That update only said that the government was delivering 505 purpose-built homes.<\/p>\n
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Deborah Di Natale is concerned about the lack of updates on nearly 1,500 promised homes. (ABC News: Terry McDonald)<\/p>\n
“It says nothing of the remaining 1,495,” Deborah Di Natale from the Council to Homeless Persons said.<\/p>\n
“We’re obviously really concerned about that.”<\/p>\n
The state government denied scaling the target back, but did not detail how or when the remaining homes would be built.<\/p>\n
“We are still delivering 2,000 homes for Victorians with mental health challenges,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
“This is a complex reform \u2014 it’s why we need to take a phased approach to ensure people living with mental health challenges get the long-term housing and specialists support they need.”<\/p>\n
More than 300 purpose-built homes have so far been delivered, the government said.<\/p>\n
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A lack of stable housing is hugely detrimental for a person’s mental health, says union secretary Paul Healey. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n
Stakeholders say a shortage of longer-term housing is creating havoc for frontline services, with patients regularly discharged from hospitals back to homelessness.<\/p>\n
“Sometimes they get a day or two in the hotel, and sometimes they’ve been discharged just out to community, to homelessness,” Health and Community Services Union state secretary <\/strong>Paul Healey said.<\/p>\n “The other day I had a member describe that they saw a note saying a person was discharged to a safe park, which meant they were in a garden somewhere in the community that was deemed safe.<\/p>\n “We know how bad this is for people’s mental health and wellbeing \u2014 not to have stable housing.”<\/p>\n Update also silent on further 500 homes<\/p>\n In a letter sent to Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt last week, a coalition of mental health and homelessness groups argued support for people in homes delivered so far had come from existing services and resourcing.<\/p>\n It said the update detailed no progress at all on a related recommendation to deliver 500 additional homes as medium-term transitional housing for young adults.<\/p>\n “We’re asking the state government just to deliver what it looked Victorians in the eye and committed to deliver five years ago,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Ms Di Natale said.<\/p>\n Young people with lived experience of homelessness say the years-long delay has had “real consequences” for their peers.<\/p>\n Clara, who is using a pseudonym to protect her privacy, found herself cycling between hospital emergency departments and short-term crisis accommodation after she moved to Melbourne \u2014 and away from support networks \u2014 at the age of 18.<\/p>\n In the clutch of that savage cycle, finding shelter often took priority over seeking mental health support.<\/p>\n A stay at a Melbourne City Mission refuge helped Clara find a pathway to the private rental market. (Supplied: Melbourne City Mission)<\/p>\n A stay at a Melbourne City Mission refuge helped her break that either-or equation, opening a path to the private rental she now lives in.<\/p>\n “They put me through the right links, they made sure I had help getting to appointments \u2014 receiving help and all that sort of stuff,” she said.<\/p>\n “They really focused on my mental wellbeing and prioritised that in my care.”<\/p>\n Mental health and housing groups unanimously said the upfront cost of providing appropriate housing would be cheaper than the downstream cost of repeated crisis intervention.<\/p>\n “What you’re going to find further down the track is more interventions, hospital stays, contact with emergency departments, and that’s going to continue on and on,” Vivienne Brown, the director of policy and engagement at youth mental health organisation Orygen, said.<\/p>\n A shortage of longer-term housing is creating havoc for frontline services, stakeholders say. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n “That’s going to be a much more expensive proposition for government than providing this safe and secure housing.”<\/p>\n A government webpage tracking the housing recommendation was updated on Friday to say work was underway to explore delivery of the 500 homes for young people.<\/p>\n![\"Young](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5d5d9d8ce463f4c8c984c08e9095fe47.jpeg\")
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