A 12-YEAR-old boy is one of more than 20 homeless youths who are sleeping in stairwells and on the streets of Southport, sparking warnings from community workers that they are easy prey for recruiters from the Black Power street gang.

Vicky Rose, co-ordinator for the Nerang Neighbourhood Centre, confirmed her youth worker was dealing with more than 20 homeless kids based in Southport and all from New Zealand.

“The youngest has just turned 12 and he’s not going to school,” she said.

DAD’S FURY AT BUS COMPANY DENIALS

CANDYMAN FACING OMBUDSMAN PROBE

“We know that his parents live on the Gold Coast but they are no longer together. His dad has been homeless, on and off, for years.”

Two other youth agencies have also expressed alarm at the young age of the city’s homeless, saying they had either had dealings with this 12-year-old or other 12-year-olds, who were sleeping on the streets.

Mrs Rose, a tireless community worker, warned that the Southport street kids would attract the attention of tough street gangs.

“Black Power is here from New Zealand and these kids will be prime targets for them. That is only going to be more bad news for these kids and for the Gold Coast,” she said.

media_camera Fears are held the Black Power gang will target vulnerable street kids.

Tamsyn Hall, youth and young parent co-ordinator at Youth Health and Education Service (YHES) at Southport, echoed Mrs Rose’s concerns about the New Zealand street gang.

“These kids are very vulnerable to being recruited into gangs like Black Power. They don’t have much else on offer for them,” she said.

Mrs Rose said some of the street kids lived in a stairwell in a building at Southport.

“They haven’t been discovered or turfed out yet and they won’t tell us exactly where they live,” she said.

“They survive by selling drugs and prostitution. Last year, a 14-year-old was prostituting herself to top up her phone credit.

“It’s happening right here in our city and it’s a tragic situation. Another boy involved in that group has completed only one full year of school — Year 1 — and he’s 15 now.”

Mrs Rose said the Southport youth were homeless for a variety of complex reasons.

media_camera Sometimes it’s safer on the streets than returning home.

“For some of them, it’s safer to be on the streets than at home,” she said.

“Some of these kids have only one parent on the Coast and some have parents who live in other states. Others come from good homes and they don’t want to live by the rules.

“They sleep wherever it’s the safest place for them and they are part of a hierarchy or a gang. They watch each other’s backs.”

Mrs Rose said homeless youth was one of the sad outcomes of New Zealand families who had hit hard times on the Gold Coast and were unable to claim any government benefits.

Meanwhile, Ms Hall confirmed YHES House had been helping some of the teenagers who were living on the streets at Southport.

“They come to us from time to time to get assistance. We offer them food, showers and clothing,” she said.

“We’re seeing a high number of New Zealand youths and a lot of them are homeless or couch surfing. They are living very transient lifestyles at a very young age. I have also seen homeless kids as young as 12.

“At the beginning of the year, 15 or 16 New Zealand kids were using our service or claiming they were in some way homeless,” she said.

“I have heard through a Nerang youth worker that they are still hanging around the streets of Southport.”

Ms Hall said her staff was working with the Nerang Neighbourhood Centre to try and support the homeless youth and work out what was happening in their lives.

“There are difficulties for them when they become estranged from their families and they don’t feel it’s safe to return home,” Ms Hall said.

“Their visa status means they have very limited options and even if they were born in Australia, they are not eligible for Centrelink benefits.”

She said once these youngsters ­became disengaged from school, they formed a new “family” on the streets.

“These are seen as gangs and that is what they are,” she said.

“We know that several of them, who are attending our service, were in the youth justice system and in youth detention.

“Unfortunately, when they come out, they find nothing has changed in their family situations, so they often return to life on the street and back in to the youth justice system.”

Ms Hall said part of the solution lay in educating New Zealanders ­before they emigrated.

“A lot of them don’t understand that there is no income support for them in Australia,” she said.

“Another option is to help relocate them to New Zealand where they will be eligible for welfare benefits.”

Ms Hall said services like hers were concerned about the physical and emotional health of the homeless kids, like those at Southport.

“Their developmental and mental health is not being assessed appropriately because these young people are falling through the gaps,” she warned.

“As a result, other factors, such as mental illness, could be affecting their behaviour because they are not being screened or monitored.”

Ms Hall said her staff notified the Department of Child Safety of anyone under the age of 18, who they ­believed was at risk.

“However, the department’s hands are tied if the child is 15 or 16 and is able to clearly say that he or she doesn’t want to live in the family home, which renders them with limited options for safe accommodation,” she said.

