Lighthouse Foundation 

A Better Way: Bringing systemic change through Lighthouse Foundation’s unique Family Support interventions for kinship children with complex needs, carers and families 

$599,965 (over 3 years) 

Lighthouse Foundation is undertaking a three year research project to provide proof of concept evidence for its kinship care support interventions. The project is designed to better understand the support needs and outcomes of children, carers, and families with complex histories of trauma and experiences of kinship care. Data collected through the research will be published and shared to inform future government policy, investment decisions and service design. The study will evaluate the impact of Lighthouse Foundation’s personalised peer and community based Family Support interventions on a range of outcomes, including placement stability, family reunification, emotional and behavioural development, health and wellbeing, social relationships, identity and engagement with education. It will also capture the experiences of children and families from Indigenous and CALD backgrounds as well as those with high needs or disabilities. Where possible, an independent control dataset will be used to compare results and evidence the effectiveness of these interventions. A cost benefit analysis will support advocacy for broader, economically sound investment in systemic change. 

Monash University

The Deep End Living Lab: Transforming how Australian hospitals support older people experiencing homelessness 

$599,775 (over 3 years)

The Deep End Living Lab builds on a pilot funded by the National Centre for Healthy Ageing and focuses on improving health and care for older Australians experiencing homelessness. The project addresses key gaps in hospital health workers’ skills, including discussing housing issues with patients, adapting clinical care to fit patients living situations and referring patients with housing needs to appropriate services. Over the next three years, the project will use co-design and implementation methods to develop a homelessness training and resource package for health workers, test its feasibility in a metropolitan hospital emergency department, refine it for broader use and plan for state wide and national scale up. The goal is to embed routine discussions about housing into healthcare consultations, improving recognition and support for older people with housing challenges in hospital settings. This work builds on strong collaborative partnerships with key housing and health sector agencies, drawing on the expertise and relationships established through the foundational pilot project.

Onemda Centre: University of Melbourne 

Maternity service data dashboard: a data-led approach to support Closing the Gap outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families 

$599,715 (over 3 years)

Indigenous children in Victoria are significantly more likely to enter Out‑of‑Home Care, highlighting the need for culturally responsive, trauma integrated maternity care that can improve birth outcomes and help keep families together. Hospitals currently lack access to the data needed to understand their own service patterns regarding Child Protection involvement, limiting their ability to improve care for Indigenous families. This project is developing a proof of concept data dashboard for Mercy Hospital for Women and the Royal Women’s Hospital to make relevant information available for Continuous Quality Improvement. Guided by an Indigenous led governance group, the project will identify data indicators, pilot data collection, integrate the dashboard into IT systems, design a quality improvement process and evaluate its effectiveness in reducing child removals. By providing hospitals with data driven insights, the project will support more effective action to improve trauma integrated maternity care and reduce the separation of Indigenous infants from their families.

The Royal Women' Hospital  

Addressing Reproductive Healthcare Disparities in Regional Victoria: A Capacity Building Project 

$511,121 (over 3 years)

Addressing Reproductive Healthcare Disparities in Regional Victoria: A Capacity Building Project is working to improve access to timely, local and affordable early medical abortion and long-acting reversible contraception services in regional areas. The project focuses on improving health outcomes and equality for women and supporting their full participation in society by increasing the availability of skilled care. Over the next three years, clinicians in the Grampians, Sunraysia and Gippsland regions will receive training in long‑acting reversible contraception and abortion procedures. This will build a stronger regional workforce and expand access to essential reproductive healthcare services. Led by Australia’s largest hospital specialising in women’s health and a global centre of excellence in research, practice and advocacy for underrepresented women’s health issues, the project is well positioned to address these service gaps and create lasting improvements in regional healthcare.

Uniting Vic Tas 

Ballarat Zero Project 

$600,000 (over 3 years)

The Ballarat Zero Project is focused on reducing rough sleeping homelessness among vulnerable community members in Ballarat. The project brings together multiple local partners to coordinate efforts that identify and engage people sleeping rough in central Ballarat, helping them quickly access housing and support to sustain their homes. The goal is to achieve and maintain Functional Zero homelessness for people sleeping rough in Ballarat’s Central Ward by December 2027 and beyond. Uniting Vic Tas, a key partner in the Central Highlands Homelessness Alliance (CHHA), contributes extensive experience and services across Ballarat and Victoria. The CHHA, a formal alliance of 12 local agencies working with people experiencing homelessness and family violence, provides governance and collective impact structures that support the project. This collaborative approach has the endorsement of all CHHA members and Ballarat City Council.