Homelessness is something that people experience; it is not who they are. Being without secure and affordable accommodation can devastate a person's life, whether it lasts a very short time, several months, or years.

Homelessness affects people from all sections of the community. It can occur when people experience a crisis such as job loss, grief, or family violence, or to those who may have struggled with disadvantage all their lives. Everyone’s experience of homelessness is unique, and it can happen to anyone at any point in their lives.

City of Melbourne uses the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) definition of homelessness:

“When a person does not have suitable accommodation alternatives, they are considered as experiencing homelessness if their current living arrangement:

• is in a dwelling that is inadequate
• has no tenure, or if their initial tenure is short and not extendable
• does not allow them to have control of and access to space for social relations.”

City of Melbourne is a national leader in local government responses to homelessness and affordable housing. Over the past two decades, we have invested in housing solutions, worked to address the complex drivers of homelessness, and coordinated and funded services for people in need.

We support the Housing First approach, which prioritises getting people into permanent housing with accompanying support services as the best way to address homelessness. Yet despite all our work over the past 20 years, the lack of affordable housing in the city continues to be a barrier to get people into long-term, safe and secure housing.

We want to end homelessness in Melbourne by securing sustainable and affordable housing for all. The City of Melbourne created Homes Melbourne in response to the housing and homelessness crisis, to reduce homelessness and increase safe, secure, and affordable housing in our city. As part of our response, Homes Melbourne is delivering on our Affordable Housing Strategy and has developed a draft Homelessness Strategy.

Find out more at Homes Melbourne.

Our research identified the need to focus our strategy and work on four main groups:

1. Aboriginal peoples
2. People experiencing rough sleeping and long term or chronic homelessness
3. Women
4. Young people (15-25 years)

The first two groups are over-represented in our homeless population, while women and young people are prioritised because they have unique unmet needs within Melbourne’s homelessness system.

It’s important to note that while we highlight specific groups, we are also committed to achieving safe and affordable housing for everyone in our city. Although there is a lack of data relating to homelessness in the LGBTIQA+ communities, this strategy recognises that other groups of people are over-represented.

We also understand the intersectionality of identity – a person experiencing homelessness may hold the identity with many groups. This intersectionality needs to be considered when designing policy and service delivery systems. Our work will amplify the voices of LGBTIQA+ communities and other groups who may experience exclusion, including older people, people with a disability and people from multicultural communities.

We have included indicators against each outcome in the priority areas below so that we can monitor our progress. These measures will help track the progress and effectiveness of the strategy in helping to end homelessness in our city.

We have recorded baseline year data and will use qualitative and quantitative analysis from our funded services to report on the trends and our progress. Success indicators will be tracked annually and we will inform the community of our progress.

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights formalises the right to adequate housing (Article 25). All UN member countries, including Australia, adopted the declaration at the time.

International human rights law further recognises that every person has the right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate housing (Article 11, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights). Australia ratified this Covenant in 1975.

People experiencing homelessness face violations of a wide range of human rights, such as the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to education, and the right to freedom from discrimination. Several international treaties protect these human rights, particularly the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. As a party to all these treaties, Australia is under legal and moral obligations to respect, protect and realise the human rights of all people.

We will incorporate community feedback in our draft Strategy and create a final document. The final strategy will go to Council in mid-2024 to be endorsed. Following endorsement, the strategy will be delivered through consecutive two-year action plans. The will enable us to review the plan and priority areas every two years and update them in response to the changing nature of homelessness and social, political and economic changes.

We record baseline yearly data and use qualitative and quantitative analysis from funded services to report on the trends and our progress.

Success indicators will be tracked annually and we will inform the community of our progress.