The sun is shining (finally); we’ve rested up and are raring to make 2024 the year of real progress towards making homelessness history together.
A huge welcome to our newest Melbourne Zero Network Members – including Dulux, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and the City of Yarra – now a 40-strong partner network calling for change and taking practical actions to end street homelessness.
We’ve got a big New Year’s resolution to share soon to help make our beautiful city one where everyone has a home.
This month, read Shah’s story about what it’s like to sleep on the streets, check in on 6 LGA’s progress towards Zero, and watch how children and comedy are sparking conversations about homelessness and how to end it. And want to know what a ‘Melbourne Doughnut’ is? Read on...
Join us for a grassroots action workshop
Next month, Melbourne Zero will run our first grassroots workshop for people passionate about creating meaningful, local change. That’s you!
To end homelessness in Melbourne, we’re starting with ending rough sleeping, and we need people across our city to champion change in their local community.
Covering everything from small, day-to-day actions and social meetups to advocating for homelessness policies at local council meetings, this workshop is your starting point for creating change in your local community.
Join us on Wednesday, February 28th, from 6-7:30 pm in Melbourne CBD.
What it’s like to sleep on the streets of Melbourne
Railway stations, laneways, bus stops, staircases beside libraries – Shah has sought refuge in all these spots across our city. Not by choice. For him, over a decade, it was a necessity.
“I couldn’t sleep, there were always people around at all hours of the night. Or if I was somewhere quieter, I was scared for my safety, never knowing what would come next.”
One night his bag was stolen, with his ID and sentimental belongings inside.
Shah, now in long-term housing and receiving care for his health issues, says he never lost hope.
Shah’s story is a reminder of the future for Melbourne we’re pushing for – one where no one sleeps rough, scared and cold.
What’s so funny about homelessness?
“One issue. Six leaders. Three children. No bullshit.”
That’s what the new Australian comedy, Plausible Deniability, promises in this thought-provoking series following the politics of homelessness through the eyes of three school kids tasked with making a documentary on the issue.
We sat down with the young actors from the show to ask – what’s so funny about homelessness?
2023 Wrapped: Advancing to Zero across Melbourne
In the 6 Local Government Areas now running Zero projects, over 1600 people were recorded as sleeping rough during 2023. Through developing and using ‘By Name Lists’ that focus on getting to know people sleeping rough and responding to their unique needs, through deep collaboration by partners and services across each LGA, over a quarter of these people have now been housed.
We know there are now just under 200 people in these LGAs still sleeping out in unsheltered situations or in tents, cars and squats.
The City of Port Phillip has recently dipped beneath 50 people on their By Name List, with less than half still sleeping rough. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People active on the list are, for the first time, less than 10.
There’s been some big wins for local communities during the past year. Port Phillip has now joined Stonnington in what we call the ‘Home Stretch’ to end rough sleeping in their community. Stay tuned!
The Melbourne Doughnut (no, not the kind you’re thinking)
Big congrats to our friends over at Regen Melbourne who are not shy of big bold projects to reimagine Melbourne. Love it. Those clever folk have created the ‘Melbourne Doughnut’, which aims to ‘measure what matters’, a pathway designed to build our understanding of our city's progress as a whole, including looking at housing.
You might have heard of “Doughnut Economics”. It was invented by an English economist, Kate Raworth, seeking to eradicate poverty and end environmental destruction.
Check out the Melbourne Doughnut and have a play.