Photo: Supplied.
BY ADELIA BERRIDGE
They raised our families and built our communities – now women over 55 are Australia’s fastest-growing group of homeless people.
They are somebody’s mum, aunty, sister or neighbour – and they are Australia’s fastest-growing group of people facing homelessness.
Women over 55 took centre stage at Redlands Sporting Club on Saturday, August 22, when 150 guests packed the Rotary Club of Capalaba’s high tea in support of the Forgotten Women project. The event, the vision of club president Gail Wallace, raised much-needed funds for women over 55 facing housing insecurity, worried they have no safe place to live.
The numbers behind the cause are stark. Homelessness among older women jumped almost 40 per cent between the 2011 and 2021 Censuses, and research estimates 405,000 Australian women over 45 are at risk. The average age of women seeking help through the Forgotten Women Project is 72, and if nothing changes, more than 15,000 Australian women over 55 are projected to be homeless by the 2031 Census.
Master of ceremonies and local business owner Melissa Millar said the crisis was hidden in plain sight. “These women are sleeping in spare rooms, on couches and in cars, not on park benches, so nobody sees it.”
“They didn’t do anything wrong. They did everything right – for everyone else. Years out of work raising children, caring for parents, the pay gap, and divorce or violence later in life all add up.”
A panel discussion featuring Col Sutcliffe OAM, who chaired Mangrove Housing’s board when the Forgotten Women Project was founded, alongside Mangrove Housing’s Executive Director Dallys Cox and volunteer Mary from Redlands Centre for Women, all raising awareness of connections and services for the proud women in our community who need to seek assistance.
Proceeds will help the project provide safe, secure and affordable homes for older women in the region.
“For many women in this age group, a safe front door is where everything else begins, with limited income and the severe increase in costs of living and rents, they are doing it tough,” Ms Millar said.
Ms Millar, whose grandmother once lived at Wellington Point and was lucky enough to secure a safe housing commission complex, told guests that the generation now at risk once held whole communities together.
“Many women like my grandma and older generations looked after my age group and contributed to us becoming independent, educated and fearless women,” she said.
Raffles, lucky door prizes, a good time and a confronting table quiz on homelessness statistics kept the fundraising flowing across the afternoon.
Anyone interested in joining the Rotary Club of Capalaba, or supporting its next community project, can contact President Gail Wallace. The club warmly welcomes new members of all ages and backgrounds.
