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Homelessness in Australia has increased substantially in the past decade, with women constituting 44.1% of the 122 494 people recorded as homeless in 2021. Of these women, 50.7% are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and 37.8% are aged 55 years and older. Moreover, these census statistics are conservative: 381 168 people sought assistance from specialist homelessness services across Australia in 2022–23, with female participants making up almost two‐thirds (62.9%).

Homelessness includes visible rough sleeping (eg, in streets, parks, cars), couch surfing and accommodation in refuges, crisis and transitional accommodation and dwellings below minimum community standards. In a “cycle of perpetual vulnerability”, women who are homeless are at a high risk of violence, sexual assault, exploitation and theft, and trauma is cumulative and compounded. These vulnerabilities, along with other social determinants of health relating to housing and material circumstances, lead to negative health impacts, as well as affecting engagement with the health system.

This MJA Perspective shares more.

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Authors: Lisa J Wood and Rhiannon C Villiers

Article Type: Perspective