TĀMAKI MAKAURAU - On Tuesday, 3 December, Manaaki Rangatahi will present to Ministers and officials at Parliament, demanding urgent action on youth homelessness as the Auckland Council moves to implement "move on" orders that criminalise people for having nowhere to go.

This isn't theoretical. In March this year, someone sleeping rough outside a member organisation's office sparked a hui that brought 80+ organisations and young people together. Nine months on, the crisis has exploded. Auckland Council reported a 90% increase in homelessness earlier this year. Since then, the removal of emergency housing support has pushed even more rangatahi onto our streets.

The response? Orders that will push vulnerable young people away from CBD services they desperately need, punishing them for the system's failures.

"What keeps us all safe is security of housing, income, and the right support services," says Bianca Johanson, Pou Arahi of Manaaki Rangatahi. "When each of us feels secure, we contribute to our city's safety. This happens through working together in true service of our whānau without homes -- not by pushing them further into the margins."

Our report, More Than a Home, captures what rangatahi told us: they want homes that are safe, grounded in culture, and connected to whānau and whenua. They want belonging, healing, and opportunity. He taitamariki, he anamata. Our young people aren't the problem -- they're the solution.

Enshrine the right to housing for every young person in Aotearoa

Stop government agencies from discharging rangatahi into homelessness from care, corrections, or hospitals

Develop a comprehensive national strategy co-designed with young people, Māori, Pacific peoples, and communities

Invest in upscaling youth-specific, trauma-informed, culturally responsive services Establish a national youth homelessness database with detailed reporting Commission research into long-term impacts on mental health and wellbeing

Move on orders will scatter our most vulnerable rangatahi away from the help they need. The solution is straightforward: treat our whānau with love and support instead of punishing them for not having somewhere safe to live.

Manaaki Rangatahi is Aotearoa's only youth housing and homelessness collective -- a movement of organisations, community leaders, and rangatahi working in kotahitanga. When we work together, we choose solutions that support all of us to be safe and well.

We invite all Ministers, sector leaders, and officials to join us on 3 December at Parliament. Nau mai, haere mai. Help us create a future where every young person has a home, a future, and a place to belong.