Having lived a "transient" existence for several years, Andrew McGowan is currently homeless after his van broke down.
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"I can't afford to repair it, and I thought, 'if I've got to walk, I might as well walk for a cause'," he said.
Therefore, last week, Mr McGowan, 53, began walking from Parliament House, Sydney to Parliament House, Canberra to raise awareness for education around service dogs.
He's also raised more than $500 for the Buy A Bale campaign.
Pushing a second hand wheelchair with his belongings on it, he's accompanied on the walk by his service dogs, Essie Girl (a stumpy tail cattle dog) and Hay Zeus (an American staffy).
"It's got wobbly wheels," he said of the wheelchair.
"I carry a gas stove, food, clothes, dog food, I've got a blow-up mattress, a tarp if we get caught out in the middle of nowhere in the rain.
"So I'm self-sufficient."
Mr McGowan and the dogs had a rest day at the Scarborough Hotel on Tuesday.
Mr McGowan said his first service dog, the late Chelsea Dog, came into his life in 2015.
"I was suicidal, and my counsellor advised me to get a dog," he said.
"She kept me alive, because I had to get out of bed, look after her, walk her, feed her, care for her."
In 2016, Mr McGowan and canine friends completed a 500km walk from Kempsey to Parliament House, to raise awareness about victims of clergy child abuse.
A survivor himself, Mr McGowan's mission is to promote the vital role of service dogs to help people like himself manage their daily lives.
He has lobbied politicians, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison, about the need for national laws governing service dogs.
"That's what I want to get out there, the role service dogs play... Particularly in my life as a survivor of child sexual abuse," he said.
Mr McGowan said due to the effects of the bushfires, he'd had to alter his route to Canberra.
However, he'll be in Canberra by February 13, when Chelsea Dog will be honoured in Parliament.
He'll be inviting politicians to walk with him from the old Parliament House to the new Parliament House.
"We have federal legislation and we have state legislation, but the two don't marry up, so we need a blanket approach," he said.
"The dogs give me a quality of life that I didn't have before."