Melbourne’s a progressive city, with a great reputation. One of the most liveable cities in the world.  But not for everyone.

The rate of homelessness in Melbourne has been steadily increasing. Spurred on by trauma, unaffordable rents and not enough social housing.

We risk this problem getting bigger, but with your help, we can turn this problem around.

People don’t choose homelessness, it finds them – often as the result of unforeseen circumstances beyond their control. Relationship breakdown, death of a partner, loss of income, debt, post-traumatic stress, illness, injury or acts of violence can be experienced by anyone.

But a passive acceptance that homelessness is an acceptable conclusion of those misfortunes is wrong.

Solutions to homelessness do exist.

And when we end homelessness, our city will become so much better for everyone.

We understand the challenges we face, but we also know that together, we can overcome them. That’s why we have developed a five-step plan that we believe will make a real difference in the world. Grounded in hope and fueled by the passion of people like you who share our vision for a better future, this plan is the blueprint for our journey. So, come along with us and let’s make a positive impact together.

2020-2026 Strategy

During this period, we will pursue 5 key strategic aims.

Aim #1: Scale up interventions that work to end homelessness

First, We aim to build a unique model of service coordination across our client services, rethink interventions in our crisis services, scale up client-centred and trauma-informed care, and embed lived experience practices in our work. Our ‘Education First Youth Foyers’ and ‘Common Ground’ programs have been very successful, so it makes sense to invest more into both and make them accessible to a lot more people.

Aim #2: Leave no one behind

Third, we will create and deliver housing solutions others won’t to ensure no one is left behind.  Using a Functional Zero approach we will run Street Counts and develop local By-Name Lists to identify who needs support.  There will always be people entering homelessness.  But we want those occasions to be rare and to not reoccur. This can only happen with more and better permanent supportive housing.

Aim #3: Bring global leadership

Second, we will look globally to learn locally.  This will enable us to tap into world’s best practice to help reverse the rate of homelessness.  We’ll publish a Capital Cities Index to track progress on ending rough sleeping and to publicly compare our rate of homelessness to that of other leading cities around the world

Aim #4: Energise clients and the community to take action​

We must energise staff, clients, and the COMMUNITY into believing Homelessness is not OK, that it is not inevitable and that it can be fixed.  When the community understands that people don’t choose homelessness, when they understand how easily homelessness can occur, they’ll start to think, and act, differently.

Aim #5: Build an organisation that supports and inspires staff to thrive

We’re excited to drive positive change. Our priorities include expanding our workforce, modernising our training and development, promoting diversity and inclusion, strengthening First Nations focus, and upgrading our systems and processes. Together, we’re committed to creating a brighter future for those experiencing homelessness.