The Council to Homeless Persons has launched a new Walk in Her Shoes campaign at Bunjil Place Library, to highlight the rising numbers of women and young girls struggling with homelessness.
The event involved an immersive exhibition, connecting lived experiences of homelessness to faces.
Three key women were central in sharing their unique – yet albeit too similar – stories, including Brea, a stern champion for youths suffering with homelessness, who used her own experiences to help others. As well as Diana and Vanessa, who both faced family violence.
Diana, who is now a forceful advocate for those experiencing domestic violence, shared her own history of seeking refuge at safe houses dedicated to providing shelter to victims.
She also shared the stigma and shame that is often coupled with homelessness, and the hardships of pushing through existing beliefs on why people end up rough sleeping, championing the importance of raising awareness and with that – compassion.
“Empathy is the starting point for action,” Diana said.
New data from CHP’s 2025 housing security index reports that nearly 60 per cent of those struggling with homelessness are women and that family violence remains to be the driving cause.
The issue is remarked as pressing, coupled with a rising cost of living, housing crisis and fresh data from the Crime Statistics Agency revealing an alarming spike of nearly 14 per cent in reported family violence cases in the City of Casey.
With an increase in numbers of people showing up at their doors, homelessness services and housing facilities are struggling to keep up, as their capacity to provide resources is inundated and social housing waitlists continue to grow by 7.4 per cent from the previous year according to CHP.
According to the report, “the decades-long lack of investment in social housing across the state”, can be attributed to the crisis.
Shari McPhail, manager for homelessness and housing at Wayss, said that it has never been as difficult to provide housing to rough sleepers. That more needs to be done in collaboration with a number of actors to increase accessibility and manage the growing gap in available services.
Based in Pakenham and Dandenong, Wayss reported that in mid 2025, thousands of people were being turned away from their services due to the lack of capacity, with thousands more missing out on resources entirely.
Leanne Petrides, the executive officer for Community Information and Support Cranbourne, supported McPhail’s calls for more action, highlighting the stress on CISC volunteers who want to do more for people asking for help at their facilities, but are ultimately not being adequately supported by the current system.
