NSW teens kicked out of care at 18: ‘Congratulations. You’re independent. Good luck.’

Sammy Birchall was just 17 when she fled the foster home she had lived in for eight years. Across her experience in the out-of-home care system, she alleges she experienced sexual and physical violence and only limited attempts were made to get her new permanent housing. 

Birchall, now 22, believes the NSW government might have done more to help her if she wasn’t just months from being kicked out of its out-of-home care system. So she spent more than a year bouncing from house to house — sleeping on friends’ couches, sometimes for a week and sometimes for months. Some of the houses were dangerous; she says she was subjected to domestic violence. Once she ended up in a women’s shelter as she waited for social housing.

Birchall wasn’t working at the time, but even if she had been, renting a place was near impossible. It’s a sellers’ market and real estate agents demand pay stubs, proof of bills, rental history and guarantors. 

NSW is the only state where kids exit the out-of-home care system at 18. Earlier this month, Queensland raised the age to 21, the latest state to do so.

NSW also has the highest number of children in care. There are about 16,000 in out-of-home services in the state, of which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 10 times more prevalent than non-Indigenous children. There are 46,000 children in out-of-home care across the country, mostly due to a care and protection order. More than two-thirds stay in out-of-home care for more than two years. 

As inflation and Australia’s rental crisis worsens, there are grave concerns about what will happen to those turfed out of care — and what’s being done to stop them from becoming homeless. 

‘You’re independent. Good luck’

Nationally as of 2020, one-third of young people experienced homelessness within the first year of leaving care — and 37% of these people were homeless for six months or more. 

Dr Joseph McDowall, executive director of research at CREATE Foundation, a national consumer body for the voices of children and young people with a care experience, said a major problem was the lack of support young people received leading up to their 18th birthday. 

“What we should be doing is making this transition to adulthood from the care system more gradual, because just to be dumped at 18 is like falling off a cliff,” he said. “Many of them would get a letter from the minister to say, ‘Congratulations. You are now out of the care system. You’re independent. Good luck.’” 

In Victoria, homelessness among people aged 12-25 increased by almost 10% between 2009 and 2019, making up 39% of those who counted themselves as homeless on the 2016 census night. 

Extending flexible care means kids are more likely to finish education, and are less likely to commit crime, go to jail, develop drug and alcohol dependencies, or require public housing, a Deloitte report found. Just 57% of children in the care system finish Year 12, compared with 90% of the general population — largely due to absences.

“Eighteen-year-olds … don’t have a very good understanding of the world,” McDowall said. “Whereas after you’ve had another few years of navigating the system you’ve got a better understanding of what’s going on and you’re in a better position to support yourself and to be able to analyse the issues that you are going to run into.” 

He said that in the UK children are appointed a personal adviser who acts as a mentor until they’re 25 — someone they can use as an emergency contact, call with questions and advice, and rely on. 

Those placed with conscientious foster parents can succeed, he said, provided they had been put on a rental market waiting list early and understood how Centrelink and other administrative offices worked.

But as McDowall’s research shows, a fraction of children felt they had received this kind of care: more than a quarter said they hadn’t spoken to anyone about preparing to leave the care system, and just 36% had a transition plan — although the plan didn’t cover things like getting a driver’s licence or where to go for emotional support. Just 19% said they had been given enough notice to prepare to leave their carer’s home. 

Fight over vacant properties

Sydney’s rental vacancy rate remains below 2%, and across 2020 and 2021, Australia’s house prices growth was the seventh fastest in the world. That drives up competition among renters, Kate Colvin from Everybody’s Home campaign said.

“It’s particularly competitive at the cheaper end of the rental market, meaning young people are often competing for the same properties,” she said. “Often real estate agents will then elect to not give the property to the young person because they’ve got other candidates that they would consider more preferable, like older people with higher incomes.”

Even between two candidates receiving Centrelink payments, older Australians receive a higher income. While some kids can stay with their carers longer than planned, or get help with rental applications or paying a bond, for many coming from out-of-home care that doesn’t happen. Many end up couch-surfing or living in “marginal” accommodation on the brink of homelessness.

“That’s not new, but it’s affecting more and more young people because of a tight rental market,” Colvin said. “The tragedy of out-of-home care is that often when young people age out of statutory care, they are sent to homeless services.”

The difference three years can make

For Birchall, an extra three years’ support would have changed her life.

She’s in a secure place now — she has two children, works part-time and lives with her partner in a flat. They’ve just been approved for a townhouse near Penrith in western Sydney and she’s excited to move in. But for a long time, life was a struggle.

Along with housing, much of it came down to navigating bureaucracy. Birchall didn’t know how to access documents such as her birth certificate, and when her glasses broke she had no idea how to get financial help to get them fixed. 

She said that after turning 18, the only help she got other than unemployment benefits was a lump sum to help buy a fridge.

“I wasn’t ready to get out there and be independent and do adult things even though I was an adult,” she said.

The NSW Department of Communities and Justice told Crikey the government was strengthening the quality of support it provided to young people leaving care. Young people who demonstrate “a need for ongoing support” can receive personalised plans and financial assistance up to age 25, it said.

If you need help call the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.