Council to Homeless Persons has issued an impassioned plea to the Victorian Government to continue its legacy of bold reforms by funding evidence-backed programs and solutions to the state's worsening homelessness emergency.
Victoria's peak body for homelessness has used its 2026-27 budget submission to highlight the highest rates of homelessness in living memory, calling for urgent and strategic investments which could turn the tide for the state, which has the lowest share of social housing in the country.
"The Victorian Government has a strong track record of bold reform. Our leaders have given us action on Treaty, voluntary assisted dying laws and supervised injecting rooms. This government is in a position to end homelessness. I hope for the sake of so many lives at risk that they make solving the housing crisis their biggest and boldest reform yet," Council to Homeless Persons CEO Deborah Di Natale said.
"The housing and homelessness emergency is felt by all Victorians. The next state budget could not be more critical in dictating which way this problem goes."
Council to Homeless Persons has called for bold actions in next year's budget including:
Expand prevention and early intervention programs including adequately funding seriously stretched specialist homelessness services and establishing a Victorian Homelessness Prevention Task Force
Invest more heavily in crisis responses including Housing First programs such as 'From Homelessness to a Home', which in the past demonstrated incredibly high levels of success in Victoria but was discontinued
Commit to a social housing blitz by building at least 60,000 social homes over 15 years in line with what Infrastructure Victoria has recommended as a viable and sustainable solution to housing pressures in the state
"Keeping people on waiting lists for help and trapped in a cycle of homelessness is incredibly costly. Investing in solving this crisis is not only about helping those of us who are in frightening situations, but it also makes so much economic sense.
"More than 100,000 Victorians sought support from the specialist homelessness sector in 2023-24, but many of them did not get the help they needed due to insufficient funding and the social housing shortage causing flow-on blockages in crisis and transitional accommodation. There are now more than 66,000 people on the waiting list for social housing," Ms Di Natale said.
"The government has a choice to make that will change the lives of tens of thousands of Victorians. The cost of inaction is working families trapped in poverty, children missing school and women going back to unsafe situations because they have nowhere else to go. This crisis is the worst it's been. We cannot risk it getting worse. We urge the government to act. Lives depend on it."
Council to Homeless Persons' budget submission can be found here: https://chp.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/CHP-2026-27-Budget-Submission.pdf
Fast facts:
102,000 people sought assistance from homelessness services in Victoria in 2023/24 (up 4% from the previous year)
60,000 of them (58%) were women
13,000 were working Victorians (up 23% in 5 years)
One third of people seeking homelessness assistance in Australia are in Victoria, but we have the lowest proportion of social housing in the country (3%)
