Nowhere To Go - Older Women and Housing Vulnerability

In 2011, according to ABS Census data, there were 135,494 women aged 55 and older in the private rental market, up from 91,549 who were counted in the 2006 Census. These figures are likely to underestimate the real number of older women who are renters, especially those with an informal or sublet rental agreement. Officially, older women now make up four per cent of private rental tenants (as opposed to those living in community or public housing), and, as Australia’s population ages, this percentage is set to increase. As the number of older renters increases, rental affordability in Australia is worsening. A nation-wide Rental Affordability Index, published in November 2015 by housing advocacy group National Shelter, found that households in the lowest 40 per cent income bracket face “severely and extremely unaffordable rents” across all major Australian cities and regional areas. The Index defines unaffordable rent as 30 per cent or more of household income and finds that in “the worst cases” low-income households are paying 60 per cent or more of their income on rent.