Start a petition

I know what it's like to be young and homeless. Young people need affordable housing

I know what it's like to be young and homeless. Young people need affordable housing

Movement:Vote Home: let's end the housing crisis

The issue

My name is Hayley and I’ve been in and out of homelessness since I was 14 years old.

I know people often wonder about how people become homeless, or how they stay homeless for such a long time. I’m here to tell you a bit about my story.

When you’ve had such fractured relationships since childhood, it’s hard not to allow those relationships to negatively affect you as a person. Coming from really volatile environments, you get used to being treated badly and being manipulated.

I had no idea what a healthy relationship looked like for the first 20 years of my life. I had never had a healthy relationship with anybody, especially myself.

I walked around with a chip on my shoulder, I can admit that. So much shit had happened to me and I was sour. I acted out because there was so much going on inside of me.

Once you get a house and start to seem settled, you’re never settled. When you are able to actually stop being hypervigilant after dealing with a lot of trauma, that’s honestly when you start feeling everything and that’s the point where I think people need the most support. That’s the point where you can crash.

At first being in my own home was overwhelming, because it all hits you that you’re an adult and you have to take responsibility.

The main thing that motivated me to move forwards in my life was thinking, “I’m not going to let what happened to me ruin the rest of my life.” That was my driver. I am not going to be scared because of my past.

I’ve had a lot of support from my social worker and I’ve needed it.

I want people to see people for who they are, not their stereotype. I want you to know who I am now.

Proper housing means getting on with your life. We need more housing that’s affordable for people in my situation. A home gives you hope, stability, a sense of self and the chance to straighten up your life without having to move all the time.

I want our government to commit to more public and community housing in Australia. Please help by signing my petition.

Young people who become homeless really need housing they can afford, but also ongoing support so they can stay housed.

Hayley Van SummerenPetition starter

Media enquiries

62,036

The issue

My name is Hayley and I’ve been in and out of homelessness since I was 14 years old.

I know people often wonder about how people become homeless, or how they stay homeless for such a long time. I’m here to tell you a bit about my story.

When you’ve had such fractured relationships since childhood, it’s hard not to allow those relationships to negatively affect you as a person. Coming from really volatile environments, you get used to being treated badly and being manipulated.

I had no idea what a healthy relationship looked like for the first 20 years of my life. I had never had a healthy relationship with anybody, especially myself.

I walked around with a chip on my shoulder, I can admit that. So much shit had happened to me and I was sour. I acted out because there was so much going on inside of me.

Once you get a house and start to seem settled, you’re never settled. When you are able to actually stop being hypervigilant after dealing with a lot of trauma, that’s honestly when you start feeling everything and that’s the point where I think people need the most support. That’s the point where you can crash.

At first being in my own home was overwhelming, because it all hits you that you’re an adult and you have to take responsibility.

The main thing that motivated me to move forwards in my life was thinking, “I’m not going to let what happened to me ruin the rest of my life.” That was my driver. I am not going to be scared because of my past.

I’ve had a lot of support from my social worker and I’ve needed it.

I want people to see people for who they are, not their stereotype. I want you to know who I am now.

Proper housing means getting on with your life. We need more housing that’s affordable for people in my situation. A home gives you hope, stability, a sense of self and the chance to straighten up your life without having to move all the time.

I want our government to commit to more public and community housing in Australia. Please help by signing my petition.

Young people who become homeless really need housing they can afford, but also ongoing support so they can stay housed.

