Melbourne Youth get Reconnected

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Larry Anthony, today officially launched the Melbourne Gateway Reconnect Program for the benefit of young people at risk of homelessness.

“The Reconnect program helps young people remain engaged with their families, stay in education, training or employment and to be more involved in community life.

“Many young people migrate to the city centre of Melbourne and it is critical that we have programs such as the Gateway Reconnect Service to keep them connected to family, education and employment.

“The Government provides ongoing funding of $20 million per year for almost 100 Reconnect services across Australia. Reconnect services across the country have helped more than 6,000 young people since 1999.

“Melbourne Citymission will auspice this service. They have a proven track record in helping the community for more than 150 years and have strong links to a wide range of youth services.

“The Gateway Reconnect Service is located with other specialist services including Centrelink, health, legal, education and training, casework, support and accommodation services. This will give young people at risk of homelessness comprehensive support to help them get back on track.

“I recently announced Simple Service Solutions, which is an approach to make services for young people easier to find and understand. This is a good example of improving access to services so young people can get the help they need.

“The Coalition Government is committed to preventing youth homelessness and will continue to work with young people and their families, as well as the wider community, to effectively address this problem,” Mr Anthony said.