Homelessness is a rapidly growing problem in Victoria. Between the 2006 and 2016 Census the number of people experiencing homelessness in Victoria increased from a rate of 35.3 per 10,000 population to 41.9 per 10,000 population. A desperate shortage of affordable housing and skyrocketing rents are driving more and more people, from diverse backgrounds, out of their homes and into homelessness.

Belying the old stereotypes of homeless people being “rough sleepers: with complex needs, the fastest growing cohorts of people becoming homeless are women and older people. For many homeless means couch sur ng, living in severe overcrowding,
and temporarily in rooming houses and emergency accommodation.

This report examines the cohort of older people, over 55 years old, who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless. During the same period between 2006 and 2016, older persons homelessness grew by 58 per cent. Drawing on Census, as well as Specialist Homelessness Services data from across the state, this report examines the makeup of this growing and often hidden demographic of homeless people.

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Australia must address the rapidly increasing problem of homelessness for older people. Many of those affected are women and most are facing homelessness for the first time. They are facing unprecedented economic pressures relating to unaffordable rents and the cost of living, which continues to drive up the number older people facing homelessness. With tailored early intervention strategies to prevent homelessness we can avoid the many consequences of homelessness for older people including  premature entry into aged care, severely compromised physical and mental health and in this era of COVID-19, premature death due to the inability to socially isolate.

parliament_of_australia_inquiry_into_homelessness.pdfRead the submission

Our clients who live in retirement housing options and receive their energy via an embedded network report concerns with exempt sellers over-charging them for their usage. Our clients often experience a digital divide in accessing adequate information, and commonly express a fear of speaking out and asserting their rights due to fear of negative consequences from management.

This feedback was provided to the Essential Service Commission’s (ESC) Maximum prices for embedded networks and other exempt sellers Draft Decision.

Read the feedback here

This policy note to bring to light the difficult choices facing older people during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to both service and survey data from HAAG in late April and May the lives of older people experiencing rental stress are becoming even more precarious.

Read the report here

Throughout 2019-2020 we surveyed and interviewed 228 older LGBTI people aged between 50 and 80 years of age about their housing and the information they provided forms the basis of this submission. We found that more older LGBTI people have experienced homelessness than their non-LGBTI counterparts, and that older LGBTI people are in circumstances that place them at risk of homelessness.

Read the submission here

This submission was prepared in partnership with Val’s LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care, Switchboard Victoria, and Transgender Victoria.