August 3rd, 2026Cycle of despair: snapshot reveals young and homeless are shunted between hospitals and the street

More than half the young Victorians accessing homelessness services in Victoria have ended up in a hospital emergency department during a mental health crisis, and almost three in five have self-harmed, had suicidal thoughts, or attempted suicide, according to new data released today by Melbourne City Mission (MCM). 

The findings show a health system now doing a job it was never built for, treating young people in crisis because Victoria still doesn’t have the dedicated housing that could stop them cycling straight back onto the street.

MCM’s Victorian Youth Homelessness Snapshot 2026 captures the experiences of 209 young people aged 15 to 24 who were accessing homelessness services on a single day, 1 April 2026, across Greater Melbourne and Latrobe/Gippsland.

Key findings:

• In Greater Melbourne, half of all young people accessing homelessness services had attended an emergency department for mental health concerns at least once, and 17 per cent had done so four or more times. In Latrobe/Gippsland, 1 in 6 had attended at least once.
• 3 in 5 young people in Greater Melbourne, and almost half in Latrobe/Gippsland, reported self-harm, suicidal ideation, or a suicide attempt.
• 5 in 6 young people in Greater Melbourne grew up experiencing family violence, and two-thirds of those were already known to child protection. In Latrobe/Gippsland, three-quarters grew up experiencing family violence.
• More than half of young people in both regions have been homeless for two years or more, with 26 per cent in Greater Melbourne homeless for four years or more.
• Two-thirds of young people in Greater Melbourne, and 3 in 5 in Latrobe/Gippsland, are not engaged in study or work.

MCM CEO Paul Wappett said the data showed young people were being repeatedly discharged from hospital back into homelessness, with nowhere safe to recover.

“Every young person in this snapshot has a story that starts with trauma and ends up in an emergency department, because there is nowhere else for them to go. Police, paramedics and hospital staff are working in a broken system and none of them can give a young person the home they need. That’s not a job any of them signed up for, and it’s not a job they should have to do.”

MCM and Orygen are calling on whoever forms Victoria’s next government to commit to a dedicated, funded supported housing model for young people. This would be the youth equivalent of a program already promised, and only partly delivered, for adults.

Orygen executive director, Professor Pat McGorry, said the findings reinforced the case for secure, supported housing as a mental health intervention in its own right.

“You cannot recover from a mental health crisis while you are sleeping rough or moving between crisis beds. Housing has to be part of youth mental health care, not an afterthought for when a young person has recovered. The Royal Commission made a promise to address this and so far the Victorian Government has failed to deliver.”