The State Minister for Housing, Harriet Shing and Katie Hall MP, Member for Footscray, met with the Western Homelessness Network in February 24 to discuss ways to address the devastating impact of the housing crisis on those living in Melbourne's west.  See briefing notes below.

The focus of advocacy by the Western Homelessness Network has been  "Crisis in Crisis" (See: Crisis in Crisis: The Appalling State of Emergency Accommodation in Melbourne's north and west (yartdigital.com), on the need for more affordable housing in the West and for sufficient homelessness resources to meet the needs of those experiencing homelessness in Melbourne's west.

Below is a powerpoint of some of the WHN advocacy activities and an advocacy pamphlet that you can download about homelessness and the housing crisis in Melbourne's west.

The Western Homelessness Roundtable in 2019, which brought together State and Federal Labor Members of Parliament, representatives of most of the Local Councils and representatives of the Western Homelessness Network has been a highpoint in that advocacy.  The Roundtable led to the establishment of the Western MP Homelessness Working Group, a working group of State and Federal Members of Parliament, convened by Katie Hall MP and Steve McGhie MP.  The Working Group has been meeting regularly since 2019 to discuss strategies to end homelessness in Melbourne's West. 

The Working Group is routinely attended by:  Minister Ingrid Stitt MP, Sarah Connolly MP, Bill Shorten MP, Tim Pallas MP, Luba Grigorovitch MP, Minister Ben Carroll MP or their staff.

The initial Roundtable was hosted by Katie Hall MP and Stephen McGhie MP. The tone of the Roundtable was incredibly positive, with a strong shared commitment amongst all participants to addressing homelessness in the West.

The speeches, in order, were made by: Katie Hall MP, Member for Footscray; Western Homelessness Network; Hon Bill Shorten, Federal Member for Maribyrnong; Ingrid Stitt, MLC Western Metropolitan; Alexander Trudzik, Housing Advisor to Minister Wynne; and Stephen McGhie, Member for Melton.

Other MPs present were: Daniel Mulino, Federal Member for Fraser; Tim Watts MP, Federal Member for Gellibrand; Sarah Connolly, Member for Tarneit. MP advisors attended for: Minister Wynne, Natalie Hutchins MP, Natalie Suleyman MP, Brendan O’Connor MP, Treasurer Tim Pallas MP and Josh Bull MP.

The Councils in attendance were: Hobsons Bay, Brimbank, Melton and Maribyrnong.

The following MPs sent apologies:  Kaushaliya Vaghela MP, Minister Ben Carroll, Minister Richard Wynne, Joanne Ryan MP and Treasurer Tim Pallas. 

State and Federal MPs have continued to meet with the Western Homelessness Network quarterly.  All Western State MPs advocated for growth in public housing in the West.