News
Women’s homelessness, often linked to family violence, is continuing to rise across Australia, with more than 58,000 women without a safe place to stay each night.
On Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, local advocates say the crisis is playing out in real time, with hundreds of women forced into cars, couch surfing or rough sleeping.
A community-led response is now underway, with the Moonah House Women’s Shelter project working to establish crisis accommodation in the region.
Backed by Women’s Community Shelters, the initiative has raised $250,000, with organisers pointing to strong local support — and a growing national need for safe housing solutions.
Despi O’Connor of the Mornington Shelter told RPP FM, access to shelter is a fundamental human right.
People don't become homeless out of choice. They become homeless because of a turn of events within their own lives and things that they can't control. So I think, you know, we need to, we need to consider housing as a human right, and until we until we do that, I don't think we can actually solve the issue. So that's where it needs to start, the way we view it.
Despi O’Connor
Further reading:
- Government responds to recommendations of Disability Royal Commission
- Updated: Australia’s Disability Strategy to improve the lives of people with disability
- What do adults with disability do when their parents pass away?
- Mental health advocate calls for complex mental health to be categorised as disability