Housing responses for older women who have experienced homelessnes

Description

Researchers from Social Work and Human Services are working with Good Shepherd Australia and New Zealand (GSANZ) to identify the elements of sustainable, affordable, and long-term housing responses for women over the age of 55 who have experience of housing instability and homelessness.  

This study responds to the evidence that older women are particularly susceptible to homelessness in Australia for many reasons including women's economic position resulting from moving in and out of the workforce while raising a family, all forms of family violence including financial abuse, relationship breakdown, the exaggerated economic vulnerability of women due to well-established pay gaps and lower superannuation balances, and entrenched housing affordability and shortage issues. Existing research has explored the structural causes, implications, and pathways to homelessness among this group, yet there is a notable gap in understanding and developing good practice housing and service responses in the scholarly and grey literature.  

The project involves a scoping review of the literature of good practice in service and building design and a series of co-design workshops with culturally diverse women aged over 55 located on Gadigal country, NSW. 

SERC researchers

• Robyn Martin, 
• Tuba Boz
• Sebastian Cordoba
• Christine Craik
• Ronnie Egan
• Rachel Goff
• Juliet Watson  

Project dates

2023–2024 

Funding body

Good Shepherd