What is Dandenong Zero?
Dandenong Zero started in July 2022 and is a collaboration between the Greater Dandenong City Council and Launch Housing. It brings together the local service system around a 'By Name List' (BNL) of all people sleeping rough, to support them with referrals to services with the objective of ending rough sleeping.
How does it work?
The project centres around a 'By Name List' or knowing each person experiencing homelessness by name. Through outreach, people experiencing homelessness are engaged with and added to the list. Through our combined resources, we provide support to move along the pathway out of crisis and back into stable, long-term housing, one person at a time.
Homelessness is ended when people move into safe, sustainable, long-term housing of their choice. This includes public or community housing, private rental or private ownership that meets an acceptable minimum standard of a self-contained dwelling with its own kitchen and bathroom facilities. The person must have security of tenure evidenced by a signed tenancy agreement.
What is the goal of Dandenong Zero?
The goal of Dandenong Zero is to achieve Functional Zero homelessness for people sleeping rough in the City of Greater Dandenong.
Functional Zero homelessness will be reached when the number of people entering and experiencing rough sleeping within a month is less than the average 6-monthly placement rate into long-term housing or three, whichever is lower. Once achieved, it must be sustained, and any future experiences of rough sleeping in Greater Dandenong should be brief, rare, and non-recurring.
The aim is to ensure that housing and support resources are efficiently coordinated and sufficient to meet the needs of all people who sleep and live in the City of Greater Dandenong.
It is an ambitious but necessary goal, and we believe that by setting these targets, we will collectively get the best out of ourselves and our community, securing the housing and support needed to end homelessness and providing the opportunity and hope for all to live and thrive in our municipality.
What is the impact of Dandenong Zero?
Since its establishment, Dandenong Zero has:
- Housed 43 people into long term secure housing
- Strengthened coordination across the local homelessness response
- Improved visibility of rough sleeping in Greater Dandenong
- Reduced duplication and delays in service responses
- Enabled faster pathways into long term housing
- Led to two new housing developments, Dandelion and Cumulus 19, which will deliver 159 social housing units to Dandenong from 2027
Most importantly, it has created a shared responsibility across services and systems to ensure that no one is invisible, and no one is left behind.
How is the project going?
Transparency and accountability are central to Dandenong Zero. Progress is tracked through a live monthly data dashboard, providing insight into:
- The number of people sleeping rough
- Housing outcomes
- Inflow and outflow trends
- System performance over time
View the monthly data dashboard - Melbourne Zero - City of Greater Dandenong.
Our Partners
Our partners include our local entry point WAYSS, Monash Health, Eastern Region Mental Health Association (ERMHA), The Salvation Army, Cornerstone Contact Centre, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, MIND Australia, Centre for Multicultural Youth, Wellways, Bolton Clarke, and Wintringham.
The project also has many enabling partners including the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, Housing Victoria, the Department of Justice and Community Safety, Victoria Police, and the Southern Homelessness Network.
How to refer a homeless person sleeping rough?
If you find someone sleeping rough in Greater Dandenong, you can make a referral to Council. Please provide the location, description of person, duration of stay and any access or behavioural information to Council via email at communitysafety@cgd.vic.gov.au.