A gesture that began with the simple act of finding an abandoned nest on a bush track led Mallacoota artist and poet Rosemary Hannah to inspire a collaborative group exhibition for this year's National Homelessness Week.
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What's more, it also led to deeper discussion about the housing situation in the town.
On a mild winter's morning during National Homelessness Week, the Wellsprings Open Creative group proudly displayed their thought provoking works about homelessness at the Mallacoota District Health and Support Service.
Coffee and cakes were served while people discussed their views about the situation of homelessness.
"It is a small but simple gesture of solidarity towards the many homeless people throughout our region," Ms Hannah said.
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"Did you know that Victoria has the highest rate of homeless in the country?" another woman stated.
Yes in Victoria maybe, but not here in Mallacoota surely?
MDHSS Housing support worker Leonie Smith said although there was not really a visible homeless situation in the town, there were people at risk due to lack of available housing in the area.
"Renters can find themselves in a vulnerable situation here. It's common for home owners to rent their houses to locals over winter on the condition they vacate the premises throughout the busy summer months," Ms Smith said.
"This leaves people in a situation of not having permanent housing - it's not an ideal situation."
According to Ms Smith, AirBnB had only escalated the situation.
"People are buying up properties and renting them out as AirBnBs, which is also making permanent accommodation harder and harder to find," she said.
She added that people "drifting" into the town was something definitely not encouraged due to lack of services and accommodation.
"People come through thinking it's a lovely easy area. What they don't realise is there are a lack of resources and services. We really are at the end of the line here."
"When transient types come through, we try to set them up with temporary accommodation but that's not really an option. We've even set people up in tents in the caravan parks however that can become an issue.
"So really the best we can do for people is to help them to keep moving and get to an area where there is more support."
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Mallacoota Neighbourhood House coordinator Susie Vatcher said the whole point of the morning was to raise awareness about homelessness and to open up discussion .
She said the Wellsprings group had spent three months creating their artworks and the final collaborative product titled "nest" was the most obvious.
"We all need a home and place to rest - we all need a nest."
