Advance to Zero

We seek to demonstrate that ending homelessness is possible in Australia through our Advance to Zero (AtoZ) initiative, starting with rough sleeping.

Through AtoZ, we support communities to utilise a range of proven solutions including real-time by-name list data, the Housing First approach, coordinated systems, prevention, improvement science, advocacy, and other activities to ensure that their local housing and homelessness system is able to support more people into permanent housing than are coming into that system – not just at a point in time, but over time.

We measure this by calculating what we call functional zero, a dynamic way of determining if a community has been able to make homelessness rare, brief and once-off.

We have developed the data infrastructure to support communities to collect the data needed to calculate functional zero and importantly, to share it transparently.

To help guide these efforts to end homelessness, we have developed the Advance to Zero framework, based on what’s working around the world and what we’ve learned from efforts so far in Australia. You can view the framework below.

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To learn more about the Advance to Zero framework, refer to Homelessness is solvable: How we can end it in Australia (pp. 19-24).


Frequently asked questions

  • + - How does AtoZ work?

    The AAEH supports communities participating in AtoZ through a series of six-monthly improvement cycles, where communities work together, build capacity and share knowledge, tools and resources.

    AtoZ is supported by a series of Allied Networks focused on particular sectors like health, business or veterans, and large-scale change efforts across cities, regions or states and territories.

    With our international and domestic partners, the AAEH provides training, coaching and other infrastructure or tools-based support through these improvement cycles.

  • + - Who is involved in AtoZ?

    AtoZ is a collaboration (or what’s sometimes called a collective impact initiative) between a broad range of communities, organisations and individuals that are committed to ending homelessness.

    'Communities' are generally defined as a local government area or collection of local government areas.

    Learn more about some of the communities we are working with.

  • + - How can we end homelessness?

    Our strategy (or theory of change) for the framework is based on what has worked to end homelessness overseas, which is to break the process up into smaller, manageable parts.

    We do this by focusing on ending a particular type of homelessness, like rough sleeping, and breaking that up to concentrate on specific groups of people experiencing that type of homelessness, like veterans or families. We refer to these groups as ‘subpopulations’.

    By focusing on this systems change outcome and putting the individual needs of the people experiencing homelessness at the centre of that system, we can end homelessness for good.

  • + - What does functional zero mean?

    Functional zero measures whether a community has ended homelessness for a population. It is reached when a community can demonstrate that their system is routinely housing more people than are coming into it, and has sustained that state for a period of time, thereby ensuring that homelessness is rare, brief and once-off.