The Inner North Report 2025 has been released. It updates the findings from 2022 and provides a fresh statistical overview across eight domains of community life. It highlights where things have shifted in Darebin, Merri-bek and Yarra — and where stubborn challenges remain.
The data is a tool, not the full story. It shows where we stand but not why we are here. The meaning, impact, and solutions come from the community itself. That’s why the Foundation is inviting local organisations, residents and partners to use the Report to spark conversations, strengthen advocacy, and identify the next steps we can take together.
There are different ways to get involved:
- Use the Report in your work
Bring the Report into your organisation, share it with your networks, and use it to shape plans and advocacy. It can help highlight urgent needs, show progress where it’s happening, and back up the work already being done on the ground. Download the 2025 Report - Join the community forum
We are convening a forum to take a deep dive into the four priority areas — housing and homelessness, poverty, violence against women, and mental health care. Together we’ll decide where collective effort can make the most difference, and where local funds can be best applied. - Apply for Action Grants
A pool of $30,000 (with potential to grow) will be allocated to local responses emerging from the forum. Past Action Grants have backed practical, community-led ideas recommended by a volunteer advisory group. - Share opportunities
Do you have an event, volunteer drive, or project linked to these priorities? Share it with us and we’ll help connect people and promote ways to get involved.
How we got here
The Inner North Report is part of a long-term effort to build a shared understanding of community priorities.
At a meeting late in 2019, it became clear that while each group member understood their own areas of interest and engaged with the community very well, there was not a common collaborative understanding of what could be done to make the Inner North a better place.
To improve this situation, we formed a local volunteer steering committee to help us reach a clear understanding of our communities needs and priorities.
With the leadership and strong backing of Jump Start, a MyFund of the Inner North Community Foundation, we secured funding for the following reports
The Inner North Report: Who We Are
This was released in May 2021 as a snapshot of the Inner North which captures the character, strengths, and some of the weaknesses, of the local community.
The Inner North Report: What we did
This report, released in April 2025, reflects on what we did, highlighting how we addressed the issues and the impact of the community response.
The Inner North Report: Who We Want To Be
This report was released in March 2022 and details how people want their community to develop and improve. It was based on a unique approach to capture the normal chatter that occurs in a community every day and to put priorities around the things people believe will make their community a better place for all.
The Inner North Report: New perspectives
This report, released in September 2025, provides an updated statistical overview of our community and is designed to stimulate conversations about how we got to where we are, what is changing and what needs to change to make things even better.
Inner North Action Grants
With the first two reports sparking conversations, we designed a small grant round to encourage businesses, not for profits and community organisations to form partnerships to respond to identified areas for improvement. A volunteer Community Advisory Group recommended two organisations for funding.