In July 2023, the City of Yarra, cohealth and Launch Housing launched Yarra Zero.

The project takes a place-based collective impact approach to reduce the number of people experiencing rough sleeping by connecting with and getting to know each person and adding them to the local ‘By Name List’ to. The project brings togetherlocal system partners who work collectively and share data to provide a truly client-centred approach and to help build trust with clients who have often been moved from service to service over their many years of homelessness. Knowing everyone by name helps the system understand needs and by providing an integrated and holistic response, helps people find and sustain housing.

In addition, local partners who have united to support this project include, St Mary’s House of Welcome, St Vincent’s Hospital, Ngwala Willumbong, The Salvation Army, North Richmond Community Health, Aboriginal Housing Victoria, and the Fitzroy Legal Service. Enabling partners include the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, Victoria Police, and the Northern Homelessness Network.

Project goal

The goal of Yarra Zero is to achieve Functional Zero homelessness for people sleeping rough in the City of Yarra. This is when the number of people entering and experiencing rough sleeping homelessness within a month is less than the average monthly placement rate into long-term housing, or three. Once achieved it must be sustained and any future experiences of rough sleeping homelessness are brief, rare and once-off.  This will be because the housing and support resources required to end rough sleeping homelessness are efficiently coordinated and sufficient to meet the needs of all people who sleep and live in this area.

How are we going?

Homelessness is ended when people move into safe, sustainable, long-term housing of their choice. This includes public or community housing or private rental that meets an acceptable minimum standard of a self-contained dwelling with its own kitchen and bathroom facilities. The person must have security of tenure evidenced by a signed tenancy agreement. This includes aged care and long-term special residential services. The chart below shows that the number of people experiencing rough sleeping in the City of Yarra and staying homeless is currently greater than our capacity to house them. 

Sleeping rough and actively homeless

People are added onto the BNL when we meet them and they are sleeping rough. This means  they are staying in an unsheltered living situation, a car or abandoned building or dwelling unfit for human habitation (eg a ‘squat’). Once added they become ‘active’ on the BNL. This chart shows the ‘active’ number of people since the project started. By showing the number of people who remain sleeping rough we can also see that people who are connected to the project gradually move into different living situations in the figure further below.

Actively homeless and changes in living situations

Most people prefer not to sleep rough and these experiences are usually characterised by movement between different living situations as their circumstances change. The figure below shows this change over time as people connect to the network of services in this project. The chart shows some people move into safer forms of sheltered emergency accommodation such as hotels, motels, or specialist crisis accommodation, or  other forms of temporary housing including Transitional housing (THM) or Head Lease housing. They also move into community rooming houses or other forms of tenure but remain homelessness. These are not final housing outcomes so people remain ‘active’ even though their living situations may have improved. People may live in these for several years before an offer of social housing is finally made.

The most important reason people stay on the list and don't move into safe and secure homes is that there simply aren't enough homes in Victoria that people on low incomes can afford. If 10 homes are available and 50 people need homes, 40 people are going to remain without a home, no matter how hard everyone tries to house them. Based on current estimates, in agreement with Council to Homeless Persons, we know that Victoria needs to build at least 6,000 homes every year for the next decade to meet current and expected future demand.

Partners

• Yarra Zero is being delivered in partnership with:
• Aboriginal Housing Victoria
• Bolton Clark Homeless Persons Program
• Cohealth
• Collingwood Neighbourhood Justice Centre
• Fitzroy Legal Service
• North Richmond Community Health
• Ngwala Willumbong
• St Mary’s House of Welcome
• St Vincent’s Hospital
• The Salvation Army
• Uniting Vic Tas (St Marks)

• Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH)
• Homes Victoria
• Department of Justice and Community Safety (DoJ)
• Victoria Police
• The Northern Homelessness Network

• Andrew McDougall & Frances Ilyine Foundation  
• Ballarat Foundation
• Collier Charitable Trust
• Creswick Woolen Mills (300 Blankets)
• Erdi Foundation
• Percy Baxter Charitable Trust 
• The Blueshore Charitable Trust 
• The Bowden Marstan Foundation 
• The Jack Brockoff Foundation
• William Angliss Charitable Fund
• Many generous individual donors