Causes of homelessness among older people in Melbourne, Australia

A comparative study of the causes of new episodes of homelessness among people aged 50 years and over has been undertaken in Australia, the United States and England. Semi‐structured questionnaires were used to collect information on the circumstances and problems that contributed to homelessness. This paper presents the findings from Australia, where information was obtained from 125 older homeless people (aged 50+ years) and their key workers in Melbourne.