Publications

HAAG welcomes the opportunity to provide input into the National Plan to End the Abuse and Mistreatment of Older People 2024–34 Public Consultation Draft (the National Plan). Housing stress, insecurity and homelessness is integrally linked to the abuse and mistreatment of older people, and the current housing crisis has exacerbated this. Without access to a safe, secure, affordable home of their own older people can find themselves living in situations – with adult children, relatives, or strangers – where elder abuse is more likely to occur. When elder abuse does occur, a lack of alternative housing options means it is difficult to for older people to escape that abuse.

HAAG welcomes the opportunity to provide input into the NSW Draft Homelessness Strategy 2025 – 2035. We especially acknowledge the contributions to this submission made by members of HAAG’s advisory groups including NSW Lived Experience Acton Group (LEAG), National Alliance of Seniors for Housing (NASH), Retirement Accommodation Action Group (RAAG), LGBTQIA+ reference group and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) reference group.

The NSW Ageing on the Edge Pre-Budget Submission provides proposals to address the housing crisis for older people in NSW who are experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness. We call on the NSW government to: fund a specialist older persons’ housing information and support service that comprises both an early intervention and crisis response; lower the priority age for social housing eligibility from 80 years as a matter of urgency; and build 5,000 social homes per year for 10 years, 20% of which should be dedicated to older people.

Read the NSW Ageing on the Edge Pre-Budget Submission

 

 

HAAG’s Pre-Budget Submission provides proposals to address the impacts of the housing crisis on older Victorians. We call on the Victorian government to: respond to the specific housing needs older people by increasing investment in the Home at Last service so it can provide support across the state; fund housing options for older renters who aren’t eligible for social housing; and fund a service to assist older women to access a broader range of housing options including co-operative housing.

We also call for increasing public and community housing to 10% of all housing stock by 2040, investment in revitalising the Independent Living Units (ILU) Sector, and legislating a definition of ‘affordable housing’.

Read our pre-budget submission

The Aged Care Bill aims to legislate a number of changes proposed by the Aged Care Taskforce including Support at Home. Fundamental to receiving support at home is the expectation that older people have a stable home. HAAG makes a number of recommendations to ensure older people in private rental, marginal housing and other precarious housing settings have equitable access to support at home similar to homeowners.

Read our submission

We are particularly concerned by the suggestion that no person under 65 should be eligible for aged care services in any circumstance. If implemented, this would exclude prematurely aged homeless people, or those at risk of homelessness, from accessing specialist aged care services like residential care and Support at Home.


Our clients often age prematurely as a result of cumulative and persistent disadvantage and have one or more age-related conditions. While these people are not aged 65+, they require access to aged care services earlier than the rest of the population. Many of our clients are not eligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

 

HAAG makes a number of recommendations to ensure the 'Plan for Victoria' addresses the future needs of older people to have access to safe, secure and affordable housing.

Read our submission

HAAG recommends that the Federal Government identify financial products and banking options to prevent older people in the lowest income households falling out of homeownership due to mortgage stress, as well as funding the construction of public and community housing for older people who are not likely to find market based housing

Read our submission

HAAG welcomes the opportunity to provide input into National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024. We appreciate Senator David Pocock, Kylea Tink MP and other members for their efforts bring this Bill forward and echo the support from the community sector organisations. Among other things, the submission below outlines the housing and homelessness related challenges of older people and the need to specifically recognise their needs.

Read the submission here

East Gippsland Social and Affordable housing submission 

HAAG’s recent research has found that over the last ten years, the housing circumstances for older Queenslanders is getting worse. Read our policy recommendations and download our guide to meeting with your candidates and MP's

Public housing is an appropriate housing option for older people, as rents are capped at 25% of income, and it provides security of tenure. In September 2023, the Victorian Government announced plans to “retire and redevelop” the public housing towers over the coming decades.

Currently, the private rental sector does not provide security of tenure, affordability or accessibility for older low-income households. For renting in retirement to be as secure as home ownership, it requires proper regulation and legislative reform to enable older people to age in place, in the communities that they are familiar with and close to their social networks.

Read our submission here

We are calling on the Federal Government to fix older people's housing

Read our policy asks here

Housing and care are inextricably intertwined and should be seen as two parts of a holistic framework that needs to be put in place to support our elders to age in place and prevent premature admission into a residential facility. Therefore, Federal Government should fund additional, tailored specialist housing support services for older people by increasing funding and geographical availability of services such as Care finder. It is also critical to ensure that the focus of Care finder service remains on assisting people at risk of homelessness with care and housing.

Read the submission

HAAG supports the intention of the ACT Property Developers Bill, the consultative approach so far, and endorses the submission from CFMEU to this inquiry. As an organisation representing older people, including older renters, older people in retirement villages, residential parks and experiencing other housing challenges, we support measures to ensure older people’s rights are protected and they are empowered to exercise those rights. This Bill provides a vital opportunity to strengthen the protections for owner-occupiers as well as tenants. These protections should also be applicable universally to all types of property developments.

Read our short submission

HAAG welcomes the provision in the Aged Care Bill Exposure Draft that the aged care system offers accessible, culturally appropriate, trauma-aware and healing-informed funded services.

We recommend that protections for diverse population be strengthened, that housing be recognised as a human right, and to fund specialist housing support services through the Care Finder program.

Read the submission here

HAAG calls on the governement to respond to older people's specific needs by expanding the Home at Last service to be a state-wide service, increasing funding for tenancy advice for older people, increasing funding for early intervention and prevention, and funding the delivery of a service to assist older women to access a broader range of housing options including co-operative housing.

We also need to address the housin building  60,000 public and community housing dwellings, Increase overall funding for Housing First responses, increase funding to revitalise the Independent Living Units (ILU) Sector, legislate a definition of ‘affordable housing’ , establish an Ombudsman service to provider free, fair and binding determinations on retirement housing and social housing disputes, and re-establish and fund the role of the Commissioner for Senior Victorians.

Read our submission here

The NSW Ageing on the Edge Forum is a coalition of about 150 organisational supporters and members. The members of the Forum are advocates for change, including older people with lived experience of homelessness, service providers, peak advocacy bodies and private sector organisations, working together to address housing and homelessness related issues of older people.

Ageing on the Edge Coalition endorses the submissions and the recommendations of Shelter NSW and COTA NSW to this consultation paper.

Read the Submission

HAAG welcomes the opportunity to provide input into the Treasury through the pre-budget submission process. This submission is based on our experience delivering housing and related support services to older people, research and lived experiences of older people experiencing housing stress or homelessness in Australia.

Read the Submission

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