Council to Homeless Persons

14/10/2026

Thank you to Minister Staikos for listening to lived experience perspectives. We’re pleased to say the discussion was thoughtful and received with empathy. Our hope is to see conversations like these translate into meaningful system reform 💚

As Victoria’s first ever Minister for Homelessness, my aim is to make homelessness rare and brief.

That’s why I sat down yesterday with people with lived experience of homelessness and listened to their stories.

They told me what they think worked well for them, and what didn’t.

I will soon be meeting with the workers at the coalface of homelessness: the practitioners, the social workers and the outreach workers.

It’s from listening to lived experience that we can make the changes needed to ensure that all Victorians can live in safety and dignity.

13/10/2026

Launching today, ' : Homelessness Services at Breaking Point' reveals the sheer scale of systemic overwhelm facing Victoria’s homelessness entry points.

It shows almost 70 per cent of entry point services were forced to close their doors within survey periods, due to capacity limits, staff shortages and critical incidents.

Produced by the Victorian Homelessness Network (VHN), the analysis also shows services couldn’t answer the phone for periods on almost 60 per cent of surveyed days, while emails also went unanswered on 38 per cent of service days.

CHP CEO Deborah Di Natale said these pressures reveal why we desperately need both more housing pathways and homelessness prevention efforts.

“Entry points are the front door for homelessness support, but this research shows they are simply not resourced to cope with the scale that Victoria’s homelessness crisis has reached.

“This report shows that the system itself needs to change, and a Victorian Homelessness Strategy will achieve that.”

Read more findings from the report here: https://www.vhn.org.au/smashed

13/10/2026

Reminder, the Victorian electoral role closes at 8pm on Tuesday 3 November!

Whatever someone's housing situation, as a Victorian citizen, they have the right to vote.

If you are supporting someone experiencing homelessness, you can help them enrol. Some key pointers to keep in mind:

• Enrolment is not compulsory for people experiencing homelessness who are not already enrolled. However, if they are enrolled, it is compulsory to maintain enrolment.

• You can help someone check their enrolment at enrolment.vec.vic.gov.au

• If you want to update enrolment or help someone enrol for the first time, you may need to fill out a ‘no fixed address’ form.

Learn more in our handy 2026 enrolment guide, here: https://chp.org.au/article/victorian-2026-election-how-to-vote-with-no-fixed-address/

12/10/2026

Flinders Street is getting a new health clinic! Servicing vulnerable people in Melbourne’s C*D, the hub, run by cohealth, will offer access to GPs, addiction specialists and counsellors, plus food and showers.

It’s great to see this kind of co-location of services, which gives people wholistic support. (You can read more about cohealth’s other city hub in the latest magazine...)

Yet, we know housing vulnerability remains a reality for many people who may use this hub. To match this focus on harm-reduction, we also need to see greater investment in housing. As the latest Parity edition illustrates, housing insecurity can drastically compound health concerns.

A safe, secure home can help people heal.

Read more on the ABC: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-12/flinders-street-community-health-hub-addiction-homeless-support/107248170

A new health service targeting vulnerable people is set to open opposite Melbourne's Flinders Street Station at a site some had hoped would become a second safe injecting room.

09/10/2026

Today is World Homelessness Day. It comes at a time when record numbers of Victorians are coming to homelessness services.

In our dual housing and cost of living crisis, people from all walks of life now need assistance: working Victorians who are making great sacrifices but still struggling to pay the rent; women and children leaving family violence; young people who should be dreaming of their futures but instead are worrying where they’ll sleep tonight; and older Victorians who, after a lifetime contributing to society, now find themselves couch-surfing or sleeping rough.

The good news is that we know how to end homelessness. The evidence is clear and the models are available.

Right now, we’re asking all Victorian political candidates to choose to prioritise the forward-thinking, community-building responses that will end homelessness. And we ask all Victorians to choose to give their votes to those candidates who put housing fairness first.

See more in our election guide: https://chp.org.au/publication/chp-election-priorities-guide-2026/

07/10/2026

Earlier in September the Government released a 6-Point Plan to tackle homelessness, with a particular focus on rough sleeping. But the Minister for Homelessness the Hon. Nick Staikos has also been talking with CHP for several months about the need for a broader plan to equip the homelessness sector with the resources and integrated cross-sector approach needed to end homelessness in Victoria.

