Campaigns

This is the full recording of the At Risk Forum on Older Women and Homelessness held on September 17th. The playlist includes the full introduction and political panel, breakout sessions on Family Violence, Local-Scale Solutions, Influencing for Change, as well as the conclusion of the forum. Skip through to find the breakout sessions of interest to you.

Our submission calls on the NSW Government to  fund a specialist older person’s housing information and support service, lower the priority age for social housing eligibilityand build  5,000 social and affordable homes per year for 10 years, to address the older peoples housing crisis.

PDF icon Read the Submission

17 Sep 2021

An estimated 405,000 women aged 45 and over are at risk of homelessness in Australia. It’s time for action and national leadership. Awareness has been raised but policy responses are silent in addressing older women’s homelessness. If we approach this issue from a gender perspective, what needs to change for older women today and in the future?

New South Wales government handed down the State budget today. It was encouraging to see the additional investment to address rough sleeping in NSW with $57 million for Together Home program. However, it was disappointing to see the lack of investment on housing support for older people.

Our new outpost in NSW, meetings in Queensland, and plans for the next At Risk forum.

We are encouraged by the $2.9 billion investment to fast-track housing delivery by the Queensland government in yesterday’s state budget. This includes $1 billion set aside for Housing Investment Fund, a long-term fund that will drive new supply to support current and future housing need.

In our pre-budget submission we call on the Federal Government to increase the availability of safe, affordable and appropriate housing for older people at risk of and/or experiencing homelessness, invest in service systems to support older people before they reach crisis, invest in support for older people with a lived experience to have a voice in aged care, and invest in support for existing Assistance with Care and Housing (ACH) providers to transition to the care finder model, through the Primary Health Networks.

Read the pre-budget submission

Most older women experiencing homelessness have not been homeless before and have experienced ‘conventional’ housing histories throughout their life. This means they often
do not identify as being homeless or know where to turn for help. For this reason, the cohort of older women at risk of homelessness is often described as ‘invisible’.

HAAG, in partnership with Debbie Faulkner of the University of Adelaide (and now University of South Australia), has documented the homelessness trends of
older people in all states and territories over the last five years.

PDF icon Read the Parity Article by Gemma White, Kobi Maglen and Melis Cevik

National Alliance of Seniors for Housing, and Older Women Lost in Housing member Penny Leimhuis shares her experiences of homelessness.

PDF icon Read the Parity Article

The Ageing on the Edge New South Wales Forum is calling on the NSW Government to deliver 5,000 additional social housing dwellings, improve access of older people to appropriate social and affordable housing, establish a state-wide housing information and support service for older people, increase security of tenure for renters, extend the eviction moratorium during the COVID-19 pandemic and expand rent support to impacted tenants.

PDF icon Read the pre-budget submission

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