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At least 30,000 Victorians don’t have a home tonight (including 6,800 children).  ​They’re living in their car, staying somewhere temporary like a friend’s couch, in a shelter or refuge, living in severly over-crowded housing or have nowhere to go at all.   In a country as wealthy as Australia, no-one should be without a home.   The top 3 causes of homelessness are family violence, financial difficulties, and the housing crisis.

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 We can end homelessness by building more homes. For most people, a home that they can afford would end their homelessness.

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The Victorian Homelessness Network, the Network of all the Regional Homelessness Networks, ran the ‘Houses at Parliament’ campaign again in 2025.  We folded over 60,000 origami houses across the State,  displayed at services  and in the community across Victoria through Homelessness Week.

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SHSN Houses at Parliament Homelessness Week Exhibition at the Victorian Pride Centre

The SHSN Houses at Parliament Homelessness Week Exhibition at the Victorian Pride Centre was a huge success.

The exhibition included a display about the Houses at Parliament campaign, an installation of origami houses used in Houses at Parliament and an interactive display where visitors could make an origami house, write a message and add it to the display and the Statewide Tally.

We held a morning tea for our members and local MPs, councillors and mayors and guest speakers speaking from lived experience of homelessness and many years experience at the homelessness frontline.  Josh Burns, local MP for Macnamara and Special Envoy for Social Housing and Homelessness spoke at the event, showing his understanding and commitment to ending homelessness.

Here are some quotes from these powerful speeches - 

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But here’s the heart of the matter: Short-term support doesn’t work for long-term trauma.   You can’t slap a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. What I need—and what many others need—is consistent, ongoing support, tailored to the realities we face: instability, social isolation, and daily battles just to function (Chris R).

I’m not the exception. I’m just the one with the microphone today.  You see, my formal supports work. OT works.  Support workers keep me and those I care for afloat. But when services are capped or cut, the progress stops—and the slide begins again.  Let me be crystal clear: without sustained support, I cannot function independently (Chris R). 

And please—don’t let this system fail because of bureaucracy or arbitrary time limits. You wouldn’t stop chemotherapy halfway through and tell the patient, “Good luck with that tumour.” Mental health needs the same consideration (Chris R).

It's also worth noting that whatever you say about homelessness, the opposite is also true. It includes people with university degrees and those who never finished primary school. It includes people who have been homeowners and those who have never had a home. It includes people who’ve held well-paid jobs and those who’ve never had paid employment (Chris M).

And yet, here we are again: rough sleeping, is being treated as a public alarm. Not primarily because it’s a pressing issue of social justice, but because the presence of rough sleepers and their belongings on the footpath is seen as a public nuisance and a danger (Chris M). 

This community generosity is vital. Ending homelessness requires support beyond welfare organizations. We can only make real progress on social justice when the whole community stands together... If ever there were a time for creativity, new ideas and bravery instead of law and order and fear mongering this is it (Chris M).

The SHSN thanks the Victorian Pride Centre for their wonderful support for the SHSN Houses at Parliament Campaign.  Here are some photos from the SHSN Homelessness Week Houses at Parliament Exhibition at the Victorian Pride Centre.​​​