With CEO Paul McDonald at the helm, AV launched the Home Stretch campaign in 2016. The goal is to extend state care to 21 years in each Australian state and territory.

This means support for young people in foster, kinship and residential care is not cut off at 18, as was the case nationally when the campaign started. This simple reform transforms young lives. It halves homelessness among this group and doubles their chances of both employment and higher education.

“Most of Australia’s 18 to 21-year-olds still live with their parents,” says Paul McDonald. “Yet we’ve got a different set of rules for the children under our care. We could not sleep easy as a care provider tolerating that.”

Paul was determined to amplify the voices of young people and mobilise a national movement to create change.

Home Stretch was adopted universally in Victoria in 2021, and has since been introduced in five other states and territories around the country. It has been described as the most important child welfare reform in a generation.

In the next 25 years, AV aims to ensure that the child protection system is relevant and is working the best it can for the young people in it. In Victoria we have a good care system, but it is our responsibility to make sure it works for the better.

Alone at 18

Home Stretch spokesperson Dylan Langley grew up in foster care and residential care homes. When he turned 18 and was required to leave Out-of-Home care, he ended up homeless. “I ended up couch-surfing and sleeping rough,” Dylan says.

Dylan was eventually able to make a home with the help of friends. Nowadays, he advocates for the rights of vulnerable young people and works with organisations sharing his lived experiences. Dylan was nominated for a Young Australian of the Year award in 2021.