Council to Homeless Persons

03/09/2026

Big thanks to all who made it along to a packed-out launch yesterday!

Across readings and panels, we heard about the toll that homelessness can take on the body and mind, what happens when people receive flexible healthcare that meets them where they are, and why we need better integration across homelessness and health systems.

Another huge thanks to all our readers and panellists, Tara and Carys from the Homelessness Access Program (Neami National) , Associate Professor Associate Professor Jess Heerde (The University of Melbourne), peer worker Jules Diamond (St Vincent's Health Australia), Lisa Rashleigh (Launch Housing), Douschka Dobson (Melbourne City Mission - MCM), Brett Murphy (cohealth), and Tasmin Lewis (South East Homelessness and Housing Alliance).

And a big shout out to cohealth for all your support in bringing this edition to life.

Read more about Parity here: https://chp.org.au/sector-learning-and-development/parity-magazine/

02/09/2026

If you’ve registered to come along, we’ll see you this afternoon to launch the latest magazine!

With a spotlight on ‘homeless as a health emergency’ the edition features vital stories exploring why we need to consider homelessness an urgent public health priority.

And how good does the artwork look on the cover? A big thanks to Craig Ivory for sharing his work with us!

01/09/2026

Thanks for joining us in Melbourne last night, for the final forum!

A huge thank you to all our panelists. Sam Villalobos shared his experience of how receiving stable housing and support felt like “someone turned the light on finally after many years”.

Hannah Lewis of shared how digital legal tools can help people at scale. Ellen Sandell MP reminded of the system pressures caused by rising cost of living and erosion of public services, and Molly O’Shaughnessy of Victoria spoke of the increasing demand that services are seeing.

In fact, in the City of Melbourne, the number of people seeking homelessness support has risen 94% over the last 10 years, putting huge pressure on services to keep up.

A big thanks also to the team at for supporting us to bring the forum to the CBD.

Next week, we’ll be at Parliament House, delivering the final Community Insights report that shares what communities across Victoria have told us about the action they want to see. Stay tuned for more on this!

31/08/2026

Reminder, the very last forum is on tonight in the City of Melbourne!

This is stop number 12 in the exhibition’s year-long journey, which has sparked powerful community conversations on how to end homelessness across Victoria.

Tonight’s forum is booked out, so if you were lucky enough to grab a ticket, we’ll see you there. You’ll be hearing from Hannah Lewis, Manager of Homeless Law, Justice Connect, who says:

"Every day I see the difference that early intervention can make in preventing homelessness.

“When people can access help early through digital tools and receive intensive legal and social support when they need it, we have a much better chance of preventing homelessness and helping people stay safely housed."

In September, we’re taking to Parliament House, for one last grand finale event, presenting our findings on what communities across Victoria have told us about the action they want taken to end homelessness.

26/08/2026

Excited to share a sneak peek of the cover of magazine's August edition, launching next Wednesday!

The beautiful art on the front is part of a larger work by Craig Ivory, titled ‘Journey through Sumner’.

It accompanies an article in the edition that takes an inside look at the Better Health and Housing Program, based at Sumner House in Fitzroy and run by Launch Housing, Brotherhood of St. Laurence and St Vincent's Health Australia. Come along to the launch to hear more about how the program delivers both stable housing and dedicated health support.

At the launch, you’ll also hear:

🔹A special reading by Tasmin Lewis (South East Homelessness and Housing Alliance).

🔹Registered nurse Carys Herbert and client Tara (Neami National), Lived experience worker Jules Diamond (St Vincent's Health Australia) and Associate Professor Jess Heerde (University of Melbourne) on how homelessness impacts health.

🔹James Duffy (cohealth) Lisa Rashleigh (Launch Housing), Doushka Dobson (MCM) discussing the systemic gaps and need for better health and homelessness integration.

All welcome – book your spot here: https://lnkd.in/gJZFsvMk

A huge thank you to cohealth for your support on this edition!

25/08/2026

If you've been following the journey, you'll know we follow up with MPs after forum night - to make sure the community message is heard.

Last week we brought together local provider with MPs and Kat Theophanous MP to discuss reforms needed to end homelessness in Darebin.

💚 We emphasised the urgent need for more public and community housing in Darebin, where virtually all private rentals are unaffordable to people on low incomes or income support payments.

💚 We discussed the need to increase resources for crisis responses, after attendees at our Darebin forum spoke of services now only having capacity to support people with the most severe circumstances (a situation that is all too familiar across Victoria).

💚 And we spoke of the need for increased prevention and early intervention programs to stop people reaching crisis in the first place.

It was also great to be able to share innovative solutions too, such as MOSS's current plans to use tiny homes on donated surplus council land to provide support housing to people who have been sleeping rough in Darebin.

We know the solutions to end homelessness and, with the political will, Victoria can be a state where every person has somewhere safe and dignified to call home.

25/08/2026

“Lived experience are the people who get to tell the truth – the policymakers have to face the truth.”

For this year’s Homelessness Week, we invited four lived experience advocates - Diana, Stacey, Jeremy and Jacinta - to share why they stand up to use their voice to make change, and their thoughts on how we can better integrate lived experience perspectives.

This panel conversation is part of Council to Homeless Person’s focus on elevating lived experience within the specialist homelessness sector.

It comes as we are about to embark on a 12-month, in-depth conversation across the state, which will build a shared vision for a well-rounded strategy for elevating lived experience expertise, in a way that has genuine impact.

Watch the webinar back here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CroCcIsq-p4

For Homelessness Week 2026, Council to Homeless Persons facilitated...

24/08/2026

The face of homelessness is changing. People who have never asked for help before are increasingly seeking assistance.

That message came through last Wednesday night at the forum in Maroondah.

We heard the story of an 80-year-old former financial planner who never imagined he’d have to seek homelessness support. We heard how unaffordable rentals are impacting people from all walks of life.

We also heard about the solutions: catching people early, stronger crisis support, and – most critically – more social housing.

A big thanks to everyone who came out, all our panellists, Realm Ringwood, and Maroondah City Council for your support.

You have just one more chance to catch , before the exhibition officially wraps up its journey across Victoria!

Join us next Monday 31 August at Town Hall Commons on Swanston Street, Melbourne CBD.

Register now so you don’t miss a spot: https://lnkd.in/gPmbR78k

19/08/2026

We’ll see you in Ringwood tonight, for the Maroondah leg of !

If you’ve booked your spot at the community forum, we’ll see you tonight at 6pm.

The Realm library has also been running some special activities to coincide with our visit and put together a great display of books on housing and homelessness.

You can drop in to see the exhibition and to fold an origami house or two in a session with Walk in Her Shoes panelist, Maidie Graham on Friday 21 August.

Find more details for that session here: https://events.yourlibrary.vic.gov.au/event?id=81624

18/08/2026

''Homelessness is about more than statistics — it’s about people, their dignity, and the circumstances that can leave any of us without a safe place to call home.”

Sam Villalobos is joining our panel at the City of Melbourne community forum, as a homelessness worker and lived experience advocate.

“I hope that by sharing my story at the Walk In Her Shoes forum, we can better understand what needs to change and why the voices of people with lived experience must be part of shaping the solutions.”

Come along to hear more from Sam, alongside local MP Ellen Sandel, and
homelessness sector workers and leaders, discussing the action needed to end homelessness in Melbourne and beyond.

🗓️ Monday 31 August, 6:30pm
📍 Town Hall Commons, Swanston Street
👉 Register here: https://lnkd.in/gYVkx3ue