The charity, Mission Australia, collected data from thousands of young Australians, and found a number of factors increase a young person's vulnerability to homelessness.
Jane is only 20, but she's had a difficult life so far.
Struggles with mental illness meant she was homeless at 17.
"I was in a youth refuge for about a year, I moved out into this government housing, things were really rough for me yeah. When I was young I had a bit of social anxiety."
The survey found that more than 30 per cent of young people with what it termed a probable serious mental health illness spend time away from home.
That's three and a half times more likely than the rest of the population.
Nearly 60 per cent of people with a probable serious mental illness rated their family function as poor.
Most people think of homelessness as sleeping rough.
But Misson Australia CEO Catherine Yeomans says that isn't always the case.
"This is what we call the hidden homeless. In fact people who are sleeping rough represent only six per cent of the homeless population. The rest are either couch surfing, which is typical of young people, or they might be sleeping in cars, they might be in temporary accommodation."
The key finding in Misson Australia's report is that early intervention is the key.
Ms Yeomans says it's not as simple as it sounds.
"It needs commitment from all levels of government, it needs an awareness around the risk factors are, and make sure we're funding the programs that are going to help young people avoid entrenched levels of homelessness into the future."
Jane didn't receive the support she needed early enough.
But she's now a budding artist thanks to the help of Mission Australia's Creative Youth Initiative.
It aims to help homeless people between the ages of 16 and 25 develop their creativity through arts and music.
This is Jane's advice to someone else in her situation.
"The only thing I could say to that would be to stay strong, keep moving. Find what you're good at, and get better. And not to give up."
