reuben.endean@oldertenants.org.au
October is the month the world turns its attention to older people. On 1 October, the United Nations marked the International Day of Older Persons under the 2026 theme The Age of Longevity: Rethinking Systems for Longer Lives, and all through October Queensland celebrates Seniors Month with the theme Connect and Celebrate. We’re marking both by releasing two reports. People are living longer, but for too many older women,
— The Evidence, The Human Cost, and the Path Forward
Three women died by suicide because they could not find a safe, affordable home. The 2026 federal budget did not mention them once.
HOWM’s Background Paper documents the full scale of Australia’s older women’s housing crisis, the evidence behind it, and the community-led solutions that two levels of government have already begun to build — and must now commit to finishing together.
An expert in regenerative, citizen-led, non-speculative, affordable & social housing is coming to S.E.Qld. Zola Rose is based in New Zealand and works with communities & governments at all levels to catalysis housing development projects and she’s accepted our invitation to facilitate numerous events throughout the South East Queensland region.
We will host 6 seminars hosted by women living on the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane (Nth/Sth/Central) &
Recorded in 2021, Linda Hahn shared the story of her life, experiences of homelessness and journey to starting the HOW Movement
We visited the new Housing Older Women’s Support Service. If you’re an older woman in Queensland who needs help to find affordable housing give them a call on call 1800 366 877 or drop in to their hub at 31 Thomas St West End Brisbane.
HOW Members with staff of HOWSS at the Thomas St. West End hub.10 days after the Ministerial Announcement, we had a follow-up meeting with Minister for Communities and Housing, Leeanne Enoch
L to R: Emma Greenhalgh, Leanne Wrench, Dianne Estreich, Members of the Housing Older Women Movement, Innovation House, and Co-Creating Community met to workshop what would be required to initiate stages in developing collaborative housing initiatives. Participants came from Tin Can Bay, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich as well as greater Brisbane.
There are 405,000 older women at risk of homelessness in Australia. These are stories of four of them. HOW Movement member Lynette, Vanessa, Jo, Robyn and tell their stories in this powerful video. Take action or find support at www.oldertenants.org.au
HOW Movement Core Group members and staff and members of the Housing for the Aged Action Group met with the Productivity Commissioners, Malcolm Roberts and Romlie Mokak, and their team to discuss the review of the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement.
Both groups followed up with a formal submission to the Review. You can read ours here.
We have included a summary of the key findings from our consultation with Older Women here
