Southern Women's Action Network SWAN

29/10/2026

Minister Staikos announces State government’s funding for a new crisis housing development in Mornington to be funded by the Short Stay accomodation levy. This is great news!

SWAN Women for Housing Justice members attended the announcement and were acknowledged by the Minister for their important advocacy work.

Today’s announcement is a very important step in ensuring the Mornington Peninsula gets its fair share of funding to help us address homelessness and provide support for people in need.

28/10/2026

Zoe Upton from the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria will be talking Treaty this weekend. Come along to this information session if you are curious about Treaty. Please extend this invitation to family, friends, colleagues - anyone who is interested in hearing more. Link to book tickets is below 👇

Date: Saturday 31st of October

Time: 2pm

Location: The Studio 91 Wilsons Road, Mornington

Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/DQLMU

27/10/2026

📣 You might see some familiar faces on the front page of the local newspaper this week 👀

24/10/2026

Yesterday SWAN women celebrated the launch of our new book ‘Where SWAN’s Soar’ and portrait exhibition.

Special thanks to Jodie Belyea MP for officially launching the book, which will be tabled in Federal Parliament next week.

We’d also like to thank Cr Kate Roper who spoke on behalf of the Mornington Peninsula Shire about the important role women play in our community.

The SWAN portrait exhibition will be displayed in Mornington Peninsula Shire libraries over the coming months.

Where SWAN’s Soar is available for purchase for $25. Please contact us via email to order your copy!

16/09/2026

Please sign and share this petition ❤️💛🖤

Jess Wilson's Liberal Party will rip up Treaty with First Peoples if elected this November. Sign the petition and tell her: hands off Treaty.

10/09/2026

Some important steps forward for homelessness on the Mornington Peninsula 🏠

This week saw the release of the Council to Homeless Persons Walk In Her Shoes: Victorian Community Insights Report — bringing together what communities across Victoria said needs to change if we are serious about ending homelessness.

The report highlighted the housing crisis on the Mornington Peninsula.

We have the highest number of rough sleepers in the state.

Rents are around $50 per week higher than Greater Melbourne and more than one-third of households are experiencing rental stress.

Significant revenue is being collected from short-stay accommodation. A fair share of that revenue should be invested back into housing and homelessness services here on the Mornington Peninsula.

Link to report here:

https://chp.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/WIHS-Statewide-Community-Insights-Report.pdf

Yesterday Victorian Premier, the Hon Ben Carroll MP and Housing and Homelessness Minister, the Hon Nick Staikos MP announced the Comprehensive New Plan to Rebuild Lives and End Rough Sleeping, backed by a $24.8 million investment. The plan will leverage existing funding and introduce new measures to respond to rough sleeping, get people housed and keep people housed.

The plan outlines:

* The roll out of coordinated by-name lists and an online triage system to help direct resources, prioritise rough sleepers most in need, and collate data and insights

* New complex care coordinators working across the state to lead multi-agency support and client referrals to reduce wait-times for support

* 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

* Addressing youth homelessness in metropolitan and regional Victoria by providing ongoing operational funding for crucial centres

The Housing Minister also addressed the issue of locally investing revenue collected by the Air BnB levy saying:

“One of the first visits I made as minister for housing was the Mornington Peninsula. It has the largest number of rough sleepers outside of Melbourne C*D, and it has a very, very high number of women sleeping rough. It is also a place with a lot of properties listed on short stay platforms, and so we will fund supported housing on the Mornington Peninsula out of the short stay levy.”

So many of us have been working hard for years to gain the attention of local community leaders and politicians at all levels to recognise our special circumstances. With this announcement we can see that the Mornington Peninsula’s real and unique circumstances and needs have been heard and recognised.

Thank you to everyone for your sustained efforts and good works. Together we are making progress in making sure that our community gets its fair share of funding and the support services and facilities that we so desperately need.

We would also like to thank the Minister for Housing for recognising publicly at the announcement the advocacy and action work of the SWAN Women for Housing Justice group. As a group of volunteers this was a very nice way to hear that our relentless efforts had been of value.

There is of course still more to do and we at SWAN never give up on striving for social justice.

02/08/2026

Homelessness Week kicked off with The Ranch Winter Sleep Out on Friday night.

Community gathered to spend the coldest night of the year sleeping in a tent or their car at The Ranch Adventure Park to raise awareness and much needed funds for Southern Peninsula Community Support

Over $20k was raised 👏👏👏

Here’s a list of Homelessness Week events:

• Information Session: Mornington Peninsula's Housing Story (4 August)
Mornington Peninsula Shire is hosting a free online information session featuring a live
demonstration of the housing id tool. Attendees will gain insights into local housing trends,
supply, demand and affordability, and learn how to access housing data through the free
Housing Monitor platform.

• Shine a Light on Homelessness (5 August)
Residents, businesses, schools and community groups are encouraged to leave a porch light,
window light or LED candle on overnight as a symbol of hope and solidarity with people
experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. Green light bulbs can be collected from Shire offices.

• Volunteer and Service Provider Appreciation Dinner (5 August)
An invitation-only event recognising and thanking the dedicated volunteers, frontline
workers and community organisations whose tireless efforts support people experiencing
homelessness across the Mornington Peninsula.

• One Night Without (6 August)
Led by Western Port Community Support, this community challenge encourages participants
to give up one everyday comfort, such as a bed, heating or a meal, to help raise awareness,
foster empathy and inspire action.

• Youth Homelessness Forum (7 August)
Community leaders, service providers and stakeholders will come together to discuss youth
homelessness on the Mornington Peninsula and explore ways to better support young
people at risk.

For more information and ways to get involved, visit mornpen.vic.gov.au/homelessness-week

29/07/2026

Winter Sleep Out is on Friday! Please follow the link to donate or book a site.

20/07/2026

Housing Minister Nick Staikos has officially announced a dedicated Assertive Outreach Team for the Mornington Peninsula. The team will provide outreach support to people experiencing homelessness and sleeping rough by connecting them with housing, health and other vital services.

This announcement is the result of years of persistent advocacy from SWAN Women for Housing Justice working alongside community groups, services and organisations across the Mornington Peninsula.

Watch the announcement here:

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Enic2ySaz/?mibextid=wwXIfr

17/07/2026

Join us on Sunday 19th July for a very special NAIDOC presentation.

REAWAKENING BUNURONG LANGUAGE
(Ngawak ngul-nganhinhu)

Initiated by Elders Aunty Gail Kunwurra Dawson (known as the Black Swan) and Aunty Dy Summers, the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation’s Ngawak Ngul language team is working with the Bunurong community, academic linguists and supporters to reawaken Bunurong language and bring words back into everyday use.

Come along and learn how a language once supressed and thought lost is being carefully reconstructed, word by word, sound by sound, with patience, knowledge and community strength. This work has resulted in a Bunurong Dictionary.

Aunty Gail has asked us to circulate the following link to SWAN members prior to our meeting on Sunday. This is a written synopsis of a recent episode of the ABC program ‘Stuff the British Stole’. It features Aunty Gail explaining the significance of the Firestone which is sacred to Bunurong people.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-10/cranbourne-meteorite-kuunhdurt-laang-natural-history-museum/106828130

You can watch this episode on ABC iview: S3 Episode 5 Fire Star Rock via the link below:

https://share.google/sGcFBR1wUJfQxQvos

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday.