Publications

Housing for the Aged Action Group's Home at Last service is the first point of call of many older women living in Victoria who find themselves on the brink of, or experiencing, homelessness. 

The power imbalance between tenant and landlord in Australia in 2024 is well known. But for people living in retirement housing there is often an even greater power imbalance between them and their housing provider. 

Read the article from Parity here

Marie Sillars and Wendy Morris from the National Alliance of Seniors for Housing, and Susan Hawkeswood from the Ageing on the Edge NSW Lived Experience Group.

As Australia's housing crisis has worsened, a diverse group of older people from across the nation has come together with a common goal. By speaking about their own experiences of this crisis they hope to build an awareness of how it impacts people as they grow older, and to add their voices to those calling for a fairer housing system, one which ensures everyone living in Australia has access to a safe, stable, accessible and affordable home. 

Read the article from Parity here

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

We hear from members of our LGBTIQA+ community reference group about their perspectives on the housing crisis

This report presents the results of our survey and work with the LGBTQIA+ community from 2019 - 2024.

Read the report

Housing for the Aged Action Group will be able to support more older people struggling with high rents thanks to a new $7.8 million funding initiative included in the latest Victorian Budget!
 

Housing and care are inextricably intertwined and should be seen as two parts of a holistic framework that needs to be put in place to support our elders to age in place and prevent premature admission into a residential facility. Therefore, Federal Government should fund additional, tailored specialist housing support services for older people by increasing funding and geographical availability of services such as Care finder. It is also critical to ensure that the focus of Care finder service remains on assisting people at risk of homelessness with care and housing.

Read the submission

Our first edition for 2024 is packed with news and photos from all of HAAG's activities, member news, and a new book review column.

Read the newsletter here

HAAG supports the intention of the ACT Property Developers Bill, the consultative approach so far, and endorses the submission from CFMEU to this inquiry. As an organisation representing older people, including older renters, older people in retirement villages, residential parks and experiencing other housing challenges, we support measures to ensure older people’s rights are protected and they are empowered to exercise those rights. This Bill provides a vital opportunity to strengthen the protections for owner-occupiers as well as tenants. These protections should also be applicable universally to all types of property developments.

Read our short submission

HAAG welcomes the provision in the Aged Care Bill Exposure Draft that the aged care system offers accessible, culturally appropriate, trauma-aware and healing-informed funded services.

We recommend that protections for diverse population be strengthened, that housing be recognised as a human right, and to fund specialist housing support services through the Care Finder program.

Read the submission here

HAAG calls on the governement to respond to older people's specific needs by expanding the Home at Last service to be a state-wide service, increasing funding for tenancy advice for older people, increasing funding for early intervention and prevention, and funding the delivery of a service to assist older women to access a broader range of housing options including co-operative housing.

We also need to address the housin building  60,000 public and community housing dwellings, Increase overall funding for Housing First responses, increase funding to revitalise the Independent Living Units (ILU) Sector, legislate a definition of ‘affordable housing’ , establish an Ombudsman service to provider free, fair and binding determinations on retirement housing and social housing disputes, and re-establish and fund the role of the Commissioner for Senior Victorians.

Read our submission here

The NSW Ageing on the Edge Forum is a coalition of about 150 organisational supporters and members. The members of the Forum are advocates for change, including older people with lived experience of homelessness, service providers, peak advocacy bodies and private sector organisations, working together to address housing and homelessness related issues of older people.

Ageing on the Edge Coalition endorses the submissions and the recommendations of Shelter NSW and COTA NSW to this consultation paper.

Read the Submission

HAAG welcomes the opportunity to provide input into the Treasury through the pre-budget submission process. This submission is based on our experience delivering housing and related support services to older people, research and lived experiences of older people experiencing housing stress or homelessness in Australia.

Read the Submission

The final edition of Older Tenants Voice for 2023 reflects on our AGM, and our work across Victoria and around the country advocating for housing justice for older people.

Read the newsletter here

Our 40th Anniversary Annual Report showcases the work of HAAG, broken down into our four pillars of Changing Lives by providing services, Changing the System through our advocacy, Honouring our Heritage through elevating the voices of older people, and Strengthening our Organisation through sound governance.

Read the 2022-2023 Annual Report

The National Housing and Homelessness plan is an opportunity to inform decision makers about the situation for older people who can't afford rent, and put pressure on them to implement real solutions to the issues we face. HAAG made this comprehensive submission with recommendations covering homelessness, homelessness services, housing costs, home ownership, rental, planning, zoning and development, climate change and housing security.

Read the submission

 

 

HAAG's recommends that the new Act recognise diversity characteristics and the impact of housing and homelessness on Aged Care Service Provision. There should be better collaboration and coordination between governments and departments, and funding for additional, tailored specialist housing support services for older people.

Read our submission

Our submission to the Federal Inquiry into the worsening rental crisis in Australia recommends to develop a consultative framework and national plan for rental reform, build 26,000 public and community homes per year across the country, fund a range of housing options including affordable housing, regulate short-stay accommodation, increase funding to services that are designed to support older people to navigate the housing system, increase income support payments, ensure social and affordable housing stock to be adaptable to climate change and embed universal housing design principles, implement measures to incrementally remove Capital Gains Tax and Negative Gearing, and incorporate and incentivise Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning.

Read our submission

This supplementary submission addresses the question on notice in relation to rent freezes and some additional information not covered in our previous submission.

Read our supplementary submission

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