‘Will get worse’: Child and teen homelessness skyrockets at Ipswich

An alarming number of homeless children and teenagers are in desperate need of a safe place to sleep as a housing crisis south of Brisbane city shows no signs of wavering.

Ipswich’s most vulnerable community members are bearing the brunt of southeast Queensland’s ongoing housing crisis, leaving an arming number of young people without a place to call home.

According to Queensland’s peak social service body, Queensland Council of Social Service, more than half of Ipswich residents (54.7 per cent) seeking refuge are children and teenagers.

A QCOSS spokeswoman said that number was higher in Ipswich than anywhere else in Queensland.

“[Our figures] show that almost 2,000 people visited specialist homelessness services in the Ipswich City Council area over just one year,” she said

“The waiting time for Ipswich residents on the social housing register has more than doubled in five years from 11 months in 2017, to about two years in 2022.”

Ipswich is Queensland’s fastest growing region and essential services are struggling to keep up. Picture: Rob Williams

St Vincent de Paul Society Ipswich president Ann Romeo said the region’s housing crisis was greatly exasperated by the recent floods.

“A lot of people at the moment are homeless because where they were renting is uninhabitable, and there is hardly any rental accommodation for them [so] they are living in tents, caravan parks, [or] camping in the park – wherever they can,” Mrs Romeo said.

“A lot of families are doing it tough. The cost of living is increasing – the cost of food, the cost of transport, the cost of fuel – everything is coming in on top of people.”

Mrs Romeo said the rise in cost of living left many struggling to pay their rent, let alone food and everyday necessities.

“We’ve been working very hard with them to ensure they are supported.

“It’s affecting a broad spectrum of people. And I think it is going to get worse as interest rates go up.”

Mrs Romeo said the increase of women fleeing domestic violence situations, many of which were single parents, was also putting pressure on the local housing crisis.

“When you have more than 50,000 people on the waiting list for social housing, you can see what a significant need we have and the pressure that people are under,” Mrs Romeo said.

QCOSS chief executive Aimee McVeigh. Picture David Clark

QCOSS CEO Aimee McVeigh said she was extremely proud of Ipswich’s frontline social workers resilience and dedication during a difficult time.

“It is vital that the Queensland Government continues to build more social housing in the Ipswich area to keep up with the increase in demand,” she said.

“Every Queenslander deserves to have a safe and secure roof over their head, especially children and teenagers, who are disproportionately in need of homelessness support in the Ipswich region, compared to elsewhere in Queensland.”