THE Southern Women’s Action Network (SWAN) will be hosting Roundtable 2 this November – a forum that will bring together community leaders, service providers, and government representatives to discuss strategies to address the peninsula’s growing housing and homelessness crisis.
The Federal Government’s Housing and Homelessness Special Envoy, Josh Burns, will attend the event. He said he wants to hear directly from local organisations working to assist vulnerable residents. The discussion will focus on community concerns, current support efforts and both short and long-term possible solutions.
The peninsula has experienced an increase in homelessness over the past few years. According to SWAN, a volunteer-based organisation, the peninsula now has the highest number of rough sleepers across Victoria’s nine metropolitan local government areas.
SWAN Facilitator Diane McDonald said the upcoming meeting and Burns’ attendance is an important step in advocating for fairer funding and government support. “We are really looking forward to having the Special Envoy Josh Burns MP visit the peninsula so he can hear and see first-hand from our hard-working local community agencies just how dire the situation is,” McDonald said. “We want him to fully understand the urgent need for our region to receive a fair share of funding support.”
Despite the efforts of local community support agencies, many larger NGOs funded by the state and federal governments have limited “on-the-ground” presence on the peninsula. This often means vulnerable residents must travel to Dandenong or inner Melbourne to receive emergency relief and support.
The peninsula’s classification as part of metropolitan Melbourne has also created funding inequities. SWAN said this designation results in smaller funding allocations than comparable agencies in other regions. Recently, due to a lack of emergency relief funds, the only local Assertive Outreach Service on the peninsula was forced to close its books due to overwhelming demand.
Belinda Rodman, president of the Southern Peninsula Community Support Board, said the need for help is urgent. “With 65% of our centre’s 1600 clients currently at risk of becoming homeless the situation will only continue to get worse,” she said. “We urgently need recognition of the peninsula as a priority region for homelessness.”
SWAN began a series of meetings in early 2024 to push for stronger government action and assistance on the issue. This led to the first Roundtable in December last year, which was attended by the state’s Housing Minister Harriet Shing. The forum highlighted concerns about insufficient funding for social and emergency housing on the peninsula.
Since then, local conditions have worsened. In the past 12 months, three people living in makeshift shelters on the Rosebud foreshore have died. SWAN hopes the November roundtable and Burns’ attendance will lead beyond discussion and create tangible action.
“Our hard-working local organisations are at a breaking point and desperately need State and Federal funding to provide services and housing for our local community,” McDonald said. “I am sure all the groups and organisations in the room will let [Burns] know the most urgent priorities, and what they can and will do to help address the immediate and longer-term needs, if given sufficient government assistance.”
First published in the Mornington News – 28 October 2025
