Melbourne

Melbourne Community

Across Melbourne, community participation can look like learning a new skill, sharing surplus produce, repairing a household item or joining a local group. Neighbourhood houses, community sheds and member-run learning organisations create regular ways to meet people through practical activities and shared interests. Other organisations focus on inclusion, settlement, food relief or support for people seeking asylum, while volunteer networks connect residents with opportunities across the city and state. The options below span Melbourne’s inner city, suburbs and wider metropolitan catchment, with each organisation listed for its documented local activity or service area.

🏘️ Neighbourhood & Community Centres

SouthPort Community Centre

SouthPort Community Centre is a non-profit neighbourhood house in Port Melbourne with education, art and performance, community and wellbeing activities. Classes, groups and workshops provide ways for people to learn and socialise locally, with a programme that combines creative participation and practical community activities.

154 Liardet Street, Port Melbourne VIC 3207 · ☎ (03) 9645 1476 (general enquiries)

Tullamarine Community House and Men’s Shed Inc

This community house brings together a men’s shed, community garden, repair shop, free library, recycling and upcycling projects, seniors groups, exercise, community lunches, playgroup, learning and social programmes. It offers a particularly broad mix of making, sharing and neighbourhood activities; some activities have booking or limited-place conditions.

30 Carol Grove, Tullamarine VIC 3043 · ☎ +61393389072 (general enquiries)

🛠️ Friendship, Shared Interests & Local Projects

Melbourne Men’s Shed

Melbourne Men’s Shed is a city-based community shed offering woodwork, wood turning, CNC routing, walking, cooking, computers and repairs, alongside social and volunteer activities. Its participation is described as including people living in or close to Melbourne, with working and retired members, women, artists and students among the people it serves.

Level 1, Federation Square Car Park, Russell Street extension, Melbourne VIC 3000 · ☎ 03 9639 2040 (shed contact)

U3A Melbourne City

U3A Melbourne City is a University of the Third Age organisation for people in active retirement. Member learning and social participation sit at its centre, making it an option for older adults who want to pursue shared interests in a member-run setting. It is one local choice within Melbourne’s wider network of U3As.

Suite 2, Level 4, Greek Centre, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 · ☎ (03) 9639 5209 (office enquiries)

U3A Port Phillip

U3A Port Phillip offers courses, public events and volunteering opportunities for older learners in the Port Phillip area, including Albert Park. Membership and enrolment arrangements apply to courses. The combination of learning, events and member volunteering supports participation beyond a single class.

Mary Kehoe Community Centre, 224 Danks Street, Albert Park VIC 3206 · ☎ (03) 9696 3495 or 0478 641 289 (office enquiries)

CERES Urban Orchard Project

The CERES Urban Orchard Project connects households across Melbourne’s inner north to swap and share surplus produce from backyard gardens. It offers a practical way to participate in local food sharing and garden-based exchange, as part of the independent community activities hosted at CERES.

Inner northern Melbourne

St Kilda Repair Cafe

St Kilda Repair Cafe is a volunteer-based group of fixers and menders holding monthly community repair sessions at Port Phillip EcoCentre. People can bring household items for volunteers to assess and attempt to repair, while the sessions share repair skills and seek to reduce waste through practical cooperation.

55A Blessington Street, St Kilda VIC 3183

CAWRS

CAWRS is a volunteer-driven waste-reduction initiative working in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs. Volunteers can assist with compost hub builds, repair-café sessions, events and related practical projects. The initiative also maps participating community gardens and repair cafes, linking hands-on work with broader local waste-reduction activity.

6B Henry St, Pakenham VIC 3810 · ☎ +61 497 798 344 (general contact)

🙋 Youth & Family Participation

Scouts Victoria

Scouts Victoria supports local youth groups across metropolitan Melbourne, with regions and districts including Bayside, Boroondara, Glen Eira–Stonnington and Yarra. Families can use its local-group search to find an age-appropriate group. The organisation’s metropolitan structure provides a route into ongoing youth activities and local volunteer leadership.

Victorian Scout Centre, 152 Forster Road, Mount Waverley VIC 3149 · ☎ 1800 726 887 (membership and general enquiries) or 03 8543 9800 (general enquiries)

♿ Disability & Inclusion

Inclusion Melbourne – Leisure Buddies

Leisure Buddies matches adult NDIS participants with cognitive or intellectual disability with screened community volunteers for shared local activities. Matches are based on interests, location and personality, with coordination support from Inclusion Melbourne. The focus is on taking part in ordinary community activities together rather than attending a separate centre-based programme.

