The Youth Homelessness Advisory Council (YHAC) is a WA youth-led advocacy group for young people with lived experience of homelessness. The group was originally established in 2019 with a group of 10 young people who led the creation of the WA Alliance to End Homelessness’s Youth Homelessness Action Plan that aimed to increase sector and community capacity to respond to the needs of young people at risk of homelessness. In 2022, the Sisters of St John of God Ministries provided 3 years of funding to re-establish and further the work of the YHAC.
In order to deliver services and provide solutions that best meet the needs of young people engaged with the homelessness sector, we need to listen to their voices. Young people’s voices don’t currently have a platform in the housing and homelessness services sector, but YHAC strives to create this advocacy pathway. The team of young people advocate for improved policy, service systems, programs and outcomes in areas that impact young people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. This is achieved through the range of different activities and projects that YHAC engages in.
YHAC aims to create positive change within the youth homelessness sector through their advocacy efforts and greater relationships between government decision makers, service providers, the general community and young people themselves. Through their involvement with the program, young people gain valuable skills, build their capacity as both leaders and advocates, and get to use their lived experience to create positive change and improve services and systems for young people experiencing homelessness.