Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull joined high-spirited revellers at Sydney's Wayside Chapel on Christmas Day with the former prime minister receiving a warm welcome as he helped volunteers feed hundreds of people.
The popular annual yuletide meal and street party at Wayside's Potts Point headquarters kicked off in the morning with an enthusiastic street party sing-along.
About 50 staff and 200 volunteers kept the day ticking along with the homelessness support organisation getting so much interest in the lead-up to Christmas that they had to turn away eager helpers.
Mr Turnbull, who commended Wayside's work and "unconditional love", proved popular with guests as he served kebabs and posed for selfies.
Pastor Jon Owen noted the street was packed and "full of what I love about the area", with people who'd woken up in the gutter that day marking the occasion alongside people who, "if we had a rich list, would be on top of it".
"We say no one is better than anyone on this day, we're all the same, we're all a part of the family of humanity," he said.
Christmas is the organisation's biggest day of the year and Pastor Owen said they noticed an increase in requests for help over the festive season.
"Around this time of year, if you have a stretched budget it's gonna snap, if you have a brittle relationship it's probably gonna break over this period because it's become so stressful," he said.
At The Exodus Foundation in Sydney's inner west, Reverend Bill Crews also said he'd noticed an increase in people needing help.
He predicted their Christmas lunch would attract thousands and he attributed that, in part, to an "epidemic of loneliness".
"It's Christmas Day, people are supposed to be reaching out to one another, it gives everyone the excuse to reach out for one another," he told AAP.
"It's the one day when if you feel lonely, you feel really lonely, and it's the one day you don't want to."
