Homelessness Action Now

What is Homelessness Week?

Homelessness Week is an annual campaign held 3–9 August 2026 to raise awareness of homelessness and build community and government commitment to end it. That means highlighting the causes and impacts of homelessness, and helping the community understand how they can use their voice to make a difference.

It's also an important opportunity to call for change. When homelessness organisations and advocates across Australia take action together, we send a clear message to every federal and state Member of Parliament that change is needed now.

At the St Vincent de Paul Society Victoria, we use this week to shine a light on the people we walk alongside every day, and to ask Victorians to help us do more.

Visit Homelessness Australia to see all the events planned for Homelessness Week.

What we do

Across Victoria, our teams walk alongside people experiencing homelessness, doing the practical, everyday work that helps people find safety, stability and a path forward.

What St Vincent de Paul Society Victoria, VincentCare Victoria and VincentCare Community Housing do to address homelessness:

Emergency financial support:
We pay for emergency accommodation for people facing hardship or crisis, such as a mum escaping family violence. Our first priority is to get people somewhere safe with a roof over their head.

Vinnies Soup Vans:
Our Vinnies Soup Van hubs deliver meals to rough sleepers and people living in low-cost or temporary accommodation every night.

Vinnies NILS (No Interest Loans Scheme):
People on low incomes can access no-interest credit to pay for essential household goods and expenses.

Housing & Homelessness assistance:
Our specialised homelessness service and provider, VincentCare Victoria and VincentCare Community Housing, assists some of Victoria's most vulnerable communities into housing.

Vinnies Shops:
Our op shops raise vital funds for our programs and services, every single day, while providing affordable clothing and household goods to the community.

Community fundraising:
Initiatives like the Vinnies CEO Sleepout and School Sleepout raise vital funds and awareness, helping us expand crisis accommodation and support across Victoria.

Specific programs for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

Journey to Social Inclusion (J2SI): 
An intensive, long-term support program for people who have experienced repeated homelessness. J2SI provides up to three years of dedicated case management to help people secure stable housing and address the underlying causes of homelessness.

Pride in Place:
A dedicated initiative supporting LGBTIQA+ people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, providing safe,
inclusive housing pathways and support tailored to their needs.

Crisis, extended supported accommodation and Independent Living Units at Ozanam House:
Ozanam House offers a full continuum of accommodation, from crisis beds for people sleeping rough, through
to extended supported accommodation and Independent Living Units, helping people move towards lasting stability.

Marian Community & Olive's Place:
Specialist Family Violence Services, including refuge and crisis accommodation, information on future housing options, as well as referrals to specialised counselling, court support, and material and financial assistance.

VincentCare Community Housing (VCCH) is our registered housing provider, delivering long-term and transitional housing across Victoria under the Residential Tenancies Act.

Transitional housing:
VCCH manages over 160 transitional properties, mostly across Melbourne's northwest, on behalf of the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. These homes give people who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, somewhere safe to live while working towards long-term housing.

Long-term housing (Independent Living Units):
Affordable, long-term housing for older people experiencing disadvantage, with Independent Living Units in Alfredton, Bendigo, Mildura, Maryborough, Red Cliffs and North Melbourne.

Big Housing Build:
Victoria's largest-ever investment in social and affordable housing. VCCH is delivering three projects: a 92-unit apartment block in Footscray, an Independent Living Units redevelopment in Bendigo, and nine townhouses in Epping.

What causes homelessness?

There's no single reason why someone experiences homelessness. It can happen to anyone.

People may experience homelessness due to job loss, family breakdown, mental health challenges, domestic and family violence, or the rising cost of living. Right now, rising costs have many people and families, including those with jobs, on the brink of homelessness, choosing between paying an energy bill or putting food on the table.

So it's not always the people you think. Often, it's a combination of factors, and once someone loses stable housing, it can be very hard to get back on their feet without support.

That's why services like ours are so important, to help people find safety, stability and a path forward.

Homelessness in Victoria

For most people experiencing homelessness in Victoria, it doesn't just look like sleeping on the street. It means couch surfing, living in a car, or moving between unsafe, temporary places to stay, always unsure of what comes next.

Homelessness in Victoria rose 24% between 2016 and 2021 - nearly five times the 5% national increase (ABS 2021 Census). Nearly 30,000 people are on the priority waiting list for social housing in Victoria, and demand on frontline services keeps growing (Victorian Housing Register).

Sources: ABS 2021 Census; Victorian Housing Register; Vinnies Welfare Assistance Call Centre 2024 data; AIHW Specialist Homelessness Services 2024–25.

The issues

Homelessness is often hidden. It's easy to miss what isn't visible, and easier still to underfund the support people need to find safety and stability.

Domestic and family violence is now the number one reason people seek homelessness support in Australia. Women account for 60% of the 289,000 people seeking homelessness support nationally each year (AIHW).

Victoria recorded 14,520 people seeking homelessness support in June 2025 - the highest of any state (AIHW Specialist Homelessness Services 2024–25). Nearly 30,000 people are on the priority waiting list for social housing in Victoria, with 55,000 on the list altogether (Victorian Housing Register).

A lack of crisis accommodation sends thousands of women, and their children, back to unsafe homes every year, simply because they have nowhere else to go.

For many people, the choice isn't between a good option and a bad one. It's between staying somewhere unsafe or facing homelessness. That's not a choice anyone should have to make.

Get involved this Homelessness Week

Homelessness Week is our chance to bring homelessness into the open and push for real change.

Here's how you can be part of it:

• Donate to help fund emergency relief, food and crisis accommodation across Victoria.
  
  
• Volunteer with a local conference, soup van or op shop.
  
  
• Register for the Vinnies CEO Sleepout or start your own community fundraiser to help fund crisis accommodation and support.
  
  
• Share our Factsheet and social media posts @vinniesvictoria and @vincentcarevic and @vincentcarecommunityhousing using the hashtag #HW2026 to help more Victorians understand what homelessness really looks like.

Other homelessness support services in Victoria

If you or someone you know needs support, these services may also be able to help:

• Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre: 24/7 crisis response, refuge and support for women and children experiencing family violence. Call 1800 015 188.
  
  
• 1800RESPECT: 24/7 confidential counselling and support for domestic, family and sexual violence. Call 1800 737 732.
  
  
• The Orange Door: Free service connecting Victorians experiencing family violence, or families who need extra support, with local services.
  
  
• Ask Izzy: Free, anonymous directory to help find nearby housing, food, health and other support services.
  
  
• Lifeline: 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention counselling. Call 13 11 14.
  
  
• Council to Homeless Persons: Peak body for the homelessness sector in Victoria, with information and referral resources.