Some of those households who have resorted to sleeping in tents set-up in backyards as a last resort include parents with young children.

Uniting Ballarat acting coordinator of housing and homelessness Adam Liversage said the situation with youth homelessness in Ballarat was a 'debacle'.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? HAVE YOUR SAY AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ARTICLE

"It is sad that we live in a country like Australia and we have so many young people in a regional town like Ballarat who are experiencing homelessness," he said.

Thirty-nine of the households on Uniting's youth priority list are singles looking for a one-bedroom property.

Twenty-six are couples or mums with children waiting to be housed in two-bedroom properties, while two families are waiting for a three-bedroom property.

Mr Liversage said 15 of the households on the priority list were currently supported to stay in crisis accommodation at hotels and motels, while others were couch-surfing, living in tents and their cars.

Some of the households have been waiting for housing support on the priority list since January, March or April, as one-bedroom properties are in particularly high demand and there is a shortage of stock.

A social housing application is lodged when a household is placed on the priority list.

Uniting staff then work to provide interim support, through phone calls checking on young people's immediate needs and making referrals to other services like drug and alcohol counselling and mental health treatment.

Each young person is allocated a youth worker from support organisations like Cafs, Berry Street, SalvoConnect and Ballarat Community Health.

The youth worker will continue to provide support while they wait for housing.

Mr Liversage said there was a lack of resources for youth support and not enough youth workers in the Central Highlands to meet the need.

The length of time a young person waits for housing also depends whether they are appropriate to be placed into a rooming house, or require an independent one-bedroom property.

"Once they have come through the justice system they are unable to share and most of our properties are two bedrooms," Mr Liversage said.

"For us it is a bit of a dilemma if you are placing a person in a property who is unable to share.

"That is probably why they have been waiting for so long because we don't have the one-bedroom stock to place more complex youth in. One-bedroom stock is most needed."

RELATED COVERAGE: Return to lockdown reduces options for people experiencing homelessness

Mr Liversage said family breakdowns, mental health issues and drug and alcohol addiction were major drivers of youth homelessness, but the most common contributing factor was a lack of family and support.

"If something goes wrong there is nothing to fall back on," he said.

"You can't afford a private rental if you are on JobSeeker. It is hard to crack into the rental market unless you have got references as well."

Mr Liversage said a federal, state and local response was needed urgently to address youth homelessness.

"We need to look at early intervention, we need to look at education, we need to look at getting into schools and educating students who are leaving the family home after year 12 or year 11," he said.

"It is a debacle. All we are doing is band-aiding the situation. We are not providing any long-term solutions.

"We should be pumping money into youth specific programs, early intervention and education to try and avoid this."

In addition to funding early intervention, Uniting has long-called for increased investment in social housing, particularly one and two-bedroom properties.

Uniting and other organisations have called for social housing projects to be a part of COVID-19 construction recovery plans.

The coronavirus pandemic has increased difficulties for people experiencing housing insecurity, with accommodation options limited during lockdown periods as caravan parks and other temporary accommodation options are closed.

Cuts to the JobSeeker payment are also expected to increase pressure on people's ability to pay rent.

If you are experiencing or at risk of homelessness, you can call the 24-hour Victorian hotline for assistance on 1800 825 955.

Contact Uniting Ballarat on 5332 1286.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? HAVE YOUR SAY BELOW

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.