Older women are the fastest-growing group at risk of homelessness in Australia, with financial avoidance behaviours amplifying this risk. Between 2023 and 2024, Sefa, Latitude, and Housing Choices, funded by the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, researched these behaviours through interviews, thematic analysis, and codesign workshops. They piloted a low cost, high-reach social media intervention using the COM-B and transtheoretical models to prompt recognition, reflection, and action.
Story-based “micro-experience” advertisements outperformed resource-based advertisements, driving engagement and community discussion. Findings suggest that culturally relevant, nonstigmatising storytelling can build emotional financial literacy, motivating capable older women to overcome avoidance and improve their financial and housing security.
