Launch Housing is one of Melbourne’s largest independent organisations bringing homelessness support services and community housing together under one roof.
Each year we provide high quality affordable housing and an innovative range of wrap-around care and support to thousands of people who are at risk of - or experiencing - the daily crisis and trauma of homelessness.
We believe that everybody deserves a safe night's sleep, and we are passionately committed to ending homelessness.
Launch Housing is an independent Melbourne-based community organisation formed from the merger of Hanover Welfare Services and HomeGround Services on 1 July 2015.
With a combined 75 years’ experience working with people at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness in Melbourne, Launch Housing builds on the legacy of its predecessor organisations in providing housing and support, driving social policy change, advocacy, research and innovation.
Hanover was founded in 1964 as one of the first specialist homeless support agencies in Melbourne, named after Hanover Street in Fitzroy, where the organisation was first based.
It initially focused on support for homeless men in the inner city, but over time its scope broadened to cover evidence-driven support for Victorians of all ages and life stages.
HomeGround Services was founded in 2002 following the merger of Outreach Victoria and Argyle Street Housing.
HomeGround sought to integrate high quality housing-focused services offering crisis and transitional assistance and outreach support across the entire inner urban region.
HomeGround evolved further to create access to housing, advocate for improvements, and develop evidence about effective responses to homelessness.
Our mission is to end homelessness. We believe housing is a basic human right that affords people dignity. Everyone has a right to a home and it’s our job to make that happen.
It's time to end homelessness in our city. Read our 2020-2026 Strategic Plan here.
Informed by an evidence-based approach to what works, the wisdom of lived experience, and the knowledge that comes from working with communities from the 1950s onwards, our theory of change guides our services, engagement and approach to ending homelessness in Melbourne.
Representing flexibility and resilience, our theory of change is symbolised by a tree—ready to embrace the winds of change: a healthy tree sways.
Roots: These cover six foundations that define our work—our service philosophy, scale, impact, values, and cultural safety. These form the foundation for how we do things.
Trunk: Collaboration and partnership are at the core. We work with over 150+ partners to drive collective action, share data and insights, advocate for change, and coordinate efforts to end homelessness.
Canopy: The branches represent our services helping people at risk or experiencing homelessness—as a social landlord, community housing provider, and builder of best-in-class, innovative housing.
We showcase solutions that work, pilot new ideas, use data and evidence to measure impact, and change the conversation to one of optimism and ambition.
We mobilise people and political leaders to invest in progressive policies—so together we can end the housing and homelessness crisis in Australia.
The outcomes are three-fold:
Change for the individual
Change for services and systems
Change for the broader public
Together, we can create a future where homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring.
Download our Theory of Change.
