The Victorian Homelessness Network has teamed up with Council to Homeless Persons to push for better government funding for homelessness.
On Wednesday July 31, 6000 origami houses covered the steps of Victorian Parliament. The figure represents the amount of public and community homes needed each year for the next decade to house Victorians sleeping rough.
There are more than 58,000 families on the social housing waitlist.
The aim is to illustrate the lack of social housing and investment needed to tackle the homelessness crisis.
It comes in the lead up to Homelessness Week, which takes place from August 5 – 11.
Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Deborah Di Natale said failure to adequately invest in social housing will make things significantly worse.
“The soaring cost of housing and other essentials means a job is no longer enough to protect someone from homelessness. The number of employed people seeking homelessness support, mostly women, jumped by 14% in the past year,” she said.
“Victoria is languishing at the bottom of the league table when it comes to social housing. Less than 3% of all dwellings are public and community homes.”
“The Victorian government is taking steps in the right direction, with recent funding for frontline services and housing first programs. But this barely scratches the surface of community demand.”
Victorian Homelessness Network spokesperson Rebecca Callahan said the solution to help more than 30,000 homeless Victorians was not easy but available.
“By building 60,000 additional, appropriate social homes and implementing the 10 Year National Housing and Homelessness Plan, we can turn the homelessness crisis around and ensure everybody has a safe place to call home,” she said.
