What is Council doing?

Preventing and responding to homelessness is the responsibility of all levels of government. While we do not directly offer housing, we continue to work with our partners, including community organisations and government agencies, to support the community members experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Supporting people sleeping rough

Frankston City Council’s approach to people sleeping rough and managing public space recognises the principles of Victoria's Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities in treating people with respect and dignity regardless of their circumstances, whilst balancing our duty of care to the larger community. This means working in a coordinated way to ensure the rights and interests of vulnerable people, who are experiencing homelessness, are met. Information about a person sleeping rough is shared with outreach providers to ensure people are identified and connected to a service.

Council does not have powers or the authority to move people who are homeless. People who are homeless have a right to be in public spaces and will be treated as any other member of the public.

Council actively manages amenity including cleaning and removal of hazardous materials that might be associated with sleeping sites in public spaces and works closely with local outreach agencies and Victoria Police to achieve better outcomes.

Frankston City Strategic Housing and Homelessness Alliance

The Frankston City Strategic Housing and Homelessness Alliance is represented by all key services with a commitment to alleviating homelessness in Frankston City. The Strategic Alliance develops and drives a shared agenda for improving, aligning, and expanding the capacity of Frankston City housing and homelessness service system to better respond to the increasing pressures of homelessness within the municipality.

Frankston & Mornington Peninsula Zero

On Census night in 2021, it was estimated that 785 people were without a safe and secure home and experiencing homelessness in the Frankston municipality. Only 22.4% (176) of these people were in supported accommodation that night. When people do not have access to emergency overnight accommodation they have limited and challenging alternatives like public spaces, cars, abandoned buildings, or couch surfing with family or friends

Frankston & Mornington Peninsula Zero is a local solution to end homelessness in our City. Frankston Zero was established in 2021 as a local solution to addressing the rising rates of rough sleeping in Frankston City. In late 2024, the initiative was expanded to include the Mornington Peninsula.

The project takes a place-based collective impact approach to reduce the number of people experiencing rough sleeping by connecting with and getting to know each person and adding them to the local ‘By Name List’ to enable a focused client-centred service response. Knowing everyone by name, understanding their needs, and providing an integrated service response helps people find and sustain housing. More recently the project has expanded to include the Mornington Peninsula catchment.

An initiative developed by Frankston Zero was the Identification and Victorian Housing Register Connect Clinic. Many of those who are sleeping rough have issues with lost or stolen essential documentation, which is needed to access a multitude of social services, including banking services, access to housing, food banks, and much more. When faced with the task of negotiating through a series of appointments with different agencies to get identification or apply for a house, it simply becomes too difficult when also faced with the realities of being homeless.

The Clinic assisted people experiencing homelessness to be guiding them through the process of obtaining proof of identification but also helped with applying for priority housing listing on the Victorian Housing Register.

Frankston & Mornington Peninsula Zero initiative, as part of the national Advance to Zero movement, was awarded the World Habitat Award in January 2025. The award recognises and highlights innovative, outstanding, and sometimes revolutionary housing ideas, projects, and programs from across the world.

Housing Advisory Committee

The Housing Advisory Committee was established by Council in 2022 to monitor, advocate, and provide advice to the Council on local housing needs within Frankston City. The Committee was established in response to the current housing affordability crisis and the need to identify opportunities and innovative solutions to facilitate sustainable housing outcomes.

The Committee functions to:

Provide an important forum for discussion on matters relating to local housing challenges and opportunities within Frankston City.
Consider qualitative and quantitative evidence and emerging trends relating to current and future local housing needs.
Provide advice to Council on local housing needs at a strategic and policy level, as per the Council Plan outcome for a well-planned and liveable city.

Advocacy

The Victorian and Australian governments fund housing and homelessness services. We recognise there isn't enough social housing or funding for homelessness service providers to meet demand. We regularly advocate to the Victorian and Australian governments for more housing and funding for homelessness services.

In 2023, we provided a submission to the Federal Government's 10-year National Housing and Homelessness Plan. Our submission offers insights into the housing and homelessness landscape in the Frankston municipality, along with suggestions on how all levels of government can work together to end homelessness.

Increasing access to affordable housing

Affordable housing is an essential infrastructure in our city so everyone can enjoy the long-term security of a safe and affordable home. Like other forms of essential infrastructure, high-quality affordable housing provides an important foundation on which to build thriving communities and a productive local economy.

Council is currently developing an affordable housing policy that will provide the Council’s position and framework to guide and facilitate an increase in the supply of affordable housing on public and private land within Frankston City by enabling housing supply through the local land use planning system, advocacy, and partnerships. Community consultation on the draft affordable housing policy is scheduled to commence in late February 2025.

Winter Shelter

The Frankston Winter Shelter is a local initiative of the Frankston churches coming together to support the vulnerable in our community by providing a bed, a warm meal, and a safe place for the night across five nights per week through the winter months.

Frankston City Council has provided support to the Frankston Winter Shelter since it was established in 2022 and continues this support today. Council’s support includes a dedicated Council Concierge for the Frankston Winter Shelter to create positive connections with the churches and assists with:

Navigation of the planning permit processes and relationships with Council officers.
Funding to assist with the financial costs incurred by the participating churches from the required permits and reports.
Minor capital works grants, which contribute towards the installation of accessible bathroom facilities and cooking facilities for food preparation.
Free training for volunteers.

For further information about the Frankston Winter Shelter, please visit Winter Shelter