Raise the Roof

Shane and Fiona play the second part of a panel discussion on older LGBTI housing issues, from the Out of the Closet, Out of Options event for World Homelessness Day.  This time we hear from Tonye Segbedzi on her literature review which found very little research globally into the housing issues of older LGBTI people.  Then we hear from Buzz Rainbow Wolf who tells us about his experience in trying...

To coincide with World Homelessness Day, we launched two reports on older LGBTI and housing - our own "Out of the Closet Out of Options" report and a report by the Australian Association of Gerontology. Shane introduces Commissioner for LGBTIQ+ people Ro Allen, Switchboard Victoria CEO Joe Ball and Fiona York who discuss the reports findings. You can read the report here: https://www.oldertenants....

We hear from two panellists who were at the At Risk: Older Women and Homelessness forum, held during Homelessness Week in August.  Dr Emma Power (University of Western Sydney) talks about her findings from talking to older women living in private rental in NSW. Helen Conway (YWCA) talks about some of the factors that contribute to older women's homelessness, including a call to action to work toge...

Fiona welcomes Pam back to the radio show, who has been busy handmaking masks for members during the pandemic.  Then we listen to recordings from the "At Risk: Older women and homelessness" online event held during Homelessness Week in August.  We hear from Age Discrimination Commissioner Dr Kay Patterson and HAAG's national project worker Kobi Maglen, who discuss new research into the numbers of...

Shane interviews secretary of the Renters and Housing Union about their call for better protections for renters. You can sign their petition here: https://rahu.org.au/sign-the-petition-rahu-demands-an-immediate-extension-to-the-eviction-ban/

Fiona and Shane delve into the past with retired historian Dr Anthea Hyslop, currently in lockdown in the outskirts of Melbourne, Victoria who is noticing some startling parralels with the 1919 flu pandemic known as the "Spanish flu".  As one of the few experts on this part of our history, Anthea tells us about what happened a hundred years ago, the similarities and differences with what we are li...

Fiona & Shane talk to three public housing tenants, Jenny and Vanessa who are living in one storey units in the West, and Royal who lives in an older persons high rise in the southern region.  They were not part of the hard lock down, and have had very different experiences of the COVID-19 responses.  As with many public housing communities, they are looking out for each other - but finding the so...

Fiona talks to three of our Housing Support Workers, Darwin, Paola and Nese, about the impact of the hard lockdown on public housing tenants in North Melbourne.  The hard lockdown was implemented without warning on 9 public housing towers, including 2 older person's housing blocks.  Our housing support workers relay what they found when contacting their clients in the days that followed, many of w...

Fiona talks to Gary Ferguson, community education coordinator at Seniors Rights Victoria about World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Shane and Leonie are back, talking about all the HAAG news

 Shane speaks to Rebecca Walton about her survey of LGBTI older people and housing.  Fiona talks about the latest Federal Govt announcement on housing stimulus. Sign the Everybody's Home Petition here:https://everybodyshome.com.au/filthy-rich-homeless/

Fiona talks to Kobi Maglen, who has recently joined HAAG on our national project Ageing on the Edge, to give an update about housing for older people across the country.  Fiona also talks about our COVID-19 survey on older renters and housing

Fiona talks to Liam Davies from the Centre for Urban Research at RMIT about their interim report into "surplus land" the government is planning to sell, and how better suited it would be to build more public housing. Shane talks about the latest rental reforms for COVID-19 and the inadequate response from government to assist older renters.

Shane and Fiona talk to housing worker Melis about the challenges of housing older people during the coronavirus pandemic.  Shane talks about the changes to renting under proposed laws.

Shane and Fiona talk about the recent announcements for renters during the COVID19 crisis - do they go far enough for older renters? Then Fiona talks to Phyll, Pam and Maeve, all residents of independent living units, to see how they are coping with the stage 3 social distancing requirements, and asks whether living through other global crises like World War 2 has helped them in dealing with this...

Fiona chats to Ben Martin-Hobbs from the Consumer Policy Research Centre about his research into how people choose their home care provider.  He found some interesting differences between the experiences of older people living in retirement villages, home owners and renters. You can read his report here: https://cprc.org.au/publications/?_sft_pub-type=report 

Jeff Fiedler is leaving HAAG after 23 years of dedicated service to the issues of older people and housing.  On this show, Shane and Pam chat to Jeff and April about the history of housing activism at HAAG

Fiona speaks to Deb Foskey, an older resident of Orbost in far East Gippsland, about her experience as a member of a remote community housing co-operative in the 1970’s and 80’s and more recently, what it has been like for older people coping with the recent fires.

Fiona and Leonie talk about the impact of the East Gippsland fires on older people experiencing homelessness, with Assistance with Care and Housing Worker Val Marshall.  Val talks about the evacuations, the lack of public housing, the expensive rents and the difficulty in finding housing for people even before these fires.

Shane, Leonie and Gemma talk about the inquiry into homelessness.  You can make a submission into the inquiry here https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/lsic-lc/inquiry/976 - submissions have been extended to March

Fiona and Shane talk to three members of the Save Public Housing group - David Kelly, Kerrie Byrne and Clare Hanson - about the public housing redevelopments.  Hear from tenants about what this renewal