Upstream Australia

Upstream Australia

Non-profit Organizations

youth homelessness prevention and early intervention

About us

Upstream Australia is a ‘change agency’ designed to support place-based collective impact system reform for how vulnerable young people and their families are supported, and a ‘collective impact backbone support platform’ to support the development and operations of the ‘Community of Schools and Services’ (COSS) collectives implementing the COSS Model and local system reform. Upstream Australia also undertakes research and development (R&D) on social and educational outcomes and disadvantage, with particular focus on youth homelessness and early school leaving, and housing and homelessness system reform. Our Vision and Mission We are dedicated to improving the social and educational outcomes for young people, including the prevention and early intervention of youth homelessness, improving the educational and employment outcomes and transitions for young people, whilst also advocating for better housing options, including social and affordable housing and post-homelessness rapid rehousing, for young people. The vision of Upstream Australia is for widespread systemic reform to the current crisis-oriented system which is not working for vulnerable young people and their families. Our vision is to reform and reorganise the current system of crisis-orientated services and schools and other educational programs around a place-based collective impact perspective to significantly improve the social and educational outcomes for disadvantaged and vulnerable young people.

Industry
Non-profit Organizations
Company size
11-50 employees
Type
Nonprofit

Locations

Employees at Upstream Australia

Updates

  • View organization page for Upstream Australia, graphic

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    THE NATIONAL HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS PLAN: THINKING ABOUT THE RESPONSE TO ROUGH SLEEPING When members of the general public think of ‘homelessness’ they tend to think of someone sleeping rough in the inner city or in a park. Small private charities are set up to feed, provide laundry services or swags so that people sleeping rough are more comfortable. Lots of money is raised from the general public for such charitable purposes. Most Australians are compassionate and do not think it’s OK for people to be homeless. The call to end homelessness resonates with that compassion. But focusing policy on helping people sleeping rough into some form of supported housing as ‘ending homelessness’ is not the same as a genuine strategy to end the problem of homelessness in Australia. A serious homelessness strategy needs to be place-based prevention, crisis support and accommodation, and post-homelessness supported housing, but including a more effective, more systematic and better coordinated response to the small cohort of individuals sleeping rough in the CBDs. #endyouthhomelessness #youthhomelessness #earlyintervention #prevention #strategy #homelessnessstrategy #NHHA #roughsleeping

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    THINKING ABOUT A STRATEGY TO END HOMELESSNESS The term ‘strategy’ is used loosely. However, in policy terms difficult social problems do not become a priority for action and redress unless there is a well=thought through strategy for progressively ameliorating the problem. Homelessness in Australia has never had a national strategy. Although there have been a plethora of good initiatives and the development of crisis services in all jurisdictions  through the Supported Accommodation and Assistance Program [SAAP] and its successor the Specialist Homelessness Services [SHS] program, prevention has not been developed and the access to supported housing options as people leave homeless services is in many places very inadequate, particularly for young people. The article from the October 2022 issue of Parity sketches out what a homelessness strategy needs to look like in order to begin to reduce homelessness. #endyouthhomelessness #youthhomelessness #earlyintervention #prevention #strategy #homelessnessstrategy #NHHA

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    A 10-YEAR HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY - THE NATIONAL HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS PLAN [NHHP] The Australian Government is developing a National Housing and Homelessness Plan in collaboration with state and territory governments due before the end of 2024. The Plan is described as a 10-year strategy. The forthcoming strategy is an opportunity for Australia to prioritise prevention and early intervention of youth homelessness as recommended by two parliamentary inquires and the Productivity Commission review. In particular, this is strategically important for vulnerable young people who have their lives ahead of them. Effective prevention of youth homelessness will have flow through effects on other cohorts. Such reform will begin the reduce homelessness in Australia. Australia has several effective early intervention models for at-risk young people that are ready to be scaled up: ·      The COSS Model (Upstream Australia); ·      Ruby’s Reunification (Uniting Communities SA); and ·      Home Stretch programs. If resourced and implemented adequately, programs like these would greatly reduce the flow of young people into homelessness. Let’s not waste an historic opportunity for reforms to reduce and ultimately youth homelessness in Australia. #endyouthhomelessness #COSSModel #youthhomelessness #earlyintervention #prevention #strategy #homelessnessstrategy #NHHA

  • View organization page for Upstream Australia, graphic

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    YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS The disadvantage experienced by many young Australians is not one issue but grounded in locational and family poverty, family conflicts and breakdowns, youth homelessness, early school leaving and mental health issues that for too many can lead to long-term even life long disadvantage. The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health has published a comprehensive report focused on young people aged 12-25 years (see the Executive Summary). A Guardian article, 'Alarming' surge in mental ill health amongst young people in face of 'unprecedented' challenges, experts warn' published last Wednesday highlighted some of the key messages from the Lancet report. One such message was that 'while mental ill-health accounts for at least 45% of the overall burden of disease in people aged 10-24, only 2% of global health budgets are devoted to mental healthcare'. The report points to damaging structural megatrends, however, family issues and a lack of family supports are a key set of factors contributing to a range of inter-connected youth issues, including mental ill-health. Every community needs access to youth mental health support and services. In Australia, the headspace network is a notable achievement but headspace is not available nor accessible for every community. The Upstream network of schools and services advocates reform of the status quo of siloed targeted programs to a place-based collective impact community approach. Young Australians, particularly the most vulnerable young people, need and deserve more effective support than they are currently getting. #endyouthhomelessness #COSSModel #youthhomelessness #earlyintervention #prevention #strategy #mentalhealth #youthmentalhealth

