- A new report has found there are 22,000 homeless teenagers in Australia aged 12-18.

In November last year Kevin Rudd announced $150 million to build 600 new homes for the homeless.

- On Tuesday Tanya Plibersek will be detailing the state by state allocation for that money and how many homes will be built.

Homeless definition: Someone living at no fixed address, in any kind of temporary accommodation.

The National Youth Commission's report found the problem has doubled in the past 20 years.

One in two homeless youths aged 12-25 are turned away from emergency accommodation every night because services are full.

Only 14% of homeless young people have access to a bed on any given night.

Homeless young people aged 12-25 make up a third of the nation's homeless population of 100,000.

Reasons for homelessness

The two main reasons for youth homelessness are breakdown of relationships with parents or step-parents, and financial difficulties or housing.

Mental illness makes you much more likely to end up homeless, with the number of homeless youth with a mental illness is 44% compared with 18% in the general population.

Law-breaking often accompanies homelessness. A study in Victoria found young homeless people have ten times the rate of contact with police.

According to the National Youth Commission, it's a "national disgrace" and our prosperity should eliminate homelessness.

It says unless urgent action isn't taken there could be an explosion in the number of homeless youth.

The report calls for an extra $100 million dollars in federal funding during the first term of the Rudd Government.

Beyond that, the report calls for $20 million every year for at least the next ten years.

The estimated net benefit of implementing early intervention of youth homelessness is $900 million.

There are few alternatives left than to give this issue the funding it so desperately needs.

When it costs $70,000 a year to keep a young person in detention, the cost of providing support is not only smaller but leads to new contributions to the economy.

Report recommendations

The report contains 80 recommendations including four key areas for action:

• Prevention of homelessness
• Intervening early
• Supporting needy youth
• Stopping homelessness recurring

Dwayne's story

Dwayne came on the show today as a real example of someone who has been homeless for two years.

Dwayne grew up with mental illness, which combined badly with his drug and alcohol abuse.

Dwayne eventually got into the Oasis Centre in Surry Hills run by the Salvation Army.

He has recently secured some public housing accommodation in Blacktown and he is hoping to work in the film industry.

He has now been reunited with his family and sees them regularly.

More info

Oasis movie website