Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
[From the Australian Human Rights Commission website]
In 1989, the Commission conducted a National Inquiry into Homeless Children. It revealed that approximately 25,000 children and young people in Australia were homeless at that time, with many more at risk of homelessness or surviving in grossly inadequate housing. The inquiry demonstrated the link between homelessness and other problems such as unemployment, sexual abuse and exposure to violence. It also highlighted the lack of properly resourced and co-ordinated support services for homeless young people.
Known as the 'Burdekin Report', the findings of the national inquiry stimulated funding for a range of youth accommodation facilities in Western Australia. The report also made it clear to policy makers that there was a link between young people who had been in out of home care and homelessness.
Sources used to compile this entry: Department for Community Development, State of Western Australia, 'Submission No. 55 Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care - Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, July 2003, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/submissions/sublist. In their submission to the Australian Senate's Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care (p.32), the Department for Community Development acknowledged the importance of the Burdekin Report in highlighting the link between youth homelessness and out of home care..
Prepared by: Debra Rosser
Created: 31 July 2012, Last modified: 16 August 2017
Last updated: 17 October 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/wa/biogs/WE00705b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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