Cassandra Morgan

It's 5pm on a Thursday, and excited kids are tumbling out of cars queuing outside a basketball stadium in Melbourne's west.

Once-grand inner-Melbourne town halls have been marooned in history and largely left to rot for almost three decades, but there is hope that new life awaits them.

Dust settles in the arched corridor of an inner-city town hall, dark except for fingers of grey light stretching along the carpet. The air is musty, still. Quiet.

Weeks after the Victorian government spruiked a new cafe as the key to solving the area’s homeless crisis, a nearby residential facility’s closure will put vulnerable men at risk of being without a home.

On a mild Saturday morning, five of Melbourne’s ecological groups convened a kind of emergency cabinet meeting. One item was at the top of their agenda: swans.

In a warm cafe on Chapel Street, Elene has found sanctuary away from the drugs and chaos. The trouble is, she has to go home.

The first time Anna lived with a stranger, the relationship quickly began falling apart.

Years of soaring property prices have meant the age of renters extend well beyond young adults and into new generations. But for women, it can come with additional hurdles.