Advocacy

Why it matters

Australia’s undersupply of housing stock and the consequent housing affordability crisis is disproportionately impacting women, gender diverse people and their families.

The issues are further exacerbating the systemic disadvantages faced by women, in particular women of colour and women living in low-income households.

Housing is a human right. Having a home is essential for women’s economic security, engagement in work and training, improved health outcomes, and social connection.

Increased affordable housing supply will take pressure off the demand for social housing, ease cost of living pressures for women, gender diverse people and their families and deliver more affordable housing for those that need it most.

Adequate supply of safe, secure and affordable housing is a fundamental factor in achieving gender equality in Australia.

The change we need

Women, gender diverse people and their families must be able to access housing that is affordable and aligns with factors such as location and proximity to education and employment, and social and medical supports.

We need to address the housing affordability crisis in Australia and reduce the proportion of people’s income spent on housing costs.

We need housing that is more widely available and affordable for low to middle-income earners.

How YWCA Australia will take action

YWCA Australia will advocate for an increase in affordable housing stock right across the housing continuum, particularly in regional areas and urban growth corridors.

We will call for improved policy interventions at all levels of government to accelerate and enable the supply of more homes that are gender-responsive and affordable.

This includes planning reforms such as inclusionary zoning, improved macro-tax settings, and incentives for build-to-rent initiatives that prioritize affordable housing.

Why it matters

The impact of Australia’s housing crisis is gendered. Young women, women and gender diverse people face significant hurdles to accessing affordable housing and are more vulnerable to homelessness – experiencing negative health and well-being outcomes as a result. 

Recently released data from the 2021 Census showed a staggering 10 per cent increase in the number of women experiencing homelessness since 2016. That is almost twice the rate of the national average.

There is also a growing number of different cohorts of women experiencing homelessness, including younger women, older women, and women experiencing homelessness for the first time.

Further to this, we know that LGBTQIA+ identifying people, First Nations women, women living with disability, and migrant women face a higher risk of homelessness due to intersecting structural inequalities.

Family and domestic violence is the leading cause of women experiencing homelessness in Australia and the lack of affordable and appropriate housing is resulting in greater numbers of those women seeking support from homelessness services.

The change we need

Young women, women and gender-diverse people need access to stable and affordable housing in communities where they feel safe and where they can reach their full potential.

We need greater emphasis on the delivery of evidence-based interventions, such as supportive housing and Housing First models, to reduce the risk of homelessness for women and gender-diverse people.

We need further investment in tenancy sustainment programs to support women into housing or to keep women housed.

We need targets for meeting the demand for specialist homelessness services and a reduction in the number of young women, women and gender-diverse people requiring homelessness support as a result of FDV.

The causes and drivers of homelessness for young women, women and gender-diverse people must be recognised and addressed as part of any action plans that are developed under the National Housing and Homelessness Plan.

How YWCA Australia will take action

YWCA Australia will advocate for increased funding for specialist homelessness and domestic violence services for women and gender-diverse people, alongside ending homelessness approaches, including Housing First. These services must be gender-responsive, trauma-informed and culturally safe.

We will encourage policymakers to work alongside women’s specialist organisations to design and deliver gender-responsive homelessness and housing supports.

YWCA Australia will advocate for long-term affordable housing solutions to support women and gender-diverse people experiencing homelessness in to secure and safe homes.

We will recommend a range of safe accommodation and support options, such as specialist refuges, crisis and transitional accommodation, to support women and gender diverse people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness.

Why it matters

Inadequate or unaffordable housing can harm a person’s physical, emotional and mental health and their ability to participate fully in society.

Appropriate housing for women and gender diverse people must offer a basic standard of safe, secure living capable of meeting their needs over the course of their lifetime.

This means having access to the right services and supports, such as schools, health services, and child care, as well as opportunities to access work and training with suitable transport options.

Women and gender diverse people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds also benefit from housing that is within reach of their communities and support networks.

Housing that provides access to nature and green space – including gardens or public parks – is also important for women’s health and well-being.

The change we need

We need greater integration of housing design elements that maximise safety and security in suitable locations close to appropriate services and supports.

We need all levels of government to consider the spaces in and around a home — including location and physical design features — as critical aspects of new and existing residential developments.

We need incentives for innovative service delivery that supports co-location and/or integration of health, justice and social support services.

We need to establish specific policies regarding best practice design of housing developments and exploring, researching and investing in innovative housing solutions that meet the needs of women and gender diverse people.

