JumpStarting young Tasmanians into a Home Base.
Young Tasmanians are struggling more than ever to have a home. Rental affordability and availability drive the youth homelessness crisis. The average house price has gone from $350,000 to $730,000 in the last 10 years.
Finding affordable share houses while working casually or studying has become difficult. The average weekly rent this year is $470 per week, but the minimum wage is only $812.60 per week. Affordable options are no longer available.
Our CEO, Dianne Underwood says ‘We’re committed to ending youth homelessness in Tasmania, but it will need us to be bold, to embrace new models and to work together in different ways.’
So in July 2023, in a Tasmanian first, we started a new pilot program, JumpStart, to tackle these issues.
The program is a way for young people aged up to 25 years to live independently while working, studying, or learning a trade. To be eligible for the program, a young person must be paying a minimum of 25% of their income towards rent. Anything under 25% of their income is deemed affordable.
Research shows it takes an extra $50 a week to help someone get a safe, secure home where they can thrive. Our JumpStart program offers up to $50 per week subsidy. This is to cover the 'gap' based on their earnings and rent.
The amount of subsidy the young person receives will decrease as their wage increases. The goal is for the young person to exit the program being able to pay their way independently in the open market.
The program aims to give young people the opportunity to build a private rental history and the skills to live independently.
Since this Home Base initiative was implemented in 2023, we’ve supported 24 young people in total, with 15 young people currently receiving a subsidy.
We’ve seen some great outcomes from our young JumpStart participants. One young woman couldn’t afford her traineeship but getting a subsidy has enabled her to find the funds to continue and she’s about to graduate in Hairdressing.
We’ve had one young person come out of foster care. Before going on JumpStart, they didn’t see a way to start their journey to independence but with this support they’ve also been able to move out and complete a traineeship.
We have also been able to support a young dad to live in a home with his son for the first time.
These are the kinds of outcomes we can see with the young people we’re supporting and it’s incredible to follow them as they reach independence.
We’ve also been fortunate enough to have help from two local Tasmanian businesses who have been on board since the start. They’ve helped us with rental subsidies for young people and extra things like financial literacy support for some of the young people we’re working with. We also currently head lease two properties that we are renting as share houses, and they gave us extra support for food and furniture to set these up ready to move into. We couldn’t do it without them!