In a land of plenty, the thought of going from home-to-home "couch-surfing" each night - or, worse, sleeping rough on the streets - is inconceivable to most of us.

But it seems that's the terrible reality for a growing number of young Australians.

Everybody's Home, a new national campaign to tackle the issue, was launched on Wednesday to put pressure on the Federal Government.

A growing concern for people working in this field are the booming rents being recorded across regional NSW. While the tight rental market has investors cheering, it's a very different story for those trying to find an affordable place to stay - particularly those relying on welfare.

In many cases these are young people from broken families who cannot safely return to their family home.

They may have experienced trauma or violence and often come from disadvantaged or impoverished backgrounds. Finding themselves without a place to call home simply continues the cycle of poverty.

It is now more than 30 years since former prime minister, the late Bob Hawke, promised that no Australian child would live in poverty by 1990.

While the aim was worthy, Mr Hawke was widely ridiculed for the naivety of the statement and no government has ever come close to delivering on the promise.

Many were reminded of Mr Hawke's ill-considered pledge when the Rudd Government in 2008 vowed to halve homelessness by 2020.

Again it was a noble aim but we still appear no closer to solving this tragedy. There must be a way, though.

The first step, according to Everybody's Home, is to tackle the issue of housing affordability for young people.

When youth allowances barely cover the rent on even the cheapest home, then we're selling our young people short.

If a young person can't find a home then they cannot find a job; and if they can't find a job then they will never find a home. It's a spiral to disaster.

More affordable housing is the answer but the government must lead the way.

And we must all, as a country, start viewing real estate less as a way for the rich to make money and more as way for all to enjoy simple human dignity.

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