Bill Shorten handed out hot cross buns and food to people doing it tough at a Salvation Army cafe on Good Friday as he took a slight break from campaigning.
The Labor leader and Prime Minister Scott Morrison agreed to a Good Friday truce with no campaigning, but they still went out to meet people and shake hands.
Mr Shorten and his wife Chloe visited the Salvation Army's Lighthouse Cafe in Melbourne, where they handed out food and spoke to volunteers and visitors.
Trevor Wulf chatted to the opposition leader about his story of recovering from gambling, alcohol addiction and homelessness to now work as a cleaner.
"He's alright," Mr Wulf said after speaking to Mr Shorten.
"Politicians are politicians, they do the right thing until they get into power.
"They all promise you a good tax break and health benefits, I haven't received any extra money in my pocket."
Salvation Army Major Brendan Nottle said seeing high profile people like Mr Shorten come in to visit made "forgotten people" feel valued.
"He'll just ring and have a conversation about what's happening here, and he'll try and understand what the drivers are," Major Nottle told reporters.
"He's been in here quite a number of times, he'll just turn up."
Major Nottle said the election was critical because the broader community needs to understand the deeper issues in Australia.
"Last night we pulled out the furniture of the cafe and we had 179 people sleeping on our floor. That happens every night of the week," he said.
"That says that something is systemically wrong with our society."
Mr Shorten has mainly campaigned in Liberal seats in the first nine days of the campaign, and has focused on health spending.
But he fired up at the coalition on Thursday, accusing the government of a "malicious and stupid" campaign on climate change.
Mr Shorten and Mr Morrison have also agreed not to campaign on Easter Sunday.
