Older people are disproportionately affected by extreme weather events such as heatwaves. The prohibitive costs of electricity or gas results in older people not using heating in winter or risking their health in summer as they are unable to make their homes energy efficient. The vast majority of non-homeowners have little control over improvements that make the biggest difference to costs, such as insulation, solar or other energy efficient fixed appliances.

The NSW Ageing on the Edge Forum recommends the NSW Government implement Energy Efficiency Rental Standards across NSW urgently, with a focus on prioritising households that are at higher risk of harm such as older people who are vulnerable to extreme weather events, and incorporate mechanisms to ensure older renters are consulted throughout the process including implementation.

Read the submission here

Australia’s current housing crisis affects people differently at different stages of life and no age group or generation is immune to these challenges. While the data on wealth distribution across age groups, stagnant wages, rising housing costs demonstrate that housing situation for renting and home ownership is much worse now compared to what it was a few decades ago, this narrative of ‘boomers vs millennials’ risks misdirecting both public debate and policy responses on housing. The Australian housing market has been materially distorted by the concentration of property investors and policies that favour them coupled with decades of declining government investment in public and community housing.

Read our submission to the Inquiry into Intergenerational Housing Inequity