This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Climate change is making Australia's housing crisis more dangerous for older women. Extreme heat, floods, fires and storms are turning insecure housing into a safety issue, not just an affordability issue.
Lisa Ewenson, Chancellor's Research Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), says women over 50 are at growing risk of hidden homelessness. "These women have often done everything society asked of them," said Ewenson. "They have cared for families, contributed to communities and held things together.
Yet many are still ending up in poverty and insecure housing later in life. "They are couch surfing, living in cars, trailer parks, overcrowded homes or unsafe temporary accommodation, meaning official figures likely understate the scale of the problem. This is particularly an issue in Census data, which doesn't capture the true scale of homelessness or housing insecurity in Australia.
"Research and public debate have often focused on rough sleeping, but that doesn't reveal the full reality of homelessness, particularly for older women who may be hidden from view," said Ewenson. According to Ewenson's latest paper in the Alternative Law Journal, the problem is compounded by decades of unpaid or undervalued care work, leaving many older women financially exposed in later life with lower savings, less superannuation and fewer options when housing costs or climate shocks hit. "Affordable housing is often located in places most exposed to climate risk, including floodplains, wildfire zones and poorly built homes that don't protect residents from heat, smoke or extreme weather," said Ewenson.
"Prevention means more public and social housing, genuinely affordable housing, secure and fair incomes and protections that allow people to live safely and with dignity as they age. The impacts of climate change need to be factored in across our entire housing ecosystem. "There is an assumption built into our democracy that people are adequately housed enough to participate: to vote, to engage, to have a voice.
When people are homeless or living precariously, that assumption breaks down." Ewenson said Australian democracy is failing people who are enduring homelessness. "Core legislative change is needed at both federal and state levels to embed the right to adequate housing," she said. "A Human Rights Act in New South Wales and federally could help shift how we understand housing as a basic condition for a functioning society.
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