'More than shelter – addressing legal and policy gaps in supporting homeless children' A progress report

In June 2018, the NSW Ombudsman drew attention to critical problems affecting the response to these children. Our focus was on the 12-15 age group because there are different responses for other age groups. Unaccompanied children under the age of 12 are considered too young to stay overnight in a refuge; some homelessness services specialise in supporting young people aged 16 and above. We recommended improvements for the 12-15 year olds in our report, More than shelter – addressing legal and policy gaps in supporting homeless children.

This report examines progress in implementing our previous recommendations, and makes further recommendations.