Labor’s Josh Burns takes on new role and new push to address youth homelessness

Labor MP Josh Burns has plans to fix youth homelessness.

The federal government’s new envoy for social housing and homelessness says the housing system has for too long been stacked against young people, particularly those experiencing homelessness.

Burns says Labor is committed to earmarking a portion of the government’s planned 55,000 new social housing properties specifically for young people.

In his first interview as envoy, Burns says the government needs to allocate some of its grants to build social and affordable homes to fix the problem.

“One of the big groups that’s missing out, just by the way in which the housing system is designed, is young people,” he says.

“Unless we allocate within government programs for youth specific homes, structurally, they just miss out.”

Representing the inner-Melbourne seat of Macnamara since 2019, the 38-year-old is one of the younger MPs in parliament. To get here, he’s faced a difficult three-way contest for his seat, fending off both the Liberals and Greens.

The grandson of European Jewish immigrants, Burns has experienced a barrage of antisemitism since the outbreak of war in Gaza. He has been a key voice for the Jewish community in government on the issue of antisemitism that dominated headlines in the lead-up to the election.

“We need to be able to have difficult conversations, but respectfully and mindfully,” he says.

Formerly an adviser to Victorian premier Daniel Andrews before being preselected in Macnamara, Burns has worked his way up the Labor ladder. Before politics, Burns says he worked as a teacher’s aide and a factory hand.

Burns says he’s “passionate” about his new role, handed to him by Anthony Albanese, with its focus on stopping young people facing homelessness falling through the cracks.

“One of the big things I’ve been tasked to do is help paint a really clear picture of what’s happening at the moment, what some of the barriers are, and where we can have the biggest impact, along with the states and territories and the sector.”

The ‘youth housing penalty’

One of the most significant problems is the cost of housing for a young person on youth allowance – the welfare payment for those under the age of 22.

Community housing providers charge rent at about 25% of assessable income (the youth allowance or jobseeker rate) plus the amount of commonwealth rent assistance (CRA) that person is eligible for.

Because youth allowance is lower than the jobseeker payment, providers can lose up to 30% of rent from a young tenant versus an older one on jobseeker.

Shorna Moore, from Melbourne City Mission (MCM), calls this the “youth housing penalty”. She says it acts as a disincentive for social housing providers to accommodate someone on youth allowance, because they receive less money.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/25/labor-josh-burns-takes-on-new-role-and-new-push-to-address-youth-homelessness#img-1