Wendy Coe, Rosies Gold Coast co-ordinator, said she was also concerned about critical shortage of beds for homeless youth.

“There is simply not enough ­accommodation for young people on the Gold Coast,” she said.

“It’s a real crisis.”

***

media_camera Despite the despair, there is also hope.

A SOFTLY-spoken, 17-year-old who was homeless for more than two years, has spoken of her spiral into drug abuse, despair and prostitution.

The young woman, known as Charlotte, said she was only 14 years old when her mother moved out with her boyfriend, leaving her daughter and son to fend for themselves.

“I last saw her about a year ago and I haven’t spoken to her since,” she said.

“After she left, I was sleeping in different places. Technically, I was staying at a share house but things were very bad there.

“There were five men living in that house and they would try and break in to my room and rape me. Some nights, they actually did.

“Then, I would go on to the street and prostitute myself so that I had a bed to sleep in. I was 16.

“Some nights, I would get drunk and walk around the streets.

“I think I used every single drug but the main one was marijuana. I don’t remember how I started. From the age of 14, it (marijuana) became an everyday thing.”

Charlotte said her situation changed when a friend’s mother decided they should contact Centrelink.

“They got me to Youth and Family Services and we called up different refuges but they were all full. We tried a caravan park but the owners didn’t want me there because Centrelink was my only income,” she said.

Last year, Gold Coast Project for Homeless Youth at Southport found a bed for her.

“I’ve lived here since then and I’m happy. I’ve made two good friends and we’re looking for a place to share,” she said.

“I’ve been able to save money, so I can afford a car and I am going for my P plates. I don’t use drugs anymore and I’ve been studying.”

Charlotte has completed a Certificate 3 in children’s services and a Certificate 4 in mental health.

“I am looking for a job in childcare because I want to go to university next year to study psychology,” she said.

***

THE Department of Justice and the Attorney-General’s Gold Coast Youth Justice Service Centre has brought key stakeholders together to address the escalating social issue of struggling New Zealand youth.

The meeting was held on the Gold Coast and a spokesman for Youth Justice Queensland said it was attended by representatives from 10 groups and departments.

She said these included Youth Justice Qld, Department of Child Safety and Disability Services, Centrelink, Youth At Risk Initiative, Youth At Risk Alliance (Wesley Mission), Nerang Neighbourhood Centre, Youth Health Education Service (YHES House), Partners in Recovery, Probation and Parole, and the Department of Education and Training.

“The meeting focused on agencies across the Gold Coast working together to assist young people in the area who have come into contact with the youth justice system and who identify as being New Zealand- born,” the spokesman said.

“The number of young people that fit in to this category fluctuates but comprises a key client group that the Gold Coast centre services.”

She said the Gold Coast centre covered the area from Ormeau in the north, west to Mount Tamborine and south to the New South Wales border.

“Stakeholders discussed strengths within the community and the challenges associated with supporting this particular group of young people, including their access to services,” the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Jess Prior of Gold Coast Youth Services, a community-based organisation which works with young, homeless people, said the age of the 12-year-old living on the streets of Southport did not surprise her.

“That is not a shock at all,” she said.

“Every night on the Gold Coast, there 756 young people who experience homelessness and there are only seven crisis beds in the city available for youth aged between 16 and 19.

“Lawson House is the only refuge on the Gold Coast specifically for young people and it’s always full.”

Miss Prior said her organisation had used emergency relief funds to send a number of young New Zealanders home.

“We get a lot of young people from New Zealand. Often one or two parents return to New Zealand and leave a child here,” she said.

“That has happened a lot with our service and the young people are left homeless here without any family support.”

***

SOUTHPORT MP Rob Molhoek said he had not seen the Southport street kids but he would like to know more about them.

media_camera Rob Molhoek.

“In my electorate, one in four people are on some sort of welfare benefits, so it’s incredibly high but there isn’t the welfare net there used to be for New Zealanders who have moved to Australia,” he said.

“Historically, we have had a tsunami of kiwis coming here and there has been a shift in federal policy because of that.

“It’s an interesting challenge and I am not convinced that the proportion of kiwi kids that are socially disadvantaged is higher than Australian kids.”

Mr Molhoek said it was important to look at the big picture of struggling youth on the Gold Coast.

“The broader issue is how we can better look after young people when their families are not taking responsibility to support them. That’s the big challenge,” he said.

“Education and feeling safe are so important for these young people. This situation where there are so many marginalised youth in our city is appalling.”

Join us on Facebook