One Voice

05/11/2026

'Families are regularly turned away to sleep in their cars.'

That's Heidi Tucker from Anchor Community Care in the Yarra Ranges. Their new annual report shows more people asking for help for the first time, including two-parent families where both adults work.

Eight years ago Anchor had a target of supporting 12 people. Now it's in the 200s. Massive respect to that team.

Rents keep climbing and services are stretched. Having a safe place to sleep shouldn't depend on your postcode.

Source: Mountain Views Star Mail 👉

Local not-for-profit organisation Anchor Community Care has released its 2025–26 Annual Report, revealing growing demand for homelessness support across the Yarra Ranges as rising rents and a shortage of affordable housing leave more working families struggling to secure a home. Anchor chief execu...

03/11/2026

Having a job used to mean having a roof over your head. Not anymore.

Council to Homeless Persons says the number of working Victorians asking for homelessness help has jumped 42% in four years, and around a third of them work full-time.

We see it at the showers too. The face of homelessness is changing: families in cars, mums with kids in tents, people heading off to work after a night with nowhere safe to sleep.

If you're doing it tough, you're not alone, and reaching out is never something to be ashamed of.

Source: Council to Homeless Persons via ABC Melbourne Mornings 👉

Increase in working homeless

02/11/2026

Rent on this Perth home was $315 a week in 2019. Now it's $715. Same house.

Grady's sharing with his brother and a housemate just to make it work, and rental vacancies across the country are sitting at about 1%.

When rent eats everything, there's no buffer left. That's how a lot of people end up one bad week away from sleeping in their car.

Look out for each other. If someone you know is doing it tough, a quick check-in goes a long way.

Full story via ABC News:

Sarah Ferguson presents Australia's premier daily current affairs program, delivering agenda-setting public affairs journalism and interviews that hold the powerful to account. Plus political analysis from Laura Tingle.

31/10/2026

Michelle's 70. She spent decades as a nurse looking after other people. Now she sleeps upright in the driver's seat of her car in Tuncurry, packing and repacking it every day.

She's embarrassed and doesn't tell people. That's the bit that gets me. Homelessness doesn't always look the way people think it does.

Big shout out to Terry at the Tuncurry Beach Bowling Club and the local Man Walk crew, who are checking in on her and trying to get her car back on the road. That's community.

Have a read of her story from the Great Lakes Advocate 👇

Decades caring for others now this 70-year-old sleeps in her car.

30/10/2026

Tents instead of beds. That's where we're at.

New UNSW research for Homelessness Australia says almost two-thirds of homelessness services are now turning people away. Some workers are handing out tents because there's nothing else to give. Women leaving family violence are being asked if their car locks.

91% of services say demand has gone up. Only 3.9% of people who needed long-term housing got it in 2024-25.

The frontline crews are doing everything they can. They need backup, and people sleeping rough need somewhere to go.

A hot shower won't fix housing. But we can keep showing up every week with a shower, a chat and a bit of dignity. Want to help? onevoice.org.au

Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 28 Oct 2026

A damning new report reveals almost two-thirds of sector providers are rejecting clients as soaring rents and chronic shortages push frontline services to the brink of collapse.

29/10/2026

Love this one. 90 volunteers from local businesses gave up their workday to set up 30 brand new apartments for young people experiencing homelessness in Beenleigh.

New beds, stocked kitchens, a safe space that's actually theirs. As one of the team said, it's like helping a friend move, a friend you haven't met yet.

Anglicare Southern Queensland's new youth facility opens this Friday. Well done to everyone who rolled up their sleeves 🙌

Story via Anglican Focus 👇

Anglicare’s new youth homelessness facility in Beenleigh is one step closer to welcoming its first residents after 90 corporate volunteers helped transform 30 newly completed apartments into ready-to-live-in homes

28/10/2026

This one stopped me. New research from CEDA and Urbis found fewer than 1 in 5 "affordable" rentals actually go to the low-income households they're meant for.
Better matching could house almost 19,000 families who are already on social housing waitlists, without building a single new home.
"Affordable" should mean affordable for the people who need it most.
Research via CEDA:

New CEDA & Urbis research finds Affordable housing is missing the households it is meant to help, as social housing waitlists grow.

27/10/2026

1 in 3 Aussie households went without enough food this past year. That's 100,000 more than last year, and nearly 7 in 10 of them had never been in that spot before.

Foodbank's new Hunger Report says food is the first thing people cut when rent and bills bite. Regional families are copping it hardest.

Nobody chooses this. A hot meal, a hot shower and someone who treats you like a person go a long way. If you've got a bit spare this week, your local food relief crew could use it.

Full story from ABC News 👉

Foodbank Australia’s latest hunger report says 3.6 million households in Australia are going hungry, 100,000 more than reported last year.

26/10/2026

Amira was a working mum who'd just been promoted. Then a relationship breakdown left her sleeping in her car for 10 months.
She picked well-lit car parks near toilet blocks just to feel safe. Now she's helping others find their way back.
Homelessness doesn't look like what most people think. It's mums, workers, people who had it all together. That's why something as simple as a hot shower, a fresh towel and a real chat matters so much.
Thanks for sharing your story, Amira.
Read it on ABC News:

Adelaide mother Amira hosted parties and had just been promoted, but following a relationship breakdown, she lived in her car for 10 months.

25/10/2026

Geelong, we're open 🚿💙

Last Thursday we launched our Mobile Showers in Geelong, partnering with The Outpost, and 4 guests got a hot shower on night one. A good start.

Thanks Geelong Mayor and Councillors for coming down and saying a few words. Massive thanks to The Outpost and Give Where You Live Foundation for having our back, and to our volunteers who turned up and made it happen. Josh Wilkins

📸 Thanks to Luke Voogt from City of Greater Geelong for the pics.

We're at The Outpost, 42 Little Ryrie St, every Thursday 6–9pm. Know someone doing it tough? Let them know.

Keen to lend a hand? onevoice.org.au