The Australian Government announced $144.4 million for 237 crisis and transitional homes in Victoria on 4 September 2026. Housing Minister Clare O'Neil described the package as a $145 million investment in a post on X.
The funding comes from the Housing Australia Future Fund. The government said the accommodation would support almost 10,000 Victorians over time, including up to 6,200 women and children experiencing family violence and 3,200 young people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
The investment adds housing for groups facing pressure across the state. At 30 June 2026, the Victorian Housing Register recorded 58,021 new social-housing applications, including 33,253 priority applications. Of those, 17,464 were in the homeless-with-support category and 3,640 had been approved on the basis of family violence.
The joint release from O'Neil, Victorian Housing Minister Nick Staikos and Special Envoy for Social Housing and Homelessness Josh Burns listed 17 projects and 117 homes in Melbourne and surrounding suburbs, backed by $70.3 million.
Warrnambool and southwest Victoria will receive $22.3 million for 39 homes, while Geelong will receive $14.6 million for 27 homes. Further projects are planned for Mildura and Swan Hill, Goulburn Murray, the Mornington Peninsula, Gippsland and the Grampians.
The Victorian Government, community housing providers and First Nations organisations will deliver the projects. The program pays for capital works, while ongoing tenancy and wraparound support services require separate funding.
The $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund began on 1 November 2023 with an initial goal of supporting 30,000 new social and affordable rental homes in its first five years. The government said it is building 55,000 social and affordable homes nationally, with 7,200 complete and 23,000 in planning or construction.
O'Neil said on X that crisis housing for people facing homelessness is the housing shortage of greatest concern to the government. She identified women and children fleeing family violence and young people without a safe place to sleep among those needing accommodation.
