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SBS Australia
2 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Diana lived in her car with her son while battling cancer. A new housing project offers a home of her own
"It was just awful. Unbelievable. It's really hard to even get the words out how we felt. It was the worst time of our lives." Diana is a solo mum, reflecting on her experience of homelessness, after fleeing the family farm with her two children. "We lost our lives. We lost our community, we lost our home, I lost my gardens, which I loved as well. We lost everything that we knew and that was secure to us. There was a point there, for three weeks, that myself and my son lived in my car and it was absolutely devastating." Like many women facing insecure housing in Australia, Diana is a family and domestic violence survivor. Bitter memories linger of those terrible years, when lack of housing wasn't her only hardship. "I was actually battling cancer at that stage as well. It had affected my stomach, so I was on a feeding tube practically 24 /7. Living in the car, you've got to hook it up on something. I don't know how we got through that." In recent years, the number of women like Diana seeking housing support has risen sharply, according to Kate Colvin, CEO of Homelessness Australia. "What our analysis reveals is that women and girls coming to homeless services who have already lost their home has increased 20 per cent in just the past three years." Amid the current housing crisis, Ms Colvin says the recent study has also revealed that 45 per cent of those seeking support have also fled abuse. "The sad reality is that when women come to a homelessness service and can't get the help they need, if they're fleeing family violence, often what we see is that they return to that violent situation because it feels safer than being on the street. What we need is for women to be able to access a long-term home that they can afford. So that means a lot more investment in social housing, but we also need investment in emergency housing. So, when women have nowhere to go that night, there's somewhere safe for them to be." Diana understands the dilemma all too well. The New Zealand-born former farmer has spent years in and out of temporary accommodation. "The financial stress, struggling to find a place was impossible, absolutely impossible. It's devastating and you feel so small like you're not worthy of anything. St Vincent de Paul got us into a safe house down in Melbourne and we stayed there for a year." More than 400,000 older women in Australia are thought to be at risk of homelessness. Ms Colvin says the crisis is worsening. "This is an emergency situation, and we need rapid action. I feel terribly worried because I've been working on this issue for a long time - and I do see that it's getting worse; and the housing crisis is biting higher and higher up the income scale. Now we see low-wage workers and even people on higher incomes and that really struggling in the rental market." Not-for-profit Global Sisters is setting up a pilot project that aims to get more at-risk women into their own homes. Founder and CEO Mandy Richards explains: "The Little Green Houses project aims to provide affordable housing ownership to Australian women who are on low incomes and who are facing housing insecurity. So, these are women that are completely locked out of the housing market. They can't access a mortgage. They don't have a hope in hell currently of buying a house and land package." The $3 million pilot project aims to build up to eight small, energy efficient houses in regional NSW by Christmas. Ms Richards says similar projects in other states will follow. "So, we are trying to kill two birds with one stone and put an asset in the form of housing ownership into the hands of the women in Australia who need it most. We're focusing on solo moms. And the reason for that, particularly, is that if we can help those women achieve economic security, then we stop them becoming those increasing numbers of women we are seeing facing homelessness and living in their cars and couch surfing." Diana is paying $535 per week rent for a four-bedroom home in regional Victoria for herself and 30-year-old daughter Emma. She can't work full-time or save for a mortgage due to health issues. "I suffer from multiple different sorts of cancers. I've actually just gone through another two cancers at the moment, breast cancer and sarcoma in my leg. I don't have any savings, I don't have any super. So, to be ever able to afford my own home now that I'm in my mid-fifties, impossible to do." Diana says their most recent house move stirred up old fears. "My daughter and I looked at 122 rentals and we didn't get accepted for any of them. The desperation, being homeless once before, yeah it's always on your mind. So, you've got that thing looming over you." Diana now runs a small ceramics business from her garage, and daughter Emma makes and sells jewellery. They are among candidates selected for the first Little Green House pilot. For Emma, it offers badly needed stability. "I can picture like, oh, I can unpack those boxes that have been sitting there for years I can put things on the walls, I can customise my house, I can have a place to go and call my own." With further surgery looming, Diana says celebrating Christmas in a home of their own would be the best gift of all! "Oh imagine, just imagine moving into my own home, my own garden, knowing that it's safe, like it's going to be mine, this is mine. No one can take it from me. It's – it's like a dream." Homelessness Week runs from 4 August to 10 August 2025. If you or someone you know is impacted by family and domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. In an emergency, call 000. The Men's Referral Service, operated by No to Violence, can be contacted on 1300 766 491.
SBS Australia
2 hours ago
- SBS Australia
How Garma is bridging cultures and educating non-Indigenous Australians like Roshna Khatiwada from Nepal
Independent news and stories connecting you to life in Australia and Nepali-speaking Australians. Stories about women of Nepali heritage in Australia who are about to become parents.
SBS Australia
2 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Global fertility rates are dropping: it could spell disaster in the future
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