Friday, 28 August 2026

 Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (15:41): (2765) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Housing, Building and Precincts. The action that I seek is for the minister to urgently complete the construction of the Wangaratta Education First Youth Foyer and fund new youth foyers in Bendigo and Mildura. As I near the end of my 24-year tenure in Parliament, I look back with immense pride on the Education First Youth Foyer policy, which I developed, and the delivery of the first three Education First Youth Foyers, in Broadmeadows, Glen Waverley and Shepparton. The work of the youth foyers is transformational and is good Liberal policy that helps young people build a better life by giving them a hand up rather than a handout. A study by the Brotherhood of St Laurence found that 85 per cent of foyer participants were working or engaged in further study one year after leaving the program. The proportion living independently in their own housing increased from 7 per cent at entry to 51 per cent a year after exit.

I recently had the great pleasure of visiting the Glen Waverley foyer and attending the 10-year anniversary of the Shepparton foyer, where I heard the personal success stories of young people who were at risk of homelessness and disconnecting from education until they entered the foyer program. Through the foyer they were supported to finish school, study further and find employment, and I was proud to hear of all their achievements. I was delighted to hear that many students at the Shepparton foyer had actually gone on to buy their own homes. What an incredible story – to go from being homeless to owning a home.

Stories like that are the reason it is so disappointing to see how Labor has dropped the ball on youth foyers and failed to extend the program. In February 2023 I convinced the then Minister for Housing Richard Wynne to fund two additional Education First Youth Foyers, in Wodonga and Wangaratta. The Wodonga foyer opened in May 2025 and recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, but the Wangaratta foyer, which was funded at the same time, is stuck in limbo after several delays and still has not even begun construction. Instead of transforming young lives in Wangaratta, the government has wasted 3½ years, and it is time to get on and complete the Wangaratta foyer as soon as possible.

I have repeatedly called for two more regional youth foyers, in Bendigo and Mildura. I met with Bendigo TAFE executives and heard they have identified a building suited for rapid refurbishment, and they are excited about the prospect of being an educational partner in an Education First Youth Foyer. But Labor has shown no interest in the project. The Foyer Foundation has identified Mildura as a priority site in Victoria, a city where hundreds of young people are experiencing homelessness. It is time these two projects, which are both shovel-ready, were funded by the Labor government.