Affordable housing options for women with children recovering from family violence / older women who have experienced homelessness 

These two nested projects involve two rapid reviews of the evidence on good practice and building design as well as two co-design projects with each group.  

Researchers from Social Work and Human Services within the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University have been contracted by Good Shepherd Australia and New Zealand (GSANZ) to identify the elements of sustainable, affordable, and long-term housing responses for women over the age of 45 and women with children in their care who have experienced housing instability and homelessness. The projects respond to GSANZ’s desire to disrupt current crisis and transitional responses to women’s homelessness by developing sustainable, affordable, and long-term housing approaches. 

Both groups of women are impacted by gendered, economic inequalities such as moving in and out of the workforce to match caring responsibilities, family violence, elder abuse, financial exploitation, relationship breakdown, entrenched wage gaps and subsequent lower superannuation balances and housing affordability and shortage issues. 

The research is underpinned by two research questions:  

1. What is good practice in building and service design in sustainable, affordable, and long-term housing for older women who have experienced homelessness or housing precarity? 
2. What is good practice in building and service design in sustainable, affordable, and long-term housing for women (and their children) who have experienced family violence related homelessness?

The two separate studies respond to the evidence that women are particularly susceptible to homelessness and that housing responses are typically crisis, short-term and transitional. 

Both projects include:

1. Scoping reviews of the evidence
2. Six co-design workshops with older women and women impacted by family violence related homelessness. The workshops started by exploring the issues and experiences, moving on to create prototype solutions and finished by refining the prototype solutions. 

Outcomes from the co-design workshops will be shared with GSANZ to inform their thinking and future action.

• Robyn Martin
• Tuba Boz
• Sebastian Cordoba
• Christine Craik
• Ronnie Egan
• Rachel Goff
• Juliet Watson
  

2023 - 2024

Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand