Housing is a human right
Housing is widely recognised as a basic human right. In Australia, the government’s failure to adequately invest in public housing and services means that long-term and secure housing remains out of reach for many. In the absence of secure housing, existing social and health vulnerabilities are compounded, often causing a cascade of further challenges. This intersectionality demands a care-based, trauma-informed approach, yet governments continue to direct funding toward punitive measures that criminalise survival.
Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) reveals a system under extreme strain, with services unable to provide to support to the increasing number of people sleeping rough. 1 The findings show specialist homeless services cannot meet a daily average of 353 requests for support. 2
The Alternative First Responders Campaign spoke with Homeless Persons Union Victoria about what they are seeing on the ground in Victoria and how to build solutions that centre lived-experience.
The importance of community voice
The Homeless Persons Union Victoria (HPUVic) is committed to amplifying the voices and experiences of all those who are homeless. Their advocacy ensures decision-makers place the human rights of people experiencing homelessness front and centre. The union was formed by lived experience members when they identified a need for a peer homelessness advocacy organisation. The vital work of HPUVic includes media advocacy and assertive outreach to check in and build relationships with unhoused people in the community.
“We get their input by going out and speaking to people, by recording their testimonies, by holding barbecues and events, that’s how we get their input. I’d like to see people experiencing homelessness, involved, participating, encouraged, to be part of this dialogue rather than having decisions made for them. I think being involved in the struggle helps with your sense of dignity, your own sense of wellbeing, so you’re not just an observer. I think we really need to find strategies and programs and processes, ways of including people who are experiencing homelessness in the struggle and to help us find the answers.” (Patrick Chiappalone, HPUVic)
Central to the purpose of the HPUVic union is to give more voices a seat at the table in the programs, local laws, and government policy that affect people experiencing homelessness.
“Homeless people are not one homogenous group. We need a response that caters to all those people. And what I’d like to see is rather than spending money on a punitive or carceral response, is to have community development workers, lived experience workers, health workers, working with them [people sleeping rough] and developing responses, making sure they know their names and going to visit them every day.” (Patrick Chiappalone, HPUVic)
Increased security and surveillance
The HPUVic has come together at an important time when community are calling for greater investment in wrap-around services that meet people where they are at and offer diverse and specialised support. Despite this, the City of Melbourne increasingly relies on private security officers to police public spaces, negatively impacting people in the CBD. On August 18 2026, VIC government announced plans for ‘More PSOs, More Places, More Often’, committing 44million dollars to deliver 50 additional PSOs.3 The Council currently deploys a team of Community Safety Officers (CSOs), who work alongside Victoria Police and police-sworn Protective Services Officers (PSOs). Both CSOs and PSOs have powers to arrest, search, issue move-on orders and fines and patrol areas like train stations, shopping centres and designated locations with increased ‘public safety concerns.’ 4
“Here in Victoria the reaction to people that are unhoused or otherwise just occupying public space in the municipality for some time – there’s been a negative response to those people and in 2020, 2024, 2025, the City of Melbourne started making moves to employ private security guards to accompany local laws officers as they do the rounds in the CBD. We started a whole campaign with a lot of community support. We gathered a lot of really powerful testimonies from peers during that time about their interactions and it revealed some really horrific experiences.” (Kelly Whitworth, HPUVic)
In addition to physical violence and intimidation tactics, the surveillance and threat of PSOs and CSOs significantly impact people sleeping rough. There is an emotional toll that forces people to be on guard as they come up against multiple barriers to survival and existence. Patrick Chiappalone explains;
“They go into a more of a punitive approach rather than listening to the homeless community, we created a petition that almost 1000 people signed, telling them they thought it was a really bad idea to employ these people to constantly harass the homeless community. They ignored that.”
“The other thing is people having their stuff confiscated. The Port Phillip Council has now changed the local bylaws, so they can actually take people’s bedding and confiscate it. They’ve been doing that in the city of Melbourne for years, since 2017.”
“What we’re hearing is that the city of Melbourne and local councils have moved away from a compassionate or sympathetic approach to homelessness.” (Patrick Chiappalone, HPUVic)
Call to action – Alternative First Responders
Peer-led organisations like HPUVic boldly show us time and time again, that current systems set up to criminalise poverty and disadvantage, only cause further harm. Private security officers constantly target certain communities while root causes remain unremedied. In stark contrast alternative first responder models made up of peer-support workers, health workers and trauma-informed outreach workers can provide the care people need when navigating structural inequalities and systemic failures.
“It happens to the same people over and over. The same people are heavily surveilled… same vulnerable communities are constantly put in the crosshairs of security guards.” (Patrick Chiappalone, HPUVic)
“We need to decriminalise survival and defend the right of people to show up in, and use public space in different ways to meet their needs for safety, survival, cultural, and social reasons.” 5 (Jess Richter, Southside Justice)
“People don’t always want a professional service. What they want you to do is to be able to hold space for them and give them the time to hear what’s happening, asking them what’s going on for you, man. Because they might go through the day and no one knows their name, no one asks them how they’re going. It’s actually a really isolating experience, homelessness. Being able to hold space for people and remind them that they matter, this time and space for them is really important.” (Patrick Chiappalone, HPUVic)
Actions:
- Sign the Alternative First Responder Pledge
- Support HPUVIC radio show ‘Tuned In, Locked Out’ with a small donation today!
If you are experiencing, or at risk, of homelessness, this 24-hour Victorian hotline can help 1800 825 955
References
1 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2025). Specialist homelessness services annual report 2024–25. Australian Government. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/homelessness-services/specialist-homelessness-services-annual-report/contents/about
2 Homelessness Australia. (2025, December 4). AIHW data reveals help coming too late as more people arrive with nowhere to sleep. https://homelessnessaustralia.org.au/aihw-data-reveals-help-coming-too-late-as-more-people-arrive-with-nowhere-to-sleep/
3 Premier of Victoria. (2026, April 18). More PSOs, for more hours, in more places. Victoria State Government. https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/more-psos-more-hours-more-places
4 Renton, J. (2026, May 6). Victoria’s Protective Services Officers explained. Victoria Crime News. https://vicpolicenews.com.au/victorias-protective-services-officers-explained/
5 National Justice Project. (2026, May 28) ‘Action Webinar: Vic Elections 2026 – Alternative First Responders’ [Youtube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6BTzx7g_ag
