Publications

HAAGs submission to the consultation on Victoria’s Climate Change Strategy 2026-30 calls for a have a specific focus on supporting older Victorians, particularly those who are financially disadvantaged, in recognition of the disproportionate impact of climate change on older people. We recommend that the Strategy acknowledges the links between climate change and housing, supporting calls for a significant increase in the number of public, community and affordable housing.  We also recommend strengthening minimum energy efficiency standards for rental properties, and improving the ability of public and community housing to withstand extreme heat events, with a priority on 55+ public housing stock.

Read our submission here

The Victorian Government's plans to "retire and redevelop" public housing towers in Flemington and North Melbourne raise serious concerns about the future of genuine public housing. While residents have been promised relocation assistance and the right to return, the proposed redevelopments will only increase "social" housing units by a mere 10%, with the majority of new apartments being privately owned. Critical details regarding land ownership, development types, and the preservation of public housing remain undisclosed. Our submission makes recommendations to address these serious concerns.

Read the submission here

Our joint submission alongside a wide range of community and legal organisations calls on the inquiry to recognise these shared principles, respecting the rights of Public Housing tower residents!

Read our joint submission

HAAGs submission to this Victorian Parliament inquiry draws on the experiences HAAG hears about the serious lack of homes for older people in regional Victoria. We call for a range of measures to ensure older people in regional Victoria have secure and appropriate housing, including: increasing public and community housing to 10% of all housing stock by 2040; that the Victorian government invest in HAAG’s Home at Last Service to ensure older people across all regional Victoria can receive housing advice and support; and that housing meet accessibility standards to enable people to age in place.

Read our submission here

Our submission draws on the lived experiences of older people applying for, and living in, social housing in NSW. We recommend that trauma informed approaches are taken with everyone applying for social housing and that older people are treated with dignity and respect, and highlight the need for a specialist older persons’ housing information and support service to support older people to navigate the social housing system and establish tenancies.

Read our submission

Our position on the Retirement Villages Amedment Bill 2024

Housing stress, insecurity and homelessness are 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

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