SPECIAL EPISODE Beyond Youth Homelessness - Real Estate, Matt

In this special Youth Homelessness Matters Day edition of the Beyond Youth Homelessness Podcast, host Matt sits down with local real estate agent and Project Youth board member Matt to explore the housing crisis from a different angle.

From navigating the competitive rental market to confronting the reality that four in five young people are turned away from housing support, this conversation unpacks the gap between the private housing sector and youth homelessness services. Together, they reflect on how awareness becomes action—and the role real estate professionals, landlords, and the broader business community can play in being part of the solution.

This episode highlights the power of education, connection, and using your sphere of influence—whether through advocacy, industry collaboration, or opening doors to housing opportunities.

Thank you for listening and for joining us as we continue working toward a future where youth homelessness does not exist.

Make a pledge through the BEAR Project HERE 

Donate to the work of Project Youth HERE

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to the Beyond Youth Homelessness Podcast, a platform dedicated to sharing the voices, stories, and solutions that are shaping a future where youth homelessness no longer exists. This episode is a special edition for Youth Homelessness Matters Day, a national day of action that calls on us to raise awareness, amplify lived experience, and take meaningful steps towards ending youth homelessness. Today's episode was recorded live at Project Youth in the Sutherland Shire, where we brought together community leaders, sector partners, and young people to explore one critical question. What role does our community play in ending youth homelessness, and what do we need to do differently to achieve it? At Project Youth, we support thousands of young people each year across prevention, housing, and employment pathways. But the reality is stark. Nearly four in five young people seeking housing support are turned away due to limited resources. This is more than a housing crisis. This is a social justice issue. Because every young person deserves access to safe, secure housing, and right now, too many are being left behind. In this series, you'll hear from leaders across government, housing, and funding sectors as we unpack the reality, the responsibility, and the action needed to create change. This conversation is part of our young people advocating change initiative, ensuring that lived experience is not only heard, but is actively shaping the solutions. Let's get into the episode. Well, hello and welcome to the Beyond Youth Homelessness Podcast. This is a special edition episode as we participate in Youth Homelessness Matters Day for 2026. And so we are focusing on the call to move from awareness of youth homelessness into action. And so today I have a very special guest, real estate guru man himself, Matt. Welcome to the podcast. Great to have you here. Thank you, Matt. Great to be here. Yeah, can't wait to hear your reflections. As someone who uh works actively within the housing sector, it's very different to the type of housing sector that I work in, but I guess we are two parts of a bigger puzzle. And so different perspectives is always somewhere that we can learn. Obviously, as everyone knows, we're in a bit of a housing crisis at the moment. I'm a rental must a renter myself. As a real estate agent in the local area, can you give us any hot tips on uh renting and how to get a rental in this place?

SPEAKER_00 2:55

It is always a tricky thing, and I have a great deal of empathy for people looking, I really do. I think it helps to smile and to be nice to the person who's uh running the open house. Um the only other thing I would say, I guess, practically is that you know having your ducks in a row and having an application filled in um and making it easy. I guess, you know, in if you want to improve anything in life, you want to reduce friction. Yeah. And the more friction you can reduce, the the better your chances are. But I certainly have a great deal of empathy for uh people that are looking and yeah, it is it's it's it's certainly very, very tricky. And yeah, hopefully I can bridge, be a part of a a bridge um for that trickiness going into the future.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Yeah, beautiful. Well, it's an I can smile. Uh so I'll definitely be doing that. I have been known to write a letter introducing my family. I've got three kids. Love it. And so we do a little welcome, welcome to the to the fam. I think that's genius. Yeah, well, there you go. The little cover letter for my real estate applications that ever seen. There it is. I guess that's removing the friction. It is removing the friction. Well, Matt, we've got a few questions to ask. Um, a big part of Youth Homelessness Matters Day is yeah, stepping into conversations that really matter, um, getting different perspectives, hearing about different experiences as we seek to unify in our um response to youth homelessness in our community. So really excited to hear what you've got to share with us today, mate. I've got my questions. So if you're ready, we're gonna dive straight in. Let's do it. So, Matt, a big part of uh my job in working for an organization like Project Youth is looking at data and statistics about, you know, the young people that we seek to support. And sometimes that information can be really um uplifting and rewarding, and sometimes it can be pretty scary. Um, one of the statistics that we have as an organization is that one in sorry, four in five young people are turned away from housing support in our community. When you hear that kind of statistic, what does that mean for you?

SPEAKER_00 5:14

I think like most people, Matt, that blows my mind. Um, particularly for you know a part of the world like the Sutherland Shore and the St. George area, as an example where, you know, clearly we're not the the the absolute most wealthy part, but there is an enormous amount of wealth. And to think that that is happening. Um, I think since joining the Project Youth Board um in December of last year, I, along with the people that I've since spoken to, and I've spoken with a lot of my colleagues and friends since, are quite shocked by that number. And that you know, that the number I think is in in in and around 900 uh young people that are turned away. Yeah. Um that's an enormous amount of um, you know, cost um to humanity just by not being able to support those young people in their most vulnerable time.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

Can you I guess as someone who I guess what I'm hearing in what you're saying is that there was a time maybe where that reality wasn't really something that you were aware of, and then obviously you've stepped into a volunteer role that has kind of opened your eyes to this reality. What was that process like? What were your perspectives of youth homelessness prior to that?

SPEAKER_00 6:29

I think the real there's a couple of really key ones that I've got out of it. And it's been enlightening. You know, I have I'm fortunate enough to work with two young people who are members of our board. Yeah. Um obviously I've met you and and a number of other people um in those workshops that we did. Yeah. Um, and what has been quite stark to me is um first of all, what homelessness is. So I was not aware my my thought process around homelessness was sleeping graph. Yeah. Um, and although that is still an issue, it's still a part of the picture. It's still a part of the picture. Um, the you know, the couch surfing um was something that I didn't consider homelessness until I sort of became part of Project Youth. Um, and then the real enlightenment for me was one of the podcasts that you did with Tash was the fact that it is impossible. So, as a person who didn't have an understanding and doesn't have the in-depth exposure that you have, yeah. Um, from the sidelines, you have a lot of good intention and a lot of goodwill in terms of trying to, you know, impart any knowledge that you possibly could to help assisting young people. But what I've come to realize is that is that is a pointless task until such time as people have the security of home. And you know, and and all your brain is operating on is where am I going to be tomorrow? Survival survival instinct. And Tash articulated that really well in your podcast. And I would encourage anybody that hasn't heard that one to listen to it because it's a great insight for somebody like me who has a lot of good intentions, and there'd be a lot of people, if they're listening to this podcast, my assumption is they've got great intentions that you can't actually affect change until somebody knows, and until Tash got that three-month stint in one place that she could actually take a breath and breathe. And that was so insightful for me, Matt. I learned a great deal about that. So they're probably the two things that I have learned that have had the biggest impact on me since I've um, you know, had some involvement in Project Youth.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Yeah, absolutely. I think you've hit the nail on the head for us. Like we we talk about a housing first model, which is the mentality that um for a for for anyone, particularly a young person, to address any of the barriers in their life that are causing distress or trauma to them, um, they need to have a safe house to live in first. Totally. You can't expect a young person to work on their grade so that they get that really good mark or get that part-time job after school so that they can, you know, pay for this, that, and the other, or even like get themselves to that counseling session so that they can work on their mental health unless they've got a safe bed to sleep in, a roof over their head, somewhere that they can feel safe and secure. And and I guess for me, just as you've been sharing that, I'm like, well, that means uh four out of every five young people who ask for help aren't able to address the other barriers in their life because they haven't been able to receive that safe housing, which is uh a scary, uh an incredibly sad reality.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

Absolutely, and a and a real missed opportunity for us as a community because I'm a firm believer in um you know everybody uh getting their opportunity to be the best version of themselves. Um to have the success. And for me, the definition definition of success, Matt, is uh the peace of mind of that that you've know you've done your best. Yeah. And you know, people can't have that until they've had the support and they've had a safe harbour of an evening to be able to retreat to, yeah, where they can gather their thoughts and feel, as you say, mentally safe. Um and and then be, you know, learn and grow and develop and do all of the the the things that we're supposed to do. And so, yeah, I I it's a real stark reminder to the community that it's unacceptable and that we really need to do something about it. And if we don't, uh, apart from the human side, we will pay the price as a community as well. And and by that I mean um, you know, we will there will be great people that don't get to express their greatness in this community and make us a better version of ourselves. And and also there will be other social implications as well. So I think most people listening to this podcast will be doing so leading with their heart. But um, if you are uh, you know, for the people that aren't that way inclined, I think there's also an economic and a and a real um, you know, humanitarian or the the advancement of human beings um in mind as well. As an implication. As an implication, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Yeah. Um, which I think is actually a great segue into question number two. So let's get into it. Awesome. Um, so Matt, as I said earlier, um the whole premise of Youth Homelessness Matters Day is to move from awareness to action. Um, and I think what we were talking about in the previous question was very much trying to build that awareness of the experience of homelessness. And question two very much moves us into that um space of action. So can you reflect for us? Um, what role does do you as a as a real estate agent um in this community, uh, what role do you have to play in ending youth homelessness? And what needs to change uh to allow that to happen?

SPEAKER_00 12:01

I think I'll start with the second question first. What needs to change is, and what I'm hoping to affect, Matt, one of the things that I would like for us to do as an industry and my, you know, my peers, my competitors, um, we have a better um conduit between um people like Project Youth and the and the young people and have a better understanding. I think wherever you want to affect change, deep understanding and connection um will assist with that, you know, and the more we understand, the less fear there will be. Um, one of the fundamental problems, and I've I've spoken to you offline about this before, Matt, is that you know, our primary role as real estate agents when it comes to the property management side of our business is to you know maximise the return for an owner and to minimize the risks. They're kind of the two primary roles of a of a real estate agent when they're managing a rental property. And so I still feel like there's a lot of our landlords that have um great hearts and are very empathetic and would be more open to that. So it's a matter of educating those people. Yeah. And then also it's a matter of, you know, there are other people that are literally working so hard to pay their mortgage and they're literally, you know, they they're doing it tough as well. Yeah. That every dollar counts, and you've got to also accept and and um empathise with them. But I think from my perspective, one of the great things is that as an industry, we make our um, you know, a lot of us make uh our our well, a lot of us have done been extremely fortunate and we make our money out of housing. And so I feel like um, you know, it would be one thing that we could do as an industry better. Yeah, um, some colleagues of mine in Melbourne, Jealous Craig, they are looking at ending homelessness, not necessarily youth homelessness down there. Realestate.com.au, I'm talking to them at the moment about supporting their initiatives that you know for the community support. So it's bringing all of those, um, that knowledge, that connection piece together as a real estate agent. And um, and then I think it's about educating the broader community as well, the broader business community that I also am I'm sort of connected with.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Yeah. I'm hearing just like it's about pulling resources and networks to kind of unify around this issue, this this um struggle for so many young people.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

And I think, Matt, there's a lot, I mean, I know that there's a lot of goodwill for this. Yeah, whether that materializes, I'm not romantic enough to believe that it's always going to materialize into action. Um, but I do believe that there's enough goodwill out there that there will be some significant action. Yeah. And that we can build on that and and that will create its own momentum, and then all of a sudden it becomes a social norm, and people are much more aware of it, and it's not kind of the um the unknown or something that people are a little fearful of.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

Um, I think, you know, one of the things I heard you say, I think that there's more, maybe I'm misguided too. So maybe I'm misguided on this, but there's more goodwill out there for an understanding around um, you know, young people that uh have mental health challenges and lose their way. But maybe, maybe I'm also ignorant, and maybe, you know, we could be doing, I'm sure we could be doing better in in certain parts of the community in terms of support. But I have a general belief that there is a lot of goodwill, and it's just a case of how we gain momentum as a community, as a business group, the more people that get exposed, and then and I'm still figuring this out, Matt, how we can actually help. And that's another really key um aspect is what is it that we can do?

SPEAKER_01 15:34

The thing I love about that is like it's don't ask, don't get, right? Like, yes, sometimes this the idea of ending youth homelessness feels so big and so overwhelming. Where do you even start? What does that even look like? I'm one person or or this is one business in one area of Sydney, like it it'd be but a dent in this in this whole thing. But what I love about what you're saying, Matt, is it it's finding it's finding the opportunities. It may not always be. Um it may not, you know, not every uh homeowner will subsidize rent so that a uh young person could live there, but some might. And that's a resource that was untapped, you know, before. So it's that classic don't ask, don't get. So let's start asking, let's start educating, let's start having those conversations. And like you said, maybe in time it will create a social norm that um kind of really builds some momentum.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

I sure it will, and I think that even in my limited discussions with a with a as I say, friends, uh, when we're going out for dinner and colleagues, um, and they're like, How do we help? I'm I'm shocked that that's the case. So I I have to believe, and as I say, I I'm not gonna romanticize it and say everyone's gonna get behind it, but I do think that there is a lot of people out there that would get involved. Yeah. And so if we've got our antennas up, and like you say, spot those opportunities, we will we will move forward.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

Not leave any stone unturned, as they say.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

Exactly right, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 17:11

Fantastic. Well, let's get on to the third and final question. All right, well, as we've said, like there's that call to action. We we want to move the needle, so to speak. Um, which brings us to our final question for today's episode. If every community member listening to this podcast today took one meaningful action, Matt, what do you want that to be?

SPEAKER_00 17:49

Um it's such a good question, Matt. And I am still, you know, the interesting thing is there's there's not an immediate answer that comes to me except to say, depending on where you are, uh, a level of understanding that there are a lot of incredible people. You know, I'm so fortunate. Um, and you you get to do it in your daily professional life, right? Meet some incredible young people that I know have been, their lives have been changed. Uh they've done that themselves, but they've also had the opportunity you know afforded by a support group like Project Youth who are helping those people. And so real empathy towards that, real awareness towards that. And so, what does that look like for me? What I can I can't speak for every commun uh uh member of the community, but what does that look like for me? That looks like fundraising, that looks like I would love to get my colleagues um and competitors together, and we we're planning on doing that at a lunch, uh, just to better educate and and sort of you know connect people like you and and your colleagues um to all of the real estate because I know there's some of my competitors that have done a super job in supporting project. Absolutely, absolutely I commend those those those guys and gals um for their tremendous work. So, from my perspective, it's about educating the um the real estate industry, it's about tapping into my connections in the business community that I know are you know well-meaning, you know, generous of spirit um human beings that want to um see the you know, our most important resource, our youth, prosper and succeed. Um and and then also the third piece to that would be some fundraising, you know. Our our organization um want to get behind that and find ways that I can connect other, you know, important people that are local business people that, as I say, I know lead with their heart to support the young people that they employ. And you know, we employ a lot of those young people as well.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Yeah, yeah, fantastic. What I'm hearing from that is just and it takes me back to what we were talking about in question one. Like for so many people, uh youth homelessness might be a blind spot. Um, but once you become aware of it, again, it can feel overwhelming to, well, what am I meant to do? And what I'm hearing from you, Matt, as you reflect is is just I guess look into your own pockets and see what resources you've got. Yeah, whether it's those professional uh connections where whether it's the capacity to be engaged in fundraising or to contribute to fundraising, or if it's that advocacy piece, like use your voice. Um, who's who who are your spheres of influence that you can step into and be intentional about that? I'm just and I think that that makes it far more digestible to people for them to just uh potentially take a moment to self-reflect and consider, okay, well, what resources do I have? Um, is it just, you know, is it these incidental conversations that I have with my friends and family, or is there something in my professional world? Is there something more that I can be doing? And I think if we all just if we asked ourselves that just a little bit more and we pulled those resources, however big or small, then that's a that's a wealth of resource that we probably didn't have, um, which can make some really big change.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

100% gain gain some great momentum. Yeah. Outside of that, from your inside, I'm curious to know what do you think, what else do you think that the community could do? Because you're in a the vantage point of of working with a lot of these amazing um, you know, youth. Yeah. What do you what else do you think somebody like me um who's listening could do?

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Matt, I love this because you are the first person to ever change tables on me and and throw a question my way. I'm here for it. Listen, for me, for me, particularly, you know, and we we spoke about this. We we live in quite an affluent area, the Southern Shire St. George area. Like I think reality is it's a very affluent area. Um, and I think for many people that can that can mean uh a little bit of tunnel vision. You know, we're all here doing our best, doing what we do. And it can mean that the the issue of youth homelessness can can be a blind spot for many people. I think for me, the the biggest piece is education. Um it's understanding what youth homelessness looks like. It's understanding what trauma looks like for any young person who has experienced the transience and the uncertainty and the unsafety that comes from experiencing homelessness. That is a trauma. And I think when people understand that experience, it helps them understand the young person better. Um, I think it it uh it challenges some of the stigma around how people perceive young people who might be experiencing homelessness. Uh it's a bit of an outdated uh mentality, but that you know they're just misbehaving, or you know, it's because of this or the ad, or somehow that the blame is on the young person, and that's just never been my experience. Yeah. Um, these young people have had to face some really uh difficult things which um which I've never had to. Um, and so I I think if we start with education, everything that you spoke about, about then kind of considering what is within your sphere of influence and how can you use that to maybe contribute to this. I I just think that, and I think this also comes back to the fact that you're like most people are, you know, they want to do good um and have the best intentions. I don't think you can learn that stuff about the experience of young people um and then not kind of go, well, actually this is this is something that I that I want to act on. Um so for me it's it's the education piece. Um whether that's to kind of bring you out of uh the shadows and actually see what is happening, or if it's challenging maybe some outdated preconceived notions around what kind of young person experiences homelessness. Um I think if if that education changes either of those perspectives, uh we'll be the better for it.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

100%. And one and I and I know that I'm the first person to ask you a question, I just want to ask a second question. He's gone rogue. I love it. Here we go. But um, you know, I will never understand, or I I do, I empathize on that, I won't understand the trauma, but are you able to share in general terms, not specific terms, uh some stories that kind of just some of the the not miracles, I want to, I don't want to use that word, but some of the just inspiring stories that I have learnt about in terms of people that have gone through tremendous trauma and are now, you know, doing good, doing okay in life, and of and of and have be and because of the support, because I think people really need to understand that and it that will build the empathy if it's like, okay, this is not a bad person, this is just a situation that they've responded to some level of trauma, and that fundamentally there are so many great stories that I hear of through Project Youth now, where people have are just you know fabulous contributors to the community and have have lived, you know, are living great lives.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

Yeah, and I think that's the thing. Like uh for me in the uh like crisis refuge space, uh we see young people um step into our service for a myriad of reasons, whether that's um a history of uh drug and alcohol use, whether that's something that they've been exposed to in their environment that's made the home environment unsafe, or something that they've participated, participated in, sorry, um, whether it's you know a struggling of mental health and and not having the supports to help them navigate that, uh, whether there's um family breakdown or family and domestic violence, um, you know, there is always something and and and for every young person, you know, I I see them trying to navigate it, but uh for whatever reason not having the the tools yet um to help them navigate uh for them to navigate that. And then, you know, coming through, and it's like what we were saying before, you know, giving them somewhere stable and safe to stay. Um, I'm always talking about, you know, so that they can have a moment of pause and rest. You know, when I have a big day, I go home and I sit on my couch and I collapse and I just have a moment to just kind of you know what I mean? Like and you just everyone does it. And for a young person experiencing homelessness, there is never that sigh of relief until there's some stability in their housing. And then we've seen young people come through and they've finished their HSE, they've gone on to university, they've gotten that job and are now, you know, earning a salary that can that is stable and consistent and can support private rental. We've seen uh, you know, them step into parenthood and become these beautiful parents of young people and and break the generational cycle of trauma. Like I've I've seen all of it. And I think, you know, and again I come back to some of those unhelpful preconceived notions when I talk to people about the work that I do, and and sometimes I'm like, oh, you know, do you ever feel um, you know, oh, you know, those kids must be hard or hard work or do you ever feel unsafe? And I'm like, these are some of the most beautiful people I've ever met in my life. And it is a privilege and a joy to know them. Um, and those moments where I get to see them succeed. Um, I'm a massive crier and I cry at work pretty regularly, not because I'm sad, but because I'm filled with joy um when I see these young people. And they do. They if if they're given that moment to be still and to take stock and to step forward into something new and to have the support that they need, these young people achieve um incredible things. Um, and you know, a lot of them now work for Project Youth as um ambassadors, as members of our board, as members of our young people advocating change group. And and they are now the ones leading these kinds of conversations and leading the change um to end youth homelessness. It's a it's an incredible thing to um behold.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

Bloody brilliant, mate. I'm super inspired. I mean, that that's such a good insight for people listening. And you know, I want to give a big shout out to to you, obviously, and to your boss, JD, who who's the CEO of Project Youth, who I think does a superb job, and Julie, who's the chair, and the my fellow board members who I think are all incredibly smart human beings and all filled with good intentions. Like when I hear you describe that like that, I get pumped, I get excited, and and I hope that that's the kind of message that inspires other people to want to take action.

SPEAKER_01 29:06

Beautiful. Matt, thank you so much for joining us for this uh special episode of the podcast. It's been a sheer delight having you on today. My pleasure, buddy. Thank you. Till next time. Thanks for listening to this special Youth Homelessness Matters Day edition of the Beyond Youth Homelessness Podcast. What you've heard today is a reminder that youth homelessness is not inevitable, it is preventable. But ending it requires more than awareness. It requires action from all of us. If this episode has sparked something for you, there are many ways to get involved. You can take the bare project pledge to be engaged, act, and rise. See our bio for more information. You can support Project Youth through partnerships, employment opportunities, or by contributing to safe housing pathways. You can advocate, challenge stigma, and use your voice and networks to push for change. Because ending youth homelessness is not the responsibility of one organization. It's a shared responsibility across our entire community. To learn more, support our work, or hear more stories like this, follow the Beyond Youth Homelessness podcast and share this episode with your network. Together, we can move from awareness to accountability and from managing homelessness to ending it.