We're looking forward to joining the Minister for two sector forums over the next few weeks, where people with lived experience of homelessness and frontline workers can share with him their first-hand experiences of what needs to change to ensure Victorians can access better support - and homes.

And we encourage the Government to then commit to a Victorian Homelessness Strategy to focus resources on the best practice approaches that can end homelessness in our state.

06/10/2026

Big news for homelessness reform today, with Shadow Minister for Housing David Southwick MP committing that, if elected, a Liberal/National Government will deliver a Victorian Homelessness Strategy.

Our state's homelessness system is currently dealing with a level of crisis it was never designed for. We need a modern plan to deliver safe homes and better support for every Victorian, backed by investments that reflect the level of need Victorians are seeing right across the state.

We need a plan to expand early intervention programs that prevent homelessness before it starts.

A plan to make community services more efficient and integrated so people get all the help they need the first time, rather than being bounced from service to service.

A plan to design responses specifically for young people, who are poorly served by the mainstream system.

And a plan to put lived experience at the centre of service design, so we’re delivering practical solutions that really work.

A Victorian Homelessness Strategy will be a plan for all this and more.

Homelessness is not a left or right issue, it’s a human issue. And we thank the Liberal Party for recognising the need for urgent action.

Next, we need commitments to a Public and Community Housing Blitz, to lift Victoria off the bottom of Australia’s social housing ladder and get us up to the national proportion of public and community housing!

05/10/2026

At the Victorian Council of Social Service Community Services Summit today, Premier Ben Carroll committed that if his government is re-elected, they will shift community sector organisations from 1 to 4 year funding agreements. This is great news for Victorians.

It will give homelessness service providers and other community organisations more certainty, make it easier to plan for the future and help retain staff and organisational knowledge. And that means better outcomes for the people we support.

We urge the other major parties to match this commitment, for the good of Victoria.

05/10/2026

The latest Victorian Housing Register figures reveal that Victoria’s priority social housing waitlist is now at a five-year high, surpassing 40,000 households. It’s a grim milestone to reach.

The VHR priority list is up almost 7 per cent from last year and has increased by 22.9 per cent over the last five years.

Across all categories, there are now 68,971 applications waiting for social housing in Victoria.
Wait times are also blowing out, with people on the priority list who are leaving family violence waiting an average of 18.6 months for social housing.
It’s far too many people, waiting far too long.

It’s why, ahead of next month’s state election, we are urging all political parties to commit to building 80,000 public and community homes over the next decade, to meet the urgent demand in Victoria.

Read the full media release online: https://chp.org.au/article/victorias-urgent-social-housing-waitlist-passes-40000-threshold/

And download our 2026 Election Priorities Guide here: https://chp.org.au/publication/chp-election-priorities-guide-2026/

Victoria’s priority social housing waitlist has passed 40,000 households, a five-year high, sparking urgent calls for a blitz of construction for public and community housing.

01/10/2026

Assertive outreach workers do incredible work. But the simple truth is, we need to focus on what comes after.

Engaging and building trust with someone sleeping rough is half of the job. We then need to get people into homes as fast as possible, so they can begin to rebuild their lives.

This demands a commitment to more supportive housing.

As CHP CEO Deborah Di Natale tells The Age, services are under extreme pressure right now due to rising demand and limited housing options:

“People who are working on the frontline now have got a queue from 9am, by about 11 or 11.30 am every single housing option is exhausted, and they are then dealing with a queue of people that they can’t provide any crisis accommodation for.

“Homelessness is increasing across Victoria, and we know that the single biggest investment that is going to make a difference to ending homelessness in Victoria is to make a commitment to build more social housing.”

Read the full article: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/queues-at-9am-full-by-11-30am-housing-crunch-challenges-rough-sleeping-plan-20260929-p611cv.html

Homelessness services have welcomed a plan to develop a profile of every person sleeping rough in Victoria but say it must be backed with adequate services to support them.