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The former head of Community Housing Canberra has called for more public housing in the ACT, saying most affordable options weren’t suitable for older, vulnerable women. The organisation’s former director and current board member, Cathi Moore, said although services offered rentals at 75 per cent market price, that was often too much for people on pensions and benefits. Speaking at an International Women’s Day event on Wednesday, Ms Moore said growth in public housing was the clear solution to assist older women who were the fastest growing cohort facing homelessness in the country. “For me, growth in public housing is where we are going to have to go for the lower income cohorts, people living on pensions and benefits,” she said. “Many of those other affordable housing solutions just aren’t going to be within their reach. “Just like we did in the ’70s, this is an issue we are really going to have to wave the flag on and beat the drum about.” Council on the Ageing ACT chief executive Jenny Mobbs, who led the event, said a range of factors including wage inequity, unpaid caring, insecure work and insufficient superannuation, led older single women to be at a high risk of housing insecurity. “The consequences of gender inequity experienced over a lifetime can have an accumulative effect on a women in later life,” she said. “On average, women face a larger savings gap than men and experience higher poverty rates at older ages.” Housing Minister Yvette Berry said public housing was among the areas the government had invested in with 400 homes pledged by the government to be provided by 2025. Ms Berry agreed with Ms Moore that those spaces were particularly critical for older, vulnerable women. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
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The former head of Community Housing Canberra has called for more public housing in the ACT, saying most affordable options weren’t suitable for older, vulnerable women.
The organisation’s former director and current board member, Cathi Moore, said although services offered rentals at 75 per cent market price, that was often too much for people on pensions and benefits.
Speaking at an International Women’s Day event on Wednesday, Ms Moore said growth in public housing was the clear solution to assist older women who were the fastest growing cohort facing homelessness in the country.
“For me, growth in public housing is where we are going to have to go for the lower income cohorts, people living on pensions and benefits,” she said.
“Many of those other affordable housing solutions just aren’t going to be within their reach.
“Just like we did in the ’70s, this is an issue we are really going to have to wave the flag on and beat the drum about.”
Council on the Ageing ACT chief executive Jenny Mobbs, who led the event, said a range of factors including wage inequity, unpaid caring, insecure work and insufficient superannuation, led older single women to be at a high risk of housing insecurity.
“The consequences of gender inequity experienced over a lifetime can have an accumulative effect on a women in later life,” she said.
“On average, women face a larger savings gap than men and experience higher poverty rates at older ages.”
Housing Minister Yvette Berry said public housing was among the areas the government had invested in with 400 homes pledged by the government to be provided by 2025.
Ms Berry agreed with Ms Moore that those spaces were particularly critical for older, vulnerable women.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
