Innovation Case Study: Bass Coast Homelessness Think Tank
Bass Coast Shire Council
A Whole-of-community Approach to Reduce Homelessness in Bass Coast
Implemented in late 2023, the Homelessness Think Tank is a community-led initiative convened by Bass Coast Shire Council in partnership with Rotary Club Wonthaggi. The Think Tank has become a catalytic driver of community-led projects, and operates as a continuous cycle of implementation, community-led evaluation, and adaptation.
2025 MAVlab Innovation Awards Finalist:
The Stronger Together Award for Council Collaboration, supported by JLT Public Sector.
Project statistics:
- 4 council staff
- Project duration: Commenced in October 2023, ongoing in 2025.
Project goals:
- Forge cross-sector partnerships to tackle local homelessness
- Co-design sustainable, place-based solutions
- Strengthen advocacy, service delivery, and shared accountability
- Empower the community to lead and contribute to change
- And drive system-wide collaboration for long-term impact.
Challenge and context:
Homelessness in Bass Coast is a growing and urgent challenge, driven by an acute housing crisis, regional rental shortages, and rising cost-of-living pressures. In the past year, more than 570 local residents accessed homelessness services, many sleeping rough across bushland, beaches, and public spaces. In 2024, Council recognised that traditional, siloed service responses were insufficient to address the complexity and scale of the issue. The challenge was compounded by limited funding, geographic dispersal, and the absence of assertive outreach or wraparound services.
Council leveraged its leadership and trusted relationships to unite diverse stakeholders, including local service providers, Victoria Police, Neighbourhood Houses, Rotary, churches, the CWA, and people with lived experience. Trust-building and engagement were central to the success of this work, with Council intentionally centring community voice, local knowledge, and cross-agency collaboration.
This initiative emerged in a context of significant disadvantage, with high vulnerability among rough sleepers, families in crisis, and those disengaged from the system. Equity, access, and dignity for all community members were foundational principles. Council’s role was not to control the solution but to co-design a shared agenda that enabled others to lead, participate, and take ownership—shifting the focus from traditional service delivery to collective impact.
Innovation and solution:
Bass Coast Shire Council adopted a collective impact model, establishing the Homelessness Think Tank as a vehicle for cross-sector collaboration, co-design, and shared delivery. Through this model, more than 20 diverse stakeholders met regularly to map service gaps, align efforts, and co-develop local solutions. The innovation wasn’t in launching another project, but in reshaping governance and decision-making to be distributed, inclusive, and locally led.
Key steps included:
- Establishing a shared agenda via community Think Tanks, using council’s Engage Bass Coast platform to collaborate on strategy and projects.
- Partnering with peak bodies such as HANZA and Council to Homeless Persons to embed lived experience of homelessness into the co-design process.
- Integrating with Victoria Police and Ambulance Victoria through the Local Safety Committee to address rough sleeping and safety via coordinated outreach.
- Securing government funding through the Local Safety Committee for a pilot Assertive Outreach program—the first of its kind in Gippsland—which has since been extended and integrated into Homes First.
- Embedding equity through inclusive governance and ensuring lived experience voices are represented at public events and forums.
This project differs from past efforts by moving beyond coordination toward shared governance and delivery. It enables scale and sustainability without significant new costs, leveraging existing assets in collaborative ways. The model is deeply rooted in place and people, designed not just to serve but to empower.
Its power lies not in novelty but in reimagining council’s role: from service provider to leader, and from planner to partner.
Impact and outcomes:
The Homelessness Think Tank has delivered significant community and system-level outcomes:
- Assertive Outreach Pilot: Secured $90,000 from the Victorian Government, supporting over 60 individuals to access housing and services. This program has now been extended and integrated into regional service models.
- Community-led initiatives: Winter Shelter and Orange Sky provide emergency shelter, laundry, showers, and human connection for people experiencing homelessness.
- Resource development: A locally tailored Community Food Relief Guide was created to strengthen referral pathways.
- Capacity-building: Council facilitated training and connection sessions led by the Salvation Army for faith groups, community volunteers, and frontline staff.
- Advocacy platform: Stakeholders presented jointly to government ministers and MPs, improving Bass Coast’s position within state housing priorities.
Beyond these outputs, the initiative has generated significant qualitative outcomes:
- Increased trust and alignment among service providers
- Greater involvement of community groups not traditionally engaged in homelessness response
- Tangible pathways to housing and dignity for vulnerable community members
- And, public events attracting over 150 residents, fostering awareness and momentum.
The outcomes are measurable and continuing to grow. More importantly, the project has shifted the local service culture from reactive to strategic, and from fragmented to collective.
It has also reshaped how council approaches its regulatory responsibilities, embedding a more human-centred, compassionate lens across compliance and enforcement. The Think Tank is now a recognised vehicle for coordinated response and a model of collaboration replicable across rural and peri-urban municipalities.
Scalability:
The Homelessness Think Tank is a model of council-enabled, community-led collaboration that can be adapted across the state. Its success rests on shared purpose, distributed leadership, and pragmatic coordination — not expensive resourcing or bespoke tools. It is intentionally designed to be scalable and replicable.
The approach has already been shared at regional forums and with other local government areas (LGAs), with several expressing interest in adopting the model, particularly its integration with:
- Emergency management: embedding homelessness response into local safety councils and planning.
- Local land managers: coordinating access, services, and support for rough sleepers on public land.
- Engagement platforms: using tools like Engage Bass Coast for co-planning and project management.
This model directly advances multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals, including:
- Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
- Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals.
With no reliance on additional funding and strong alignment to the Council Plan, Municipal Health and Wellbeing Plan, and Housing Strategy, this project is positioned to sustain impact and influence sector practice long-term.
Its power lies not in novelty but in reimagining council’s role: from service provider to leader, and from planner to partner. This project demonstrates that local government can achieve significant impact through small, strategic shifts in power and process.