About our campaign
We help people to understand and assert their rights to access and maintain safe housing. We also advocate for better laws and policies for renters living in social housing and private rentals.
To prevent people from entering homelessness, we need more adequate and affordable housing, and stronger protections to keep people securely housed.
The risk of homelessness is increasing. We need to prioritise more safe and secure homes.
Without enough affordable and safe housing, many people are at risk of homelessness, or unable to exit homelesness in Australia. All it takes is for one thing to go wrong – the kids getting sick, or the car breaking down – for many in our community to fall behind in rent and to end up on the brink of homelessness.
Despite significant progress in some state-based rental laws and policies, the residential tenancies system still leaves vulnerable Australians at risk of eviction into homelessness. Legal issues take a heavy toll on Australians who are facing housing insecurity, exacerbating housing and financial stress, isolation, health problems, unemployment and justice system interactions. Legal issues cause and compound homelessness, often making it impossible for people to move into stable housing. At the same time, there is an ongoing shortage of social and affordable housing, leaving many people in chronic rental stress in the private market.
How we’re stopping homelessness before it starts
As Victoria’s specialist free legal service for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, Justice Connect has spent over 20 years holistically preventing homelessness in our community.
To ensure that more Australians can stay safely housed, we advocate for increased access to integrated legal and social work supports, addressing key drivers of homelessness such as family violence and financial insecurity, and the need for a national plan to end homelessness
To prevent homelessness, we need better laws and protections for people at risk of homelessness, including family violence victim-survivors, people who have experienced prison and people who have slept rough, and an ongoing pipeline for social and affordable housing.
We’re ready to work with the Government to make DGR fair, simple, and future-ready.
Download our recent reports and submissions on stopping homelessness before it starts
10 year impact report: Keeping more women and children safely housed (October 2024)
Briefing Report: Rising Housing & Financial Insecurity For Renters (July 2023)
Submission to the Victorian Parliament’s Inquiry into the rental and housing affordability crisis in Victoria (July 2023)
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