Youth Homelessness Matters Day 2024

The next Youth Homelessness Matters Day will be Wednesday 16 April 2025

Did you know that over 38,000 young people aged 15–24 years presented alone to a homelessness service in 2022–23? Of these young people, almost half experienced mental ill-health and over one third experienced domestic and family violence.

The majority of these young people were in need of short- or long-term accommodation and most were turned away due to a lack of capacity. These statistics only scratch the surface of issues that young people experiencing homelessness face.

Youth Homelessness Matters Day (YHMD) is a national day that was conceived in 1990 to raise awareness and public discussion about child and youth homelessness. It is held every year on the third Wednesday of April. This year, YHMD was Wednesday 17 April.

Over the years, YHMD has grown into a national celebration of young people’s resilience and an important day of advocacy for sustainable and innovative solutions to support the needs of children and young people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

Yfoundations thanks everyone across the country for your overwhelming support and advocacy for YHMD 2024. So many people wore our shirts, hosted important conversations, organised events in their communities, and posted on their socials. It's so encouraging to see so many people get behind a such an important campaign.

We are encouraged by your generosity of spirit and efforts in raising awareness about youth homelessness and ensuring the issues and realities of young people experiencing and at risk of homelessness remain high on the public agenda.

That being said, the struggle is not over. If you missed YHMD this year, don't worry – it's not too late. You can still use our YHMD2024 campaign resources to highlight the issues. We continue to advocate for children and young people because youth homelessness matters – every day!

YHMD 2025 will be a game changer and Yfoundations will be sharing developments with our members and stakeholders. Watch this space.

Our call for the development of a standalone National Child and Youth Homelessness and Housing Strategy continues and we encourage everyone to sign our petition.

You can also donate to make a difference.