Young Australians worry over youth crime and housing costs

A survey of thousands of teenagers has exposed high anxiety over the cost of housing and youth crime – echoing the angst of adults.

Children have told Kids Helpline they are fearful of domestic violence, and some have nowhere safe to live. Picture: istock

Youth crime, domestic violence and the cost of living have emerged as key concerns in a Kids Helpline survey of 3000 young Australians.

The survey of 12 to 25-year-olds shows that young Australians share many of the concerns of older people, with 85 per cent rating domestic and sexual violence as an important issue. Youth crime was cited as a serious concern by two-thirds of respondents, who also felt governments must do more to ensure safety in schools and universities.

The Kids Helpline hotline is run by Yourtown, whose chief executive, Tracy Adams, said teenagers and young school-leavers were worried about personal safety and rising costs.

She said young people were ­attuned to the “horrific impacts’’ of family violence.

“In the last week or so we’ve had five women killed, so we’ve got young people growing up in homes where they’re unsafe – there needs to be more done,’’ she said. “We have to see an increase in crisis support and accommodation. People aren’t leaving unsafe homes because they don’t have anywhere else to go, so they stay there and the impact on children is real.’’

Kids Helpline actioned 115 “safety interventions’’ for children last year to find a room in emergency accommodation or homeless shelters. A decade ago, the number was 47.

Ms Adams called on politicians to look at the family violence crisis through the eyes of children.

“What happens if their mother doesn’t want to leave the home, but they’re not safe?’’ she said. “Where do they go? That’s very, very hard for them.

“Young people share with us that they are couch surfing … for reasons related to things like family violence.’’

Family violence is one of the top issues of concern for Australian teenagers and school leavers.

Ms Adams said more children were relying on Kids Helpline for counselling, due to the high cost and lengthy waiting lists to see a psychologist or psychiatrist.

“Often that’s as a result of extensive wait lists, but for some regional and remote communities, there isn’t anybody else,’’ she said.

Bullying is a worsening problem, with Ms Adams warning that Kids Helpline was having to ­organise more crisis interventions – usually an ambulance – for distraught children as young as 12.

“We’ve seen 12-year-olds with suicidal thoughts as a result of bullying,’’ she said. “They just can’t find any way out of it. They feel they just cannot escape the bullying because it’s online and face-to-face.’’

Two out of three young people surveyed cited youth crime as a problem, with one telling Kids Helpline that “there’s lots of violent young people causing issues for our community’’.

Another said “they need to stop releasing criminals on bail’’.

Young Australians fear youth crime, but want more prevention and better rehabilitation.

But other young people called for better rehabilitation programs for young criminals, as well as ­action to solve the causes of crime and poverty.

The rising cost of living – ­especially housing costs – was another cause for alarm among young people, with many telling Kids Helpline they feared they would never afford to move out of home and rent, let alone buy, their own home.

Many young Australians fear they will never afford to move out of the family home and find their own place to live.

Kids Helpline enacted 4632 crisis and safety interventions last year, when counsellors had to call police, ambulance, domestic violence services and homeless shelters to provide immediate assistance to children and young people at risk of significant harm.

Four out of 10 interventions related to a suicide attempt, with three out of 10 relating to child abuse and 10 per cent involving the escalation of mental illness.

In its latest annual report, Kids Helpline states that some young people planning to end their lives had called the hotline for support to stay safe.

“These young people often tell our counsellors, ‘I don’t want to die. I just don’t want to hurt anymore’,’’ the annual report states.

“These resilient young people are often motivated to seek help by their reasons to live, which may include people they care about, and their hopes and dreams for the future.’’

In its new survey, Kids Helpline asked teenagers and young Australians to write a message to politicians.

“I would like to tell them that the mental health of our generation is crumbling,’’ one wrote.

“Many of us experience bullying in our life and not to mention the ongoing inflation and climate crisis.

“We’re most likely never going to afford a house, or even a family.”

A university student said their student allowance is not enough to cover rent, let alone food and medical bills.

The Kids Helpline survey, Your Voice 2025, is open until May 6, through Yourtown’s website.

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800, www.kidshelpline.com.au

Lifeline 13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au