Community Investment
Understanding our role extends beyond moving Melbourne
Metro and our people are part of the community. Beyond connecting people and places, we support a range of community organisations and activities around our network.
Our activity has four focus areas:
- Safety – Building community confidence about rail safety to assist people travel safely on our network
- Mental health – Supporting awareness, education and caring initiatives related to mental health to improve the wellbeing of Melbournians.
- Inclusion – Improving the experience of passengers so everyone who uses our network has the same great experience and our employees can bring their whole selves to work.
- Involvement – Supporting initiatives that bring communities together to create and enhance the travelling experience for Metro passengers.
Metro partners with South East Community Links (SECL) to deliver the Community Connectors Program, which supports people in and around Dandenong experiencing crisis.
Two social workers – Community Connectors – work at Dandenong Station to provide people in need with direct support and connect them to local support services.
SECL also provides training and support for Metro employees to develop a deeper understanding of the local community environment and information on local referral services.
In the first year of the program (July 2023 – June 2024) the Community Connectors:
- Facilitated over 3300 engagements with community members at the station;
- Referred approximately 190 people to additional services;
- Prevented harm and de-escalate more than 100 situations;
- Engaged around 70 people in some type of casework to provide tailored support;
- Contributed to an increased perception of safety at the station as evidence by passenger survey responses.
Further information is available in the 2024 Pilot Report.
Metro’s Moving Melbourne Community Grants support not for profit organisations doing important work to help improve people’s mental health. With an annual grant pool valued at $190,000 we support projects and organisations of all sizes right across Melbourne in the areas of mental health wellness, education and support services.
Visit our News page to see our most recent grant winners. Our next grant round will be advertised on this page in early 2025.
Travellers Aid Australia empowers people with travel related challenges to connect, engage and participate within their communities by using public transport. We collaborate with Travellers Aid to improve accessibility on our network and beyond.
In Melbourne, Travellers Aid operates from Flinders Street and Southern Cross Stations. It also has regional sites at Ballarat and Seymour Stations.
Metro partners with Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria, Department of Transport and Planning, VicTrack and V/Line to support the Stationeers program. The program improves the safety and look and feel of stations across Victoria by supporting community volunteers to beautify station garden landscapes. For more information visit Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria.
Metro supports the St Vincent de Paul Society by hosting Vinnies Soup Vans at Flinders Street, West Footscray and St Albans stations up to six nights a week. Vinnies volunteers provide food, essentials and a friendly face to the local community.
More than 100,000 meals have been served from Vinnies vans at Metro stations since June 2022.
Many different murals and artworks exist throughout station precincts around Melbourne. They brighten up our stations and often have links to local history and landmarks. We work closely with local councils to consider appropriate artwork at or around stations. Applications for new murals are currently closed. Engagement with local councils on potential new artworks will occur in 2024/25.