Why are so many Indigenous Women Homeless in Far North and North West Queensland, Australia? Service Providers’ Views of Causes

Abstract

Homelessness is a complex problem affecting Australian Indigenous women disproportionately compared to the rest of the Australian population. Homelessness service providers in Cairns and Mount Isa, Australia, provided their perceptions as to why Indigenous women were presenting to homeless services. The key reasons cited by service providers were: domestic violence; alcohol and other drugs; and financial hardship. Other reasons included racist real estate agents; avoiding alcohol and family; overcrowding; literacy and numeracy skills; difficulty returning home and; not enough public housing. Potential solutions to help break this cycle of homelessness are explored. This research suggests that an important overall goal in reducing homelessness is to ensure that Indigenous women are safe at home in their own communities.

Single; thus, homeless forever? Inaccessibility and precarity of housing for single Indigenous women living in the Northwest territories: a policy review of the local housing organizations (LHOs) Tenant Relations Manual - 204 - Point rating of applications

“…The point-rate system operating within the NWT is affecting both single non-Indigenous and Indigenous women, although it fails to address the "unique challenges based on ethnicity and systematic racism" that disproportionately affects Indigenous women (Graham, Wallace, Selway, Howe, & Kelly, 2014, p. 1). When SIW are unable to gain equitable access to public housing, they are at greater risk of not only homelessness, but "violence, harassment, and sexual assault" (United Nations, 2019, p. 11;Graham, Wallace, Selway, Howe, & Kelly, 2014;Yerichuk, Johnson, Felix-Mah, & Hanson, 2016). It is evident that relationships between housing and individual well-being is deeply linked for Indigenous women, as they face disproportionate outcomes to their mental and physical health when they are facing housing precariousness.…”

Single; thus, homeless forever? Inaccessibility and precarity of housing for single Indigenous women living in the Northwest territories: a policy review of the local housing organizations (LHOs) Tenant Relations Manual - 204 - Point rating of applications

“…The point-rate system operating within the NWT is affecting both single non-Indigenous and Indigenous women, although it fails to address the "unique challenges based on ethnicity and systematic racism" that disproportionately affects Indigenous women (Graham, Wallace, Selway, Howe, & Kelly, 2014, p. 1). When SIW are unable to gain equitable access to public housing, they are at greater risk of not only homelessness, but "violence, harassment, and sexual assault" (United Nations, 2019, p. 11;Graham, Wallace, Selway, Howe, & Kelly, 2014;Yerichuk, Johnson, Felix-Mah, & Hanson, 2016). It is evident that relationships between housing and individual well-being is deeply linked for Indigenous women, as they face disproportionate outcomes to their mental and physical health when they are facing housing precariousness.…”

Indigenous women's experiences of domestic and family violence, help‐seeking and recovery in regional Queensland

“…Women may want to seek safety from gendered forms of family violence but fear retributive community violence, shame and stigma for reporting on men that have equally been marginalised and victimised by White government policies and state interventions (Atkinson 1990b; Lucashenko 1996; Nancarrow 2019). As a result, some have argued that the available statistics on Indigenous DFV are a substantial underestimation of the level of violence affecting Indigenous women (see, e.g., Cripps 2008) as their help‐seeking is disproportionately hindered by community perceptions, wider experiences of discrimination and marginalisation and the limited availability of culturally responsive support services (Cripps 2008; Atkinson et al 2014; Graham et al 2014).…”