How YWCA Australia will take action

YWCA Australia will advise and inform policymakers and stakeholders on the importance of delivering housing projects that are suitable for women and gender diverse people.

We will advocate for women’s housing solutions that are place-based and prioritize proximity to amenities, services, and community and work with state and federal governments to codesign
gender-responsive housing solutions.

YWCA Australia will operationalize our Women’s Housing Framework as an innovative model with guiding principles for best practice approaches to designing, procuring, and operating housing for women.

Support our advocacy

Sign our pledge for more safe and affordable homes for women.

Why it matters

Although we have seen increased investment in housing initiatives in recent Women’s Budget Statements, overall funding for housing and homelessness solutions dedicated to women and gender diverse people remains insufficient.

Significant and long-term investment will be crucial to the success of the National Housing and Homelessness Plan, to eradicating family and domestic violence within a decade under the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children and to restoring Australia’s leadership on gender quality as part of the National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality

The change we need

We need to significantly increase investment in social and affordable housing to match the size and scale of the challenge before us.

We need targeted funding for homelessness and housing supports that caters specifically to the needs of women and gender diverse people.

We need to reduce barriers to institutional investment in affordable housing, and we need a major social and affordable housing program funded directly by government.

How YWCA Australia will take action

YWCA Australia will advocate for increased investment in women’s housing projects to be developed in line with YWCA Australia’s Women’s Housing Framework.

YWCA Australia will advocate for a commitment to adequate, long-term funding to address the critical shortage of women specialist accommodation and homelessness support services. We will advocate for funding to be tied to clearly articulated targets for women.

YWCA Australia will work with the federal government to inform gender-responsive budgeting in Women’s Budget Statements and will advocate for a gender impact analysis to be applied to the National Housing and Homelessness Plan.

Why it matters

High rents throughout Australia are making it harder for women to find and sustain long-term housing that is appropriate to their needs. Women are spending a higher proportion of their incomes on rent or accepting a lower standard of housing, impacting their health and well-being and compounding their economic insecurity.

In these circumstances, women who are sole parents and on low incomes are at particular risk of becoming homeless.

Young women and gender diverse people are also experiencing increased rental and financial insecurity, which is having a detrimental impact on their mental health.

The change we need

Women should be able to lead their lives in a safe, secure home where they feel settled, comfortable and able to participate in their community.

We need to progress key rental reforms across state and territory jurisdictions to improve safety, security and certainty for women and gender-diverse people in rental housing.

We need an increase to the rate of Commonwealth Rental Assistance, as well as greater investment in tenancy sustainment programs to support women to stay in their homes, longer.

We need to establish a greater understanding of the impacts of the short-stay and holiday accommodation market to the extent that it contributes to the lack of secure, stable, and affordable
rental housing stock.

How YWCA Australia will take action

YWCA Australia will support reforms to rental laws that provide greater certainty and improve rental affordability for women and gender diverse people, including limiting the amount and frequency of rent increases.

YWCA Australia will advocate for nationally consistent minimum standards for rental properties and measures to expand the availability of affordable rental properties where they’re most needed.

Why it matters

Access to social and affordable housing is a crucial safety net for women and gender diverse people experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness.

Social housing stock in Australia has not kept pace with population growth, resulting in greater numbers of women and gender diverse people trying to access private rentals or falling into homelessness.

Restoring an adequate level of social and affordable housing stock will result in improved social, economic and health outcomes for women and gender diverse people.

An increase in the pipeline of social and affordable housing will shift the dial on achieving greater gender equality.

The change we need

We need to urgently build more social and affordable housing to reduce growing waiting lists and tackle future demand.

We need viable partnerships between governments and community housing providers (CHPs) to deliver innovative housing projects that meet the needs of women and gender diverse people.

To ensure a healthier housing system, we need to increase stock and management transfers to CHPs and allocate a proportion of projects under new and existing government housing measures to CHPs.

We need additional measures to improve access to social and affordable housing, and to expand the diversity and quality of social and affordable housing stock that can better meet the needs of women.

How YWCA will take action

YWCA Australia will advocate for an uplift in funding for social and affordable housing beyond existing commitments to meet current and future demand.

We will call for targets to be set for women and gender diverse people across all housing growth initiatives under the National Housing and Homelessness Plan.

We will advocate for the inclusion of gender-responsive housing measures as part of the National Gender Equality Strategy.

YWCA Australia will also encourage innovative policy responses that generate more affordable housing supply from existing and latent housing stock.