By Harrison Borthwick
THE Victorian government have announced a further $24.8m to help strengthen Victoria’s response to rough sleeping crisis.
The Mornington Peninsula is one of the areas most targeted in the push to help reduce homelessness and more specifically rough sleeping.
As of August 2026, there are 157 active homeless cases on the Mornington Peninsula, 107 of which are rough sleeping.
The August 2026 numbers are a significant increase on twelve-months ago, when there were 105 cases of active homelessness.
The government is hoping this latest investment will help fund new measures to respond to rough sleeping and get and keep people house.
The new measures outlined included; the rollout of by-name lists to help direct recourses and priories rough sleepers most in need, the expansion of assertive outreach workers to every area of the state, expanded Housing First tenancy supports for an extra 1,000 people at risk of homelessness, and further address youth homelessness.
Victorian homelessness minister Nick Staikos said this new investment is to help find new ways to tackle the increasing issue of homelessness in Victoria.
“Our homelessness response spans the full continuum – from outreach and crisis accommodation to supportive housing and social homes,” said Staikos.
Mornington Community Support Centre CEO Ben Smith told The News the new investment is encouraging but it’s still early days.
“I think this demonstrates that the government has listened to the advocates on the peninsula that have been doing hard work,” said Smith.
“It won’t solve all of the problems, but it will certainly contribute to providing some great resourcing on the ground.”
The new announcement comes after the Victorian government announced a $2.1m funding package dedicated towards homelessness outreach services on the peninsula back in July of this year (“Homelessness funding announcement for outreach services”, The News, 28/7/26).
First published in the Mornington News – 15 September 2026
