Despite millions in government investment, more than 2000 households are on the priority housing waitlist across south-west Victoria, and community leaders are using National Homelessness Week to spotlight the region’s growing crisis.

National Homelessness Week runs from August 4, and Barwon South West Homelessness Network (BSWHN) is just one of many organisations involved from the state’s west. Lindsay Stow, Chair of BSWHN, told the Brolga they are calling for urgent solutions.

“Victoria’s homelessness crisis is unacceptable,” said Stow, “and local homelessness agencies are calling for urgent solutions.”

Network Coordinator at BSWHN, Rebecca Callahan, said real, affordable housing was paramount.

“The first step to ending homelessness is ensuring people have access to housing they can afford,” she said. 

“There needs to be a commitment to build a pipeline of public and community housing beyond the Big Housing Build.”

What is the Big Housing Build? 

In 2021, the state government allocated $1.25 billion to regional housing developments out of its $5 billion Big Housing Build. 

Current works underway in the south west include a supported housing project in Warrnambool for people living with mental illness. The development, funded through the state’s Big Housing Build, is being delivered by Mind Australia and The Haven Foundation, and is expected to be completed in early 2026.

Elsewhere, 16 new social housing homes were completed in Ararat last month under the state government’s funding.

Ararat Rural City Council has also announced a $7.3 million grant through the federal government’s Housing Support Program to support infrastructure for up to 90 new homes, with about 70 per cent to be social, community or affordable housing.

Still, across south-west Victoria there are hundreds of households waiting for access to housing. Recent waitlist data showed there were 994 households in Warrnambool, 460 in Glenelg, 292 in Southern Grampians, 179 in Corangamite and 152 in Moyne remaining on the Victorian Housing Register.

“Systemic failure”

While some development is being made to increase the amount of housing available in the region, Liberal member for the South West Coast, Roma Britnell, told the Brolga the increasing issue of homelessness is a “systemic failure that demands urgent attention.”

“The primary drivers in our region are clear: a severe shortage of affordable housing, rising cost-of-living pressures, family violence, and the lack of accessible mental health and addiction services,” she said.

The 2024/25 budget allocated $197 million statewide for accommodation and support services, including the Homes First program. 

Britnell said she South West coast had seen “little of that investment materialise.” 

“The social housing waitlist continues to grow, with families languishing for years without secure housing.”

The West Vic Brolga has contacted the state government for comment.

Header image: Houses at Parliament, a Homelessness Week campaign to raise awareness for the 60,000 Victorians currently on the Victorian Housing register waiting to access public or social housing.