Unequal pay rates and accumulation of assets, and superannuation gaps are seen as the biggest drivers for the rising rates of homelessness for these women, compounded by situations of family violence, where women without adequate financial means are often forced to choose between homelessness and returning to an unsafe place.
National Shelter is shining a light on Australians living in the dark shadows of the nation’s housing affordability crisis during National Homelessness week from 1-7 August.
Over the past year most regional areas across the country have seen rental rises by at least 10 per cent, according to new research.
In Queensland, the Sunshine Coast has seen rental increases of more than 25 per cent.
In parts of the Northern Territory there have also been massive rental spikes, leaving areas with little capacity to absorb the demand on rental housing.
The objective of the Queensland Housing Strategy 2017–2027 is that ‘every Queenslander has access to a safe, secure and affordable home that meets their needs and enables participation in the social and economic life of our prosperous state’.
Housing should be easy to access, navigate, visit and live in, and be adaptable to meet people’s changing needs. People should have choice over where they live and who they live with.
To help achieve more inclusive communities for Queenslanders, we’ve developed 4 housing principles: rights, choice, control and inclusion.
Through these principles, we aim to significantly improve the lives of people with disability and older people who face greater barriers in accessing safe, accessible and affordable housing.
The principles:
bring a person-centred focus to housing design and service delivery
provide practical guidance for housing providers, support providers, builders, designers and architects.
They will help ensure that a person’s house is their home.
This Brief by AHURI highlights key features of what it takes to make aging in place work.
It references supplementary research to support reference to key elements of the features including home modifications, affordability, location, In-home Care.
The dwelling needs to be able to accommodate the changing requirements of the occupants as they get older.
If a person retires at 65 they might expect on average to live for another 19.7 years if they’re male and 22.3 years if they’re female.
During that time their health and income levels may change significantly.
While only 5 per cent of those aged 55–64 require assistance with core activities due to illness or disability, that percentage rises to nearly half (47%) of those aged 85 and over.
The call for Abstracts Submissions for this Conference is current and ends on 31st August 2021.
Convened every two years by AHURI, NHC is a 3-day forum that examines the latest evidence, significant policy reforms and shining examples of best practices in delivering social and affordable housing options to Australians. More than 1,100 delegates joined us in Darwin for a memorable 2019 conference and we expect an even larger audience will join us in Melbourne, or for the first time, online, for NHC 2022.
We are pleased to welcome the Victorian Government as the Host Partner of the 2022 National Housing Conference.
The 2022 conference will examine the lessons learned for the housing sector during the global coronavirus pandemic. It will also look at how Australia’s housing system is responding to issues created by climate change – including resilience to bushfires, floods and other extreme weather events, sustainable design, and energy-efficient housing.
The conference will tackle a range of priority areas including affordability and availability in the private rental market; improving links between housing and support systems, such as healthcare, education and training as well as national housing policy coordination.
Abstracts: Go to the official website for more information, under Program.
This week, The World Today has been looking at the issue of public housing.
Until around the 1980s, public housing was considered a mainstream option for low incomes, but now, there’s really only enough places available for the most marginalised, such is the shortfall of public housing dwellings.
It’s widely agreed the system is broken.
There are solutions on the horizon, but they need political will and creative thinking from investors.
Featured:
Heike Ignjatovic, Claymore resident
Jon Eastgate, partner, 99 Consulting
Mick Cassel, chief executive officer, Land and Housing Corporation
Duration: 4min 54sec
Broadcast: Wed 16 Jun 2021, 12:00pm
Women and children fleeing domestic violence in Queensland have spent years “trapped” in refuges and other crisis accommodation due to a chronic shortage of secure long-term housing.
Community organisations that run domestic and family violence refuges say the situation creates a bottleneck in crisis accommodation – leaving vulnerable women with an “impossible choice” of living for extended periods in secondary homelessness or choosing to return to unsafe or violent relationships.
Visibility within the transgender community is often a Catch-22, especially for trans people of color, or those living in rural, conservative areas. Hiding one’s identity can be a damaging experience and increase feelings of isolation, stigma and shame. But standing out as a trans person can make someone a target for discrimination or violence.
As a trans man who studies transgender health and well-being, I believe Trans Day of Visibility – celebrated annually on March 31 – is an important day that allows community members to come together and find support and solidarity by knowing they are not alone.
At 59, Mick Combo has never had a home to call his own.
The Stolen Generations survivor was taken from his mother in Western Australia as a two-year-old, and raised in state institutions to believe he was non-Indigenous.
“My first memory was standing up in a cot, looking at hundreds of other cots in a big dormitory,” he says.
It wasn’t until his 14th birthday that he learnt of his Aboriginal heritage.
“It was taboo to talk of Aboriginal people in those days,” Mick explains.
“I became confused and what not, because all of a sudden I was one of those people that were not to be spoken of — one of those dirty, good for nothing black people that didn’t belong in this country … That’s when my life went out of control, because I didn’t know who I was.”
Two Build to Rent projects will progress in inner-Brisbane creating affordable housing choices close to employment, transport and services. The projects involve Frasers and Mirvac in a partnership with the Queensland State Government. Build to rent models respond to the growing number of people who rely on housing in the private rental market. Build to rent is structured to involve institutional investors ensuring that people are less vulnerable to changes in ownership therefore experiencing greater security of tenure.
The projects will result in 750 dwellings including 240 with discounted market rent to support access to affordable housing.
There is more information here: https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/90966