Today, in a strong show of unity and commitment, workers from across Melbourne’s eastern homelessness services gathered at Ringwood Lake for the 2025 Homeward Bound walk to mark Homelessness Week with purpose and solidarity.

The event brought together staff, supporters, and local government representatives for a guided walk around the lake, offering a moment to reflect, reconnect, and recommit to the shared goal of ending homelessness.

Homeward Bound is part of the broader #HousesAtParliament campaign, calling on state and federal governments to take urgent action by:

Delivering at least 60,000 new and appropriate social homes to meet the current need in Victoria, and

Fully implementing a 10-year National Housing and Homelessness Plan with a commitment to end homelessness.

The latest Census figures show that at least 30,000 Victorians are without a home on any given night — including 6,800 children. People are sleeping in cars, staying temporarily in tents or on couches, in shelters or refuges, or have no safe place to go at all.

This year’s Homelessness Week theme, “Homelessness Action Now!”, highlights the urgency of the crisis and the need for immediate and coordinated responses from all levels of government — and from across our communities.

The homelessness sector has never been more united or more determined. We’re ready to get the job done.