education and training.
Client needs and main reason for assistance
In 2024–25, the most common main reason children aged 12–17 sought assistance was relationship/family breakdown, while young people aged 18–24 most commonly identified housing crisis (for example, eviction).
Among clients who received support alone, over half (57% or 6,200) of those aged 12–17 and two-thirds (69% or 20,400) of those aged 18–24 needed accommodation-related assistance.
Main reasons for seeking assistance
The main reason children and young people receiving support alone sought assistance was similar for those experiencing homelessness compared with those presenting to services at risk of homelessness.
In 2024–25, among the 21,700 children and young people receiving support alone who were experiencing homelessness (Supplementary table YOUNG.6):
- Housing crisis (for example, eviction) was the most common main reason for seeking assistance among young people aged 18–21 (2,300 clients, representing 22% of all 18–21-year-olds in the cohort) and those aged 22–24 (1,400 clients, representing 23% of all 22–24-year-olds).
- Relationship or family breakdown was the most common main reason for seeking assistance provided by children aged 12–15 (270 clients, representing 22% of all 12–15-year-olds in the cohort) and those aged 16–17 (880 clients, representing 22% of all 16–17-year-olds in the cohort).
In 2024–25, among the 16,400 children and young people receiving support alone who were at risk of homelessness (Supplementary table YOUNG.6):
- Family and domestic violence was the most common reason for seeking assistance among young people aged 22–24 (1,100 clients, representing 22% of all 22–24-year-olds in the cohort).
- Housing crisis was the most common main reason among young people aged 18–21 (1,100 clients or 16% of all 18–21-year-olds in the cohort).
- Relationship or family breakdown was the most common main reason among children aged 12–15 (400 clients or 21% of all 12–15-year-olds in the cohort) and those aged 16–17 (540 clients or 19% of all 16–17-year-olds in the cohort).
Services needed and provided
Similar to all SHS clients in 2024–25, the majority of children and young people receiving support alone needed general services that were provided by SHS agencies including advice/information, advocacy/liaison on behalf of the client and other basic assistance.
In 2024–25, children and young people receiving support alone –both aged 12–17 and 18–24– requested certain services more commonly than all SHS clients, including (Supplementary tables YOUNG.2, CLIENTS.24):
- mental health services (13%–15%, compared with 7.7%)
- living skills/personal development (29%–43%, compared with 15%)
- employment assistance (17%–21%, compared with 5.3%)
- educational assistance (14%–33%, compared with 7.7%)
- transport (24%–33%, compared with 16%)
- assistance to obtain/maintain government allowance (14%–20%, compared with 5.6%)
- training assistance (10–16%, compared with 3.2%)
- family/relationship assistance (17%–30%, compared with 11.4%).
Figure YOUNG.2: Children and young people receiving support alone, by age, by services needed and provided, 2024–25
Stacked bar chart shows assistance with living skills or personal development was the most common service needed for children and young people aged 12–17 receiving support alone and the most provided.
Housing situation and outcomes
Children and young people receiving support alone were more likely to be couch surfing, compared with any other SHS client group.
This section highlights changes in clients’ housing situation between the start and end of support. That is, the place they were living before and after receiving assistance from a SHS agency. The data includes only clients who ceased receiving SHS support during the financial year and were no longer receiving ongoing support from a SHS agency.
Specifically, it compares clients’ housing at the start of their first support period in 2024–25 with the end of their last support period in 2024–25. It does not capture changes that occurred during a support period, nor changes throughout the year between different support periods.
In 2024–25, children and young people receiving support alone were more likely than other clients to be couch surfing at the start of support (27% compared with 15% of all clients) and at end of support (21% compared with 12% of all clients) (Supplementary tables YOUNG.3 and CLIENTS.31).
In 2024–25, of the 14,500 children and young people receiving support alone who were known to be experiencing homelessness at the start of support (Supplementary table YOUNG.3):
- around 9,300 clients were homeless when support ended, with 4,600 of these couch surfing.
- around 2,700 clients were in private housing and 1,200 clients were in public/community housing when support ended.
In 2024–25, of the 11,500 children and young clients receiving support alone who were known to be at risk of homelessness at the start of support (Supplementary table YOUNG.3):
- most clients maintained their housing situation when support ended; around 6,600 maintained private housing and around 1,800 clients maintained public/community housing.
- 1,400 clients were experiencing homelessness when support ended, with 630 of these couch surfing.
Figure YOUNG.3: Housing situation for children and young people receiving support alone with closed support, 2024–25
Sankey diagram shows the most common housing situation at the start and end of support for young clients presenting alone was private or other housing.
Flatau P, Lester L, Seivwright A, Teal R, Dobrovic J, Vallesi S, Hartley C and Callis Z (2022) ‘Ending Homelessness in Australia: An evidence and policy deep dive’, Centre for Social Impact, Crawley, accessed 15 September 2025
Kalemba J, Kos A, Greenland N, Plummer J, Brennan N, Freeburn T, Nguyen T and Christie R (2022) ‘Without a home: First-time youth homelessness in the COVID-19 period’, Mission Australia, accessed 15 September 2025
Morgan R, Dobson D, Moore S, Browne V and Simondson K (2025) ‘Home in Mind: Improving mental health support for young people experiencing homelessness’, Orygen and Melbourne City Mission, Melbourne, accessed 15 September 2025.