‘Nowhere safe to go’: Plea for women’s housing following World Homeless Day

Across Australia, domestic and family violence is the leading cause of homelessness, impacting almost 67,000 women every year. Pictures: Womens Community Shelters Just days after celebrating her 75th birthday, Isla arrived at Women’s Community Shelter’s (WCS) Beecroft House, carrying the weight of numerous years spent in insecure and difficult living situations. For much of her life, she had moved between shared housing arrangements where she felt powerless and vulnerable and described being subjected to abuse, intimidation, restrictive and unfair rules, and having to share facilities with numerous other people. Isla’s circumstances were assessed as a Live Priority Housing application, recognising the urgency of her need for secure accommodation. It was a similar experience for Mabel, an Aboriginal woman in her sixties, who found a safe haven at Beecroft House after experiencing a prolonged period of homelessness and hardship. Following the foreclosure of a home loan she was no longer able to maintain, she had lost her housing and spent at least the past year moving between hospital care and living in the bush. Women’s Community Shelters network provided over 81,000 safe bed nights...