By AMY VADIVELOO 

Indigenous people are heavily over-represented in homelessness figures across Victoria. 

Four per cent of homeless people in the state are Indigenous, while they make up just 0.5 per cent of the overall population, according to the Council to Homelessness Persons.

Indigenous charity Children's Ground CEO Jane Vadiveloo said the group focused on helping young people who were often disadvantaged by trauma and mental health issues. 

“Young people are growing up in houses where there are many, many layers of historical trauma, where their access and equity to education and employment has not been afforded to them in the same way as the mainstream population,” she said.

 “Their [Indigenous people's] cultural identity and history has been essentially denied, so you then have a lot of people experiencing mental health issues, and a lot of young people experiencing mental health issues.”

This, combined with growing up in an underprivileged environment, made Indigenous children “far more likely to experience homelessness”, she said. 

“In the short term there needs to be places of safety that are culturally relevant to young people, that provides opportunities for their core needs, which is safety, shelter, food, clothing, dignity, education and opportunities to succeed.”

According to Homelessness Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are 15 times more likely to be classified as homeless in Australia, and more than one in four Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children aged 0-10 are supported by homelessness services.

CHP consumer programs manager Ian Gough said domestic violence was a key cause of homelessness for young people. 

According to the Domestic Violence Resource Centre, reports of Aboriginal family violence in Victoria had tripled over the last few years.