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    REDESIGN OF A HOMELESSNESS SERVICE SYSTEM FOR YOUNG PEOPLE: A PLACE‑BASED AGENDA FOR SYSTEM CHANGE An AHURI research inquiry in 2019-20 focused on the redesign of the homelessness service system. David MacKenzie and Tammy Hand led a team that researched the redesign brief for young people experiencing homelessness. An article published in the April 2020 issue of the CHP’s Parity journal summarises the findings of the AHURI report and the main arguments for change. A key point is that for young people a place-based approach is needed. #endyouthhomelessness #COSSModel #youthhomelessness #earlyintervention #prevention #strategy #homelessnessstrategy #NHHA

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    THE ALBURY PROJECT – A COMMUNITY OF SCHOOLS AND SERVICES MODEL OF EARLY INTERVENTION   The Albury Project was funded by the NSW Government in 2019 to trial the COSS Model. The Albury community has embraced the COSS Model and with funding under the NSW Homelessness Strategy and as part of the Universal Screening & Support [USS] pilot project, the Albury Project Collective has begun to achieve significant outcomes.

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    BEYOND THE RECONNECT PROGRAM? The Reconnect Program was launched in 1997 after a Prime Ministerial Taskforce report on an early intervention response to youth homelessness. This was a world first policy and program innovation, but 27 years on, nothing has been done to expand the program or develop the model. A DSS review of the Reconnect Program has just been completed and there are expectations that the Commonwealth Government will take the lead on the prevention of homelessness as part of the forthcoming National Housing and Homelessness Plan. The article Reconnect: Rethinking Early Intervention 1.0 from the October 2021 issue of the CHP’s Parity magazine undertakes an appreciative critique of Reconnect and suggests what needs to be done to go beyond Reconnect. #endyouthhomelessness #youthhomelessness #earlyintervention #prevention

  • View organization page for Upstream Australia, graphic

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    DEVELOPING A STRATEGY TO END HOMELESSNESS: WHY HAS PREVENTION BEEN SO DIFFICULT? The next National Housing and Homelessness Agreement is drawing closer. There will be an accompanying 10-year strategy. What do we need to do to start really making a difference? In an article in the October 2022 issue of the CHP’s Parity magazine we asked Why has prevention been so difficult? After a review of the current Agreement, the Productivity Commission’s August 2022 report, In Need of Repair, issued a strongly expressed critique that it ‘does not foster collaboration between governments or hold government to account … [being] … a funding contract not a blueprint for reform’. The new agreement and the proposed National Housing and Homelessness Plan are proposed as ‘an opportunity for governments to work together on a national reform agenda’. The report argues that, in terms of homelessness, prevention and early intervention are key elements of the reform agenda. #endhomelessness #prevention #earlyintervention #socialhousing #housing #homelessnessweek

  • View organization page for Upstream Australia, graphic

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    IS CHILD AND YOUTH HOMELESSNESS DESTINED TO BE A FOREVER PROBLEM? Earlier this year, Upstream Australia’s David MacKenzie and Tammy Hand wrote an article for the CHP’s magazine, Parity, titled, ‘Is child and youth homelessness destined to be a forever problem?’ A key takeaway from the article is below: “For youth homelessness, a genuinely strategic approach means rethinking the system in a way that actually puts young people and their needs at the centre by refocusing planning and funding and services in an ecosystem around young people that extends beyond the SHS and includes schools and other specialist services and community-based stakeholders. The overarching reform is to shift from the service delivery status-quo of siloed targeted programs to a place-based ‘collective impact’ local integrated support system of prevention and early intervention, crisis accommodation, and post homelessness supportive housing combined with support for young people to remain engaged in education and/or deal with mental health issues as well as other adverse extant issues.” #endhomelessness #prevention #earlyintervention #socialhousing #housing #homelessnessweek

  • View organization page for Upstream Australia, graphic

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    MARA FLED HER VIOLENT HOME AT 16 AND COUCH-SURFED. SHE WASN'T CONSIDERED HOMELESS The SBS Feed [https://lnkd.in/gycGvF6h] has published an article on youth homelessness, highlighting the case of Mara who was couch-surfing because of violence in her family home. According to the ABS, 28,000 young people aged 12-24 are estimated to be homeless or one quarter of the homeless population.   Assoc. Prof. David MacKenzie from Upstream Australia and UNSW was quoted on the importance of early intervention. He spoke about the important role of screening to prevent young people from becoming homeless.   “Part of that is identifying family abuse before a child is forced to flee, potentially through student surveys. We screen for diseases, we screen for cervical cancer, we have screening processes for health problems. Well, we are using a screening process to try and identify young people at risk of homelessness”.

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