00:00Lydia has been experiencing housing insecurity since she was kicked out of home in August last year.
00:07After moving through several homeless shelters in her home state of Western Australia,
00:12she came to Tasmania for a fresh start. She's only 17.
00:16Mara House had free spots so I came here and life's just generally been better.
00:22She is one of seven girls living at Mara House in Hobart.
00:26A youth homeless shelter for young women aged 13 to 20 run by social enterprise Colony 47.
00:32The number of young people who are experiencing homelessness is disproportionately high in Hobart and across the state and it's rising.
00:42Last year there were more than 1700 instances of children and young people aged between 8 and 17
00:49presenting without a parent or guardian to specialist homelessness services in Tasmania
00:54and service providers are concerned the age of those needing support is getting younger.
00:59We've had an increase of young people aged 12 accessing with us
01:07due to the family unit experiencing homelessness.
01:12A new report released by Mission Australia backs the experiences of Colony 47
01:18finding 10% of Tasmanian young people surveyed aged between 15 and 19 have experienced homelessness within the last 12 months.
01:27The report also revealed more than half of those young people suffered poor mental health.
01:33While Colony 47 provides support across multiple programs and two youth shelters in Hobart, they often can't meet demand.
01:41My best friend might have to move because we're at capacity to the younger version of Mara.
01:47There definitely needs to be much more.
01:51In housing and school ways, in every way there needs to be a bit of an upgrade.
01:58Collaborative and clear and combined service and services would really benefit those that are experiencing homelessness.
02:11Tasmanian Housing Minister Felix Ellis says the government spends $8 million a year on short-term crisis and transitional accommodation for young people
02:20and takes an integrated approach to supporting them.
02:24A critical issue facing one of Tasmania's most vulnerable demographics.
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