3 AUGUST 2026
Victoria is in the grip of a housing and homelessness crisis, but the burden is not equally shared. For Aboriginal people in Victoria, the rate of securing a home is 25 percent lower than other Victorians.
Those most at risk are Aboriginal children, young people and women experiencing family violence and those who’ve been separated from family, community and culture by the Child Protection and justice systems.
In a speech to mark National Homelessness Week, Aunty Muriel Bamblett, the CEO of Australia’s largest Aboriginal child and family welfare organisation, VACCA, said safe housing changes lives, but many Aboriginal young people leaving care never get the chance.
"For most young Aboriginal people leaving care, there are no real housing options, and little planning for what comes next," Ms Bamblett said. "Accessing housing should be the norm. Right now, it's the exception."
Moorumbina Mongurnallin, VACCA's culturally supported housing village in Frankston for young people leaving care shows what’s possible. With a safe place to live, young people can focus on their study, health, employment, and simply thriving.
Aboriginal people make up around 1 per cent of Victoria's population but around 14 per cent of people accessing homelessness services. This figure doesn't capture the full picture, with many more Aboriginal people couch surfing, living in overcrowded conditions, sleeping rough, or avoiding services that aren't culturally safe.
Their homelessness is often preceded by lengthy histories of high mobility, multiple caregivers, multi-generational disadvantage and complex needs across mental and physical health, justice and education.
Victoria lacks housing supply at every point of the housing continuum, Ms Bamblett said, and what does exist is unaffordable for people on low incomes, hitting young people hardest who typically earn less and have fewer savings to draw on. For young people leaving care, this compounds with stigma, bias, racism and a lack of cultural safety across mainstream services.
"Aboriginal community-controlled organisations achieve results when they are proportionally resourced to deliver, but we are structurally unable to solve a housing problem through case management alone,” Ms Bamblett said. “We need housing, a lot more of it."
Victoria still has the lowest proportion of social housing of any state or territory.
Solutions like Moorumbina Mongurnallin work because they don't just provide a home for young people leaving care, they provide a cultural home, which leads to better outcomes in health, education, justice and employment.
"Every child and young person is entitled to safe, secure care, ongoing relationships with committed adults, and accommodation that doesn’t endanger their health or safety," Ms Bamblett said.
"With safe, affordable housing and cultural support from an ACCO, more young Aboriginal people can draw on their own strength and resilience and build the next chapter of their life. It’s time governments backed that with more investment in social housing, including dedicated Aboriginal youth housing properties."
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About VACCA: The Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency (VACCA) is the leading Aboriginal child and family welfare organisation in Australia, and the largest provider of Aboriginal family violence services in Victoria.
Moorumbina Mongurnallin, launched in 2024, developed in partnership with youth homelessness prevention charity Kids Under Cover.
Media Enquiries
Simone Egger - Senior Manager, Communications and Public Affairs
PH: 0472 505 780 E: Simone.Egger@vacca.org