Thousands of Victoria’s do not have safe and secure housing. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics states that 24,825 people were experiencing homelessness in Victoria on census night in 2016. In this day and age, we believe that no Victorian should be sleeping rough or be forced to live in unsuitable and unstable housing.

We believe every Victorian has the right to feel safe, warm and secure at night.

To achieve this, we believe all Victorians should have access to support services such as financial assistance, job training, mental health support and more. For those experiencing homelessness, it is essential that these services are able maintain long term contact with these persons – this enables long term support to prevent individuals, couples and families from becoming homeless again.

We support:

• Additional social and affordable housing across Victoria;
• Strategies that integrate support services;
• Expanding wrap around services during the initial crisis and transitional stage;
• Policies that focus on the unique regional and rural homelessness experience;
• Funding additional mental health nurses and psychologists;
• Policies that support indigenous people to enable them to stay within their community.

In addition, we support:

• Support services dedicated to drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, job loss and mental health issues;
• Financial support for low income households;
• Dynamic pricing on public transport for people experiencing homelessness;
• Research into Victoria’s housing crisis and lack of wage growth.