Women and Housing Policy (APR 2019)

Women’s economic and other inequality creates disadvantage in accessing housing, including housing insecurity and homelessness. Women’s disadvantage occurs in the context of an Australian housing market characterised by a lack of affordable rental housing, together with tightly targeted social housing with long waiting lists. This has led to the emergence of a cohort of people on low incomes who are in precarious housing situations, for whom an adverse event may trigger homelessness. This context impacts on both women whose needs other than housing are low, and on women with more complex needs.