I was just 14 when I first became homeless, the now 29-year-old told nine.com.au. For me, living without a home meant being on the street and relying heavily on the kindness of strangers who eventually became like the friends and family I never had. Being so young, and not even at working age, made it incredibly terrifying as I also had no income to find housing â navigating a fully-fledged adult life at 14 is just not doable.
One-in-six young people in Australia aged 15-19 have experienced homelessness, 25 per cent of whom are based in NSW, the 2020 Mission Australia Staying at Home Report found.