Informative Resources

(Please note these resources are provided for reference only, we do not necessarily endorse all the views or content in each one, nor have we ‘vetted’ any volunteering suggestions).

• Australian Catholic Social Justice Council – National Bishops’ Council that works across the whole social justice space, excellent for well researched resources from catholic perspective.
• Act Justly – Housing and Homelessness Edition
• Shelter NSW – not-for-profit organisation dedicated to fairer housing in NSW
• Homelessness NSW – peak organisation seeking to prevent and reduce homelessness
• City of Sydney  – a range of information on homelessness in Sydney.
• National Shelter – peak housing body nationally
• Australian Council of Social Services – peak body national body for social services
• NSW Council of Social Service – State peak body that sits under ACOSS
• NSW Federation of Housing Associations – peak state body for housing associations involved in servicing and advocate for more and better social and affordable housing.
• Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute  – broad range of quality research on various housing-related issues such as homelessness, how to finance social and affordable housing, and housing and the economy.
•  Sisters of Mercy – foundation dedicated to issues of homelessness based in Nth Sydney
• Churches Housing  – faith-based non-profit that assists churches seeking to build/convert etc affordable housing as well as key body involved in advocating for social and affordable housing.
• University of New South Wales – City Futures Research Centre – centre of excellence in research on housing and policies, visions and planning.
• The Conversation – Australian universities news-site with analysis and research on wide range of topical issues including housing. For example see here. See also, The Guardian.
• Melbourne Institute  – Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey
• NSW Family and Communities Department, Centre for Affordable Housing – wide range of information from planning and development to research and definitions
• People with Disability  – Submission to the Affordable Housing Working Group  – good introduction to the particular challenges faced be people with disability because of the lack of affordable housing, see also AHURI Report ‘Moving to my Home’.
• AHURI Indigenous Australians and housing  – for an introduction to a range of experiences of housing and homelessness for Indigenous Australians.
• Centre for Housing, Urban and Regional Planning,  University of Adelaide  – a centre of excellence in research – often collaborates with AHURI.
• Housing for the Aged Action Group –policy and advocacy group working on homelessness and housing justice for the aged.
• Catholic Social Services Australia – represents a national network of 56 Catholic social service organisations that provide direct support to hundreds of thousands of people in need each year on behalf of the Catholic Church.
• Diocese of Broken Bay – ‘A Catholic Response to Domestic Violence’. A very useful kit for families, parishes and individuals to help understand this major cause of homelessness as well as practical strategies for doing something about it.

Getting Involved

Please note this is just a small selection of organisations, not an exhaustive list. Also, we have not worked with each of these organisations so please exercise personal discretion before choosing which organisations or initiatives to get involved with.

• Your parish – Lots of our parishes in Sydney are working with the homeless or working for affordable housing in various ways. Contact your parish priest to see if there is a Social Justice Group at work. If there isn’t please contact us and we can discuss how you might be able to get a group or project going in your parish as well as give you an idea of what other parishes across Sydney are up to.
• Sydney Alliance Inclusionary Zoning Campaign – the Sydney Archdiocese is a founding member of Sydney Alliance which is a coalition of organisations from across civil society who use the tools and principles of community organising to work for the common good. One of our major campaigns over the last few years has been to secure a percentage of all new developments for affordable housing. We have had some great success and now we are focusing on localising the campaign in Local Government Areas. Led and supported by Vinnies and Sydney Alliance teams from each LGA are working together to make sure their local council can and is implementing the new affordable housing targets. Many Catholics are on these teams and are always looking for new members to be part of the campaign in all kinds of ways. Contact us here in the JPO to chat more and get the info for your local team.
• Gift of Bread  – Outreach volunteer programme run by the Fellowship of Medius Dei – they collect fresh leftover bread from bakeries and deliver all around Sydney to charities and groups working with the hungry, marginalised and vulnerable.
• Your local council – check out your local council’s website for initiatives and organisations in your local community that work with the homeless or those struggling with housing costs.
• City of Sydney – Has a whole range of outreach programmes with partner organisations and a volunteer and donation directory, which has many Catholic agencies like CatholicCare and programmes looking for assistance.
• The Friars Coffee Van – Delivers hot coffee/chocolates to homeless in Sydney every Friday night.
• Cana Communities – Catholic group offering shelter, support, Mass etc to people in all kinds of tough situations. They also run Teresa House in Redfern, which is an overnight shelter. They run purely on volunteers and donations.
• Family and Community Services’ List of Women’s Refuges – a list of NSW  crisis accommodation and their providers as at June 2016.
• Lou’s Place – Daytime refuge centre for women in crisis or experiencing homelessness.
• Parliament on King –  A Newtown based social enterprise that trains refugee and asylum seekers in hospitality and through their catering work also feeds Sydney’s homeless people. You could help by hosting an event in your parish and asking them to cater, or drop by their café and support their work.
• St Vincent de Paul Society– Catholic organisation providing support and assistance in various ways. In Sydney check out their Matthew Talbot Hostel for men.  They also offer significant support in a range or women’s refuges and domestic violence services. They also work in advocacy campaigning for inclusionary zoning – a planning change that would ensure all new dwellings in Sydney had a percentage of affordable housing.
• Orange Sky Laundry – 2016 Young Australian Of the Year winners’ mobile laundry intuitive. They have vans in Sydney and you can volunteer or support in other ways.
• Ted Noffs Foundation – Youth Homelessness Services
• Bonnie Support Services – Support for women and families experiencing homelessness and domestic violence.
• Sydney Alliance – Affordable Housing Campaign. A broad-based coalition of faith, union and community organisations campaigning together for a planning policy of inclusionary zoning across Sydney – this would see a percentage of all new dwellings being dedicated as affordable housing. See Sydney Alliance or contact us.
• One Voice – Mobile shower bus running in Melbourne, but trying to launch one in Sydney.
• Sleep Bus – start-up initiative looking to get fitted out buses for people to sleep on safely, comfortably. They are still in the fundraising stage and are running a crowd-funding campaign. Article on the initiative here; Facebook page with fundraising info,
• Angel Place Project – Start-up initiative that has a hotel where you ‘purchase’ a room for the night for a homeless person. Still in the building and fundraising stage. They need help with market research participants via their online surveys to help with a business model that will lead to funding.
• David’s Place, Sydney City. A kind of drop-in community centre for people sleeping rough, people with disabilities, elderly living in social housing and a whole range of other people. This is a safe welcoming place people can get together to pray, share Mass and go out to socialise together. Give us a call or email and we can put you in touch with them.
• Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre – Crisis support for families and women experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
• Swags for Homeless –  A not for profit that delivers swags to homeless people sleeping rough on the streets.
• Women’s Housing Company – Helps find accommodation for single women with a focus on women experiencing domestic and family violence and women leaving institutional settings, including custodial ones
• Youth off the Streets  – Focused on supporting young people living rough on the streets and working with them to build lives and break the homelessness cycle.
• The Wayside Chapel  – Famous long-term organisation providing support and care across a range of programmes and life areas to people in Sydney from locations in Kings Cross and Bondi
• Two Good  – A fairly new startup where you buy a salad made from community gardens and one goes to someone in need – the have two main groups they support underprivileged kids and women and families in refuge or crisis accommodation. Women living domestic violence are one of the largest groups at risk of or suffering homelessness.