Anglicare Southern Queensland Housing and Homelessness Lunch

The 26th Governor of Queensland, the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC CVO KC; Archbishop of Brisbane, the Most Reverend Jeremy Greaves KCSJ; Archbishop Emeritus, the Most Reverend Dr Phillip Aspinall AC; Mayor of Logan City Council, Councillor Jon Raven; Lady Mayoress, Mrs Nina Schrinner; Anglicare Southern Queensland Chair, Mr Gary Brady and CEO, Ms Sue Cooke; Anglicare staff and supporters; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen.

I, too, begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to all First Nations people here today.

My thanks to Anglicare Southern Queensland for the invitation to attend this, the first Anglicare Housing and Homelessness Lunch.

The wide range of services provided by your organisation continue to have an enormous impact on the lives of so many in our State.

Given the recent, welcome focus on homelessness in our communities — and particularly youth homelessness — your efforts in this area are timely and your contributions crucial.

The number of people experiencing homelessness Australia-wide is undeniably too high. In a country such as ours, to allow one person — let alone a vulnerable youth — to go without a safe place to sleep, nutritious food and caring human contact is simply unacceptable.

Here in Queensland, nearly 22,000 young people experience homelessness every year, and this demands both our attention and our urgent action.

Anglicare Southern Queensland is among those answering the call, including with its Youth Homeless Project — a 13-million-dollar build aimed at providing essential support and refuge for vulnerable youths in Logan.

Thirty per cent of people experiencing homelessness in the Logan region are aged between 12 and 24.

The Youth Homeless Project offers a new housing model designed to provide young people with their own clean, warm, safe space to call home.

It also offers them hope — hope that one day, despite their desperate early circumstances, they will be able to live without fear and enjoy similar opportunities to those who had more fortunate upbringings.

Here today, we can add our voices to the conversation about youth homelessness – and importantly to listen to those with lived experience of homelessness.

I commend Anglicare on its commitment to putting a roof over the heads of young people who find themselves without one, for whatever reason beyond their control.

I thank them for showing young people that the community has not turned its back on them.

And I encourage you all here today to pledge your support and resources to this deserving project so we can ensure that every young Queenslander has access to safe and stable accommodation.

Thank you.