Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to acknowledge the Albanese Labor government's $91.7 million commitment to continue funding the Reconnect program that assists young people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. On the Central Coast, up to 8½ thousand people are homeless or marginally housed in the region. Programs like Reconnect provide support and assistance to people in these circumstances. Reconnect service provider Uniting has been offering this program to the people on the Central Coast. Through its service, people aged 16 to 25 years can access specialised homelessness support as well as assistance with finances, legal issues, family matters, health and mental health, employment, and education and training. The Central Coast Uniting team are highly knowledgeable experts in finding the most appropriate short and long-term housing and support solutions to those young people accessing or in need of this service.

The Albanese Labor government understands that funding homelessness prevention services that address contributing factors that lead to homelessness, like family breakdown, help to strengthen our communities and make them more sustainable. The federal government is also committed to building more social and affordable housing, particularly for vulnerable Australians. Our Housing Australia Future Fund will achieve this by investing billions to build 30,000 new social and affordable housing properties over a five-year period. The fund will assist women and children impacted by family and domestic violence with up to 4,000 homes.

I recently had the privilege of visiting the Uniting speciality centre in Wyong to meet with the phenomenal team who run this service on the Central Coast. I saw and heard about the outstanding work that takes place in and from this centre, and spoke with each of the team members that make it all happen. I would like to place on Hansard my appreciation and thanks to those remarkable individuals: Jade Brown, Charlie Chubb, Jodi Madigan, Kristy Warren, Brandon Pinchbeck and Breanna Ferguson. I thank the minister for their work, and for ensuring that youth homelessness and support services like Reconnect receive substantial funding to continue their vital and life-saving work.