Can I stream video from iPhone to VLC? Is there a solution/app available that will allow me to take video from iPhone/iPad camera and live-stream it to a VLC player running somewhere else in my WiFi network?

Searching around for iPhone RTP/RTSP encoders isn't coming up with much.
You could try the Airplay functionality for iPhone ( though I'm not sure if it is available on all iPhone devices, but it is on the 4S ).
Then try and find an Airplay plugin for VLC.

It's already possible for Windows Media Player so VLC can probably do it too ( and be better at it, because you know, it's VLC ).

I haven't tested it myself, but it's probably worth trying out.