Join us on the 11th of August 2022 at the Women's Housing Alliance's Women's Housing Forum - A Gendered Lens on Housing Security.

Australia is facing a chronic housing shortage, and its impact is gendered.

On any given night in Victoria, there are more than 9,800 women experiencing homelessness.

Low incomes, parenting costs and unpaid care work, gender pay and superannuation gaps, family and domestic violence, coupled with the unaffordable cost of housing, make women especially vulnerable to significant housing stress and homelessness.

Although we know that domestic and family violence is the number one reason women become homeless in Australia, 40% of female clients cite it as the main reason for seeking homelessness assistance.

While great strides have been made in raising awareness of women's experiences of homelessness, creating real change requires action and investment from all sides. Looking at Victoria's chronic housing shortage from a gendered perspective, what solutions exist?

The Women's Housing Alliance is excited to be staging the inaugural Women's Housing Forum 2022 – A Gendered Lens on Housing Security in Melbourne. The Women's Housing Alliance was formed in 2019 to help address the systemic barriers and housing crisis being faced by women and children facing homelessness across Victoria.

This forum will highlight and demonstrate solutions to Victoria's chronic housing crisis and social housing shortage for women and children who are escaping family violence and experiencing homelessness at growing rates.

The program will explore women's lived experiences and the impacts of Victoria's current homelessness and family violence systems. It will also provide thought-leaders with models and evidence that providing housing upfront and seamless support from crisis right through to long-term housing leads to better social and economic outcomes.

Speakers include:

Farah Mak, Australian actress, television presenter, voice over artist and writer (MC)
Jeanette Large, Chair, Women’s Housing Alliance
Dr Angela Jackson, Impact Economics and Policy (Keynote address)
Fiona Patten, Reason Party
Dr Samantha Ratnam, Victorian Greens
Kate Colvin, Director – Policy and Communications, Council to Homeless Persons
Mary Crooks, Victorian Women’s Trust
Fiona Caniglia, CEO, Q Shelter
Felicity Rorke, Executive Director, Good Samaritan Inn Ltd

More speaker and session details coming soon.

The forum will take place from 1pm – 5pm and will be followed by networking drinks. Please see below for the high-level agenda.

A huge thank you to The Victorian Women’s Trust and Women’s Housing Alliance members for their sponsorship of this event.