Advocacy our way
Advocacy at St Vincent de Paul Society Victoria is where compassion and service meets long-term reform.
Every home visit conducted by our members gives us a unique window into the barriers Victorians face. While we provide immediate, practical support, we are also called to challenge the structures that entrench disadvantage and poverty in Victoria.
Our Strategic Advocacy Plan 2026–2030 is built on a clear conviction: homelessness and poverty in Victoria are preventable and solvable. By strengthening housing security and investing in social capital, we can build a future where everyone has a place to call home and a community to belong to.
Advocating for a fairer Victoria
Our advocacy is grounded in the lived experience of those we support, research and deep community connection. We focus on practical, long-term solutions that support people to find stability, dignity and belonging.
Together with VincentCare Victoria and VincentCare Community Housing, we provide an integrated continuum of care across the state - from crisis accommodation to permanent, social and affordable housing and everything needed in between.
We work collaboratively with government, sector partners, Society members and volunteers to influence policy, shape public understanding and mobilise communities for lasting change. We are proudly non-partisan and guided by our mission, values and evidence. Our focus is, and always will be, on outcomes for people experiencing disadvantage.
Our core focus areas
- Housing security and homelessness prevention:
Shifting from crisis management to long-term affordable housing policy in Victoria. - Strengthening social capital and community connection:
Investing in the relationships and networks that help people stay housed and connected. - Poverty reduction and access to essential services:
Ensuring fair access to the resources every Victorian needs to thrive. - Lived experience–informed policy:
Placing the voices of those who have experienced hardship at the center of housing policy in Victoria.
Inside Our Plan
- Our 'One Big Ask' for Victorian Housing Reform.
- Strategies for strengthening social capital in local communities.
- Key policy priorities to build homes, restore hope and strengthen communities.
Join us in shaping a Victoria where everyone has a home DOWNLOAD
Research
Pathway to Home scoping review
Research Agenda 2026-2030
____________________________________________
Q&As
Our mission is grounded in The Rule which calls on us to, not just to relieve hardship, but to address its causes. The advocacy plan ensures that what our members, volunteers and employees see through their work is used in a structured way to influence the issues which lead to homelessness and poverty. The plan ensures that this insight is used in a structured, deliberate way to influence policy, system changes and government decisions.
The Society takes what members and volunteers see every day and turns it into evidence, stories and policy asks for government. This evidence gets pushed through campaigns, media, research and direct engagement with Ministers and MPs. In simple terms, those frontline stories lead to a structured advocacy campaign, which then leads to policy change.
The evidence points to four things — increase supply of social and affordable homes, get people into that housing as quickly as possible, introduce prevention policies to stop people becoming homeless in the first place and invest in the social capital that helps people stay housed. When these are working together, we see results.
Our focus is a long-term housing strategy and prevention framework, developed in partnership with the Society, that delivers more social and affordable homes and invests in the social capital that keeps people housed. We bring a large, trusted volunteer base, deep community reach and on-the-ground insight into what is working and what is not. That makes us a credible partner not just in shaping policy, but in helping government deliver it on the ground.
____________________________________________
As Vincentians, we are guided by faith in action. Our mission calls us to serve with compassion, but also to seek justice. Frederic Ozanam did not separate charity from reform. He believed that to love the poor was to stand beside them and to challenge the structures that diminished their dignity.
The Strategic Advocacy Plan 2026-2030 reflects that same spirit. It draws on the daily commitment of our members and volunteers who strengthen communities through presence, trust and solidarity. Social capital – the relationships built through home visits, meals shared and quiet conversations – is not an abstract concept. It is the lived expression of our Vincentian values.
In speaking for people who are unheard, we do so humbly and respectfully, grounded in experience and guided by hope. This plan is not the work of one team. It belongs to the whole Society. Through service and advocacy together, we continue the example set by Frederic Ozanam – turning compassion into justice and ensuring every person has the dignity of a home and a community that cares.