Hayley Van SummerenPetition starter

Media enquiries

Support now

62,036

The Decision Makers

Senator Richard Di Natale

Senator Richard Di Natale,

Leader of the Australian Greens

Responded

“Hi Everyone - I am proud of the work done by Senator Scott Ludlam and the Australian Greens to eliminate homelessness and address the housing crisis facing Australia. As petition signatories have noted, homelessness in Australia is a national tragedy. Every night, right here in one of the richest nations in the world, 105,000 Australians don’t have a place to call home. That’s one in every two hundred people. More than a quarter are children under 18. Seventy percent of young people who end up homeless are fleeing domestic violence or family breakdown. Instead of tackling this national disgrace head-on, the Abbott - Turnbull Government cut millions of dollars in funding for homelessness and housing affordability programs in their first budget. They’ve refused to adopt any target or commitment to reduce homelessness, abolished every affordable housing program in their first budget, and even axed peak bodies like Homelessness Australia and National Shelter. We have pledged to end homelessness and eliminate the massive public housing waiting lists within a decade, through the steps outlined in our roadmap. Commencing immediately, we have also pledged to doubling federal funding for homelessness services and to signing a new ten year National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness by investing an extra $827 million a year to provide ongoing security for this vital sector. We know that homelessness, affordable housing and our housing crisis demand a comprehensive response, and that’s what we’re providing. We will also ensure that power bills are reduced, that the rights of renters are strengthened, and that distortive, unfair tax breaks are removed from our system Read our full plan at http://greens.org.au/housing Our National Housing Roadmap We have an achievable plan that will ensure housing is within reach for everyone. • Reforming Negative Gearing – our proposal that negative gearing for future investments would end, with existing investments grandfathered. This would stop billions of dollars each year being used to unfairly subsidise property investors at the expense of housing affordability. Our plan to phase out Negative gearing would increase the revenue available to address the housing needs of all Australians, and would generate over $42 billion over ten years. • Capital Gains Tax Discount Reform - the current 50% discount on income earnt from investments should be removed to stop the structural unfairness in the tax system and benefits the wealthiest Australians. It would generate as much as $74 billion over the next decade, or $127 billion when combined with negative gearing reform. • Funding Homelessness Services - we are committed to doubling the federal funding for homelessness services at a cost of $507 million a year, and to signing a new ten year National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (at a cost of $320 million a year), to provide ongoing security for this vital sector. • Renters' Rights - this package will deliver a better deal for renters by introducing a new national minimum standard for private rental tenancies and a funding package to help landlords meet those standards. It was developed in response to our Rental Heath Survey. • Increase Commonwealth Rent Assistance by 30% - This would equate to an increase of between $13-25 a week. • Renew Public and Community Housing - deliver clean power, lower electricity bills, and homes that are cheaper to run and more comfortable to live in, through a nationwide upgrade program for Australia's 421,000 public and community housing dwellings. • Our Public and Community Housing Supply Boost will end homelessness and cut housing waiting lists within a decade. • The Affordable Housing Finance Corporation is the Greens proposal for an innovative funding mechanism that will boost the supply of affordable housing. A vote for the Greens is a vote for the only party with the courage and vision to implement measures to ensure everyone who needs a home can afford one. Read our full plan at http://greens.org.au/housing Thanks to you all - Richard Di Natale & Scott Ludlam”

Senator Richard Di Natale

Senator Richard Di Natale

Leader of the Australian Greens

Responded

“Hi Everyone - I am proud of the work done by Senator Scott Ludlam and the Australian Greens to eliminate homelessness and address the housing crisis facing Australia. As petition signatories have noted, homelessness in Australia is a national tragedy. Every night, right here in one of the richest nations in the world, 105,000 Australians don’t have a place to call home. That’s one in every two hundred people. More than a quarter are children under 18. Seventy percent of young people who end up homeless are fleeing domestic violence or family breakdown. Instead of tackling this national disgrace head-on, the Abbott - Turnbull Government cut millions of dollars in funding for homelessness and housing affordability programs in their first budget. They’ve refused to adopt any target or commitment to reduce homelessness, abolished every affordable housing program in their first budget, and even axed peak bodies like Homelessness Australia and National Shelter. We have pledged to end homelessness and eliminate the massive public housing waiting lists within a decade, through the steps outlined in our roadmap. Commencing immediately, we have also pledged to doubling federal funding for homelessness services and to signing a new ten year National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness by investing an extra $827 million a year to provide ongoing security for this vital sector. We know that homelessness, affordable housing and our housing crisis demand a comprehensive response, and that’s what we’re providing. We will also ensure that power bills are reduced, that the rights of renters are strengthened, and that distortive, unfair tax breaks are removed from our system Read our full plan at http://greens.org.au/housing Our National Housing Roadmap We have an achievable plan that will ensure housing is within reach for everyone. • Reforming Negative Gearing – our proposal that negative gearing for future investments would end, with existing investments grandfathered. This would stop billions of dollars each year being used to unfairly subsidise property investors at the expense of housing affordability. Our plan to phase out Negative gearing would increase the revenue available to address the housing needs of all Australians, and would generate over $42 billion over ten years. • Capital Gains Tax Discount Reform - the current 50% discount on income earnt from investments should be removed to stop the structural unfairness in the tax system and benefits the wealthiest Australians. It would generate as much as $74 billion over the next decade, or $127 billion when combined with negative gearing reform. • Funding Homelessness Services - we are committed to doubling the federal funding for homelessness services at a cost of $507 million a year, and to signing a new ten year National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (at a cost of $320 million a year), to provide ongoing security for this vital sector. • Renters' Rights - this package will deliver a better deal for renters by introducing a new national minimum standard for private rental tenancies and a funding package to help landlords meet those standards. It was developed in response to our Rental Heath Survey. • Increase Commonwealth Rent Assistance by 30% - This would equate to an increase of between $13-25 a week. • Renew Public and Community Housing - deliver clean power, lower electricity bills, and homes that are cheaper to run and more comfortable to live in, through a nationwide upgrade program for Australia's 421,000 public and community housing dwellings. • Our Public and Community Housing Supply Boost will end homelessness and cut housing waiting lists within a decade. • The Affordable Housing Finance Corporation is the Greens proposal for an innovative funding mechanism that will boost the supply of affordable housing. A vote for the Greens is a vote for the only party with the courage and vision to implement measures to ensure everyone who needs a home can afford one. Read our full plan at http://greens.org.au/housing Thanks to you all - Richard Di Natale & Scott Ludlam”

Bill Shorten

Shadow Minister for the NDIS and Government Services

Bill Shorten

Shadow Minister for the NDIS and Government Services

Bill Shorten,

Opposition Leader

Bill Shorten

Opposition Leader

Richard Di Natale,

Leader of the Australian Greens

Richard Di Natale

Leader of the Australian Greens

Petition Updates

Share this petition

Petition created on 20 June 2016