Every Tasmanian child deserves secure foundations

A new report from Anglicare Tasmania describes the profound and long term impacts that homelessness and housing insecurity are having on Tasmanian children.

In 2025, people who accessed the statewide Housing Connect Front Door service included families with 4,237 dependent children. Families most often required help with housing because of a crisis such as eviction (27%), domestic and family violence (19%), inappropriate dwelling conditions, (13%), housing affordability stress (12%) and financial difficulties (11%).

Policy and Advocacy Officer with Anglicare’s Social Action and Research Centre, Rebecca Forbes, said housing insecurity affects every aspect of a child’s life and yet families experiencing homelessness are at risk of flying under the radar.

“Our Secure foundations report found that homelessness looks different for families. Many of these families are not living in shelters or other crisis accommodation, making them less visible than other groups,” she said. “Anglicare’s frontline staff are supporting families who are sleeping in cars and tents, couch-surfing in overcrowded conditions and sometimes deciding to stay with a domestic and family violence perpetrator in order to keep a roof over their children’s heads.

Being homeless or in a precarious housing situation affects children’s health, development, opportunities and relationships. It makes a huge difference when a child and their family find stable accommodation and can start to rebuild their lives.

The report calls on the Tasmanian Government to:

• ensure that families escaping domestic and family violence are prioritised for housing, even if they are not living in a shelter
• create a process that provides wrap-around support for families who need to move regions due to housing insecurity
• identify and expand opportunities for extending school-based support for children affected by housing insecurity
• extend the ‘Ticket to play’ initiative to include creative activities for eligible children; and
• continue to make public transport free for children beyond 30 June 2026.

Secure foundations also calls on the Tasmanian Government to adopt longer term measures such as increasing the stock of family-friendly social housing, and increasing the supply of crisis, transitional and long term housing for victim-survivors of domestic and family violence, including accommodation designed for families. The Australian Government is urged to increase income support payments above the poverty line.

“The pathway to a better Tasmania for everyone begins with a better start for children,” said Ms Forbes.

Report welcomed by peak bodies

“There is no more secure foundation for Tasmanian children than a safe and secure home,” said Pattie Chugg, CEO of the peak body for housing and homelessness in Tasmania, Shelter Tasmania.

“The report reinforces our call to increase the supply of social and affordable housing for women, children and families in Tasmania. With a social housing waiting list of over 5400, and women and children waiting the longest by far for homes, it is clear we urgently need more social housing including building more three- and four-bedroom properties suitable to house families and those escaping family and domestic violence. We have too many families turned away from crisis accommodation and unable to afford or find a safe and affordable home,” said Ms Chugg.

TasCOSS CEO Adrienne Picone said these were practical, evidence-based recommendations which would make a substantial difference to the lives of young Tasmanians.

“Specialist organisations that work in the family violence and child safety space see all too frequently the impact of relationship breakdowns and acute housing stress on children, and the long-term, psychological scars such experiences can carry later in life,” Ms Picone said.

“Raising the rate of income support, along with increasing access and availability of appropriate housing options for at-risk families, is critical to improving the lives of our next generation.”

Read the Secure foundations report here. 

ABC story:

Families overcrowded, sleeping in cars, fleeing violence, but not given highest priority in Tasmania – ABC News