Multiple Disruptions: Circumstances and Experiences of Young People Living with Homelessness and Unemployment

Abstract

More than a decade after the Burdekin Inquiry into Youth Homelessness (HREOC 1989), our knowledge of the circumstances of young homeless Australians and how best to assist them remains sketchy. The 2007 National Youth Commission Inquiry into Youth Homelessness, known informally as Burdekin 2, and the Rudd Labor government’s forthcoming White Paper seek to advance understanding, and inform future policy and practice. One contemporary Australian research project that can inform policy and practice is the YP4 trial of joined-up services for young people experiencing both homelessness and unemployment. In this article we draw on YP4 research to shed light on the circumstances and experiences of these young people. We propose that understanding the circumstances of young people experiencing both unemployment and homelessness is about more than acknowledging structural disadvantage or factors associated with