Annual report 2023 | VIC | Mission Australia

WELCOME

This year we assisted 5,372 children, young people, adults and families in Victoria to strengthen families and to improve wellbeing and independence.

We are honoured to serve our clients, who trust us with their stories and allow us to be part of their journey. We are inspired by their resilience, courage, and hope and look forward to continuing to provide them with the best possible service and support, tailored to their individual needs and goals.

This year we continued to implement the Victoria Strategy which provides direction on the geographic locations and service streams where we plan to grow our impact through new services, innovation and partnerships.

Through our Better Futures program, Navigator, L2P, Pivot and other initiatives, we continue to support young people towards their journey to independence.

Our employment services in Victoria are innovating and building industry and Aboriginal partnerships to pave pathways towards independence.

As the Communities for Children facilitating partner in Dandenong, our team lead a collaboration with several organisations working to strengthen families and improve child wellbeing and safety.

Our focus on the well-being of our people was more important than ever this year in light of increased demand and cost of living pressures. We continue to build a workplace culture that values diversity, inclusion, and innovation. We look after the wellbeing of our people by providing them with opportunities for learning, development, and recognition. We also foster a culture of feedback and continuous improvement, where we learn from our successes and failures.

The impact we have would not be possible without the commitment of our leaders and frontline staff and the support of our partners, funders and collaborators.

Thank you and we look forward to your continued support.

Warm regards,

State director profile Nada with copy

Together, we supported 5,372 Australians in VIC on their journey towards independence last year.

Community development

70 people assisted
through 2 service

Housing

6 people assisted
through 1 service

Employment, education & training

5,287 people assisted
through 21 services

Justice & corrections

9 people assisted
through 1 service

An Australia where all of us can have a safe home and thrive

In 2020, we launched Mission Australia’s 20-25 Strategy with a vision for an Australia where all of us have a safe home and can thrive. In the past year, we are proud of our progress in our four strategic focus areas. From the opening of two new Alcohol and Other Drugs facilities to our continued commitment to create strong, resilient and thriving communities, read more about our progress in FY23.

See our progress

Our work in action

Partnering to strengthen communities

Working with City of Greater Dandenong Children's Services and Keysborough Primary School, we supported the School Transition Project to help children starting high school. As part of our Communities for Children Greater Dandenong program, children in year seven recorded their experiences to share with those in the grade below. Over 180 students participated in the project. The initiative stems from consultation with children who asked to hear from other high schoolers. Their responses are being collated into a book.

Learn more

Thank you for making our work possible this year

Driving excellence

Our award-winning Impact Measurement Program helps us understand how our services improve the lives of our clients and the communities we serve. We measure our impact by asking the people we help questions about their wellbeing when they start a service and when they exit.

Funded by Federal and State Governments, our 73 homelessness services provide support to people who are at risk of or experiencing homelessness. Our data shows that homelessness can be ended if the right support, services and housing are in place, and if there is a strong focus on prevention. Of the people who approached Mission Australia’s services before they became homeless, 93% were supported to remain living in their home and avoid homelessness. However, our and all other organisations’ efforts to find long-term housing for people once they become homeless are severely constrained by the lack of affordable housing available across the country.

93% of people who were at risk of homelessness remained living in their homes when they exited a Mission Australia service*.

76% of people had improved overall personal wellbeing when they exited our service*.

Bar chart of Reconnect average satisfaction with life as a whole showing there is an increase when they exit compared with starting

*All closed cases who at service entry were at risk of homelessness and who exited between July 2022 and June 2023 (n=2352). Matched data collected from July 2022 to June 2023 (n=525)

¹Deakin University and Australian Unity Limited. (2021). Australian Unity Wellbeing Index - Appendices 38. Subjective wellbeing in Australia during the second year of the pandemic. Geelong: Australian Centre on Quality of Life, School of Psychology, Deakin University

Policy & Advocacy

Mission Australia continued our research, policy and advocacy work to support people in need to thrive. We boldy advocated to the Federal and State/Territory Governments on issues of importance to Mission Australia and the people we serve.

We made policy submissions on a range of topics including homelessness, social and affordable housing, and youth. Across the state and nationally, we met with Ministers and senior government representatives on policy priorities for people in need and furthered our community collaborations to advocate together on key issues.

We continue to advocate strongly for further investment in social and affordable housing, actions to end homelessness, adequate income support and other policy priorities to support people in need to thrive.

Explore our publications

View our media releases