Melbourne metropolitan area · ☎ 03 9509 4266 (enquiry line)

Alkira – Community Ready Evening & Weekend Supports

CREWS supports adults with intellectual and other disabilities to take part in local places, events, regular clubs and outings. Activities are offered in small groups, with one-to-one support available, and a monthly calendar is co-designed with participants. This makes it distinct from a single activity group, with options shaped around local community participation.

3 Thurston Street, Box Hill VIC · ☎ (03) 9890 1365 (recreation enquiries)

Extended Families – Community Groups

Extended Families runs social inclusion and capacity-building groups across Melbourne for people with disability and families. Groups are designed around relationships, activities, skills and support networks, with different programmes operating in southern, eastern and western areas. The range of locations allows participation to be connected with the family’s part of Melbourne.

Melbourne metropolitan area

Y Inclusion Services – Social Group Programs

The Y’s disability social group programmes provide supported community activities, sport and recreation for people of different ages across Melbourne. The service states that its programmes are NDIS funded, and its focus is on supported participation in group activities rather than general recreation information.

Melbourne metropolitan area · ☎ 1300 699 622 (service enquiries)

🌈 Cultural & Newcomer Connections

Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre

Spectrum provides migration, settlement, family, aged-care and employment-related services for migrants and refugees in Melbourne. Its programmes include support for migrant and refugee parents, children and families, young refugees and carers, combining practical assistance with pathways into services and community life.

Melbourne

Migrant Information Centre (Eastern Melbourne)

The Migrant Information Centre supports culturally and linguistically diverse people and families, older people, people with disability and carers, as well as community groups and service providers in Melbourne’s eastern region. Its work includes settlement, access to services and participation in community life, with a broad community rather than single-age focus.

Eastern Melbourne

Australian Multicultural Community Services – Connections for Wellbeing

Connections for Wellbeing is a multicultural programme for adults experiencing emotional challenges that affect connection or participation. It links people and carers with social activities, interest or cultural groups, gardens, classes and events; in-language support and some financial assistance may be available. The Maribyrnong drop-in centre operates from Seddon.

296 Nicholson Street, Seddon VIC 3011 · ☎ 0403 158 359 (Connections for Wellbeing enquiries)

❤️ Practical Help & Community Support

Asylum Seeker Resource Centre

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre provides food and material aid, support services, health care, education, employment pathways and legal aid for people seeking asylum in Melbourne. Its Footscray and Dandenong sites serve people seeking asylum who are in Melbourne, combining practical support with opportunities connected to education and employment.

214–218 Nicholson Street, Footscray VIC · ☎ 03 9326 6066 (assistance for people seeking asylum in Melbourne) or 03 8772 1380 (Refugee Resource Hub enquiries)

Sacred Heart Mission

Sacred Heart Mission operates a dining hall with meals and support workers, and a Women’s House offering daily engagement, meals, material aid, social groups and housing support. It also provides wider aged-care and wellbeing services. People who want to contribute can enquire through its volunteer office, which manages volunteer opportunities separately from general enquiries.

87 Grey Street, St Kilda VIC 3182 · ☎ 03 9537 1166 (general enquiries) or 0400 497 139 (volunteer office)

Foodbank Victoria

Foodbank Victoria is a food-relief organisation working across Victoria, including metropolitan Melbourne. Its public contact service provides organisational information and partnership enquiries. Local food access arrangements depend on the relevant community distribution partner, so this organisation is best understood as part of the wider food-relief network rather than a single neighbourhood meal venue.

Victoria, including metropolitan Melbourne · ☎ 03 9362 8343 (general enquiries)

🤝 Volunteering & Service Connections

Volunteering Victoria

Volunteering Victoria is the state peak body for volunteering and provides a guide to volunteer support services and role-search tools. It notes that organisations may use matching, interview, training or screening processes. This is a useful starting point for residents who want to compare opportunities across Melbourne without being directed to one particular cause.

Victoria, including metropolitan Melbourne

Melbourne’s community life is built through repeated, practical participation: learning beside others, sharing garden produce, repairing something that might otherwise be discarded, joining a youth group or contributing time to a support organisation. Residents and newcomers can choose an activity that suits their interests, age, circumstances or preferred level of involvement. Relevant local groups, charities, volunteer teams and community organisations are warmly invited to add or update their listing so this guide can reflect the city’s changing network of participation and support.

⚠️ Accuracy Note: We do our best to keep this information useful and up to date, however details can change over time. If you notice anything that appears incorrect or out of date, please let us know and we will review it. Local business owners and community leaders can also help keep local information accurate by logging in and creating or managing their own listing and useful content on melbourne.city.