This paper reviews the dual system of housing support in Australia available to young people exiting the Specialist Homelessness Service (SHS) system and finds that although young people aged 15-24 years on their own are 15-18 percent of the total population of men, woman and children assisted by SHS services each year, they comprise only 2.8 percent of the main tenants of social housing, and that a majority (6 out of 10) of the young people, who access private rental with Commonwealth Rental Assistance (CRA), experience housing stress.

The paper calls for:

• a review of the levels of income support for young people
• a review of national policy on income and housing support for young people
• a re-imagination of social housing for young people as an accessible long-term but transitional tenure option available to disadvantaged and homeless young people, and
• investment in social housing developed specifically for young people as a specific option within social housing and provided by youth-specific social housing providers.