By Dean Wilson, Jen Rose and Emma Colvin

Young people’sright to access public space safely and without discrimination has been an ongoing focus of YACVic’s advocacy work over the years. Young people are still typically viewed with suspicion when ‘hanging-out’ in public spaces. Unfortunately, in spite of the introduction of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, policy and laws are still developed that seriously breach young people’s rights, particularly when it comes to the regulation of public space. It is for this reason that YACVic was very happy to partner with Monash University to explore in more detail the experiences of young people with surveillance in public. Young people who are experiencing homelessness or other forms of social disadvantage or marginalisation experience breaches of several of their human rights. Their right to housing, as described by Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is breached. Theymay well be denied their right to education as a consequence of the strain homelessness places on their lives. Their right to safety is regularly compromised by virtue of not having access to safe, private spaces. Further breaches of their right to safely access public spaces free from harassment and discrimination simply compounds their disadvantage and exacerbates their vulnerability. We have a responsibility to develop policy that does not serve to further marginalize young people who are already highly vulnerable.

Melbourne, AUS: Youth Affairs Council of Victoria and the School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University, 2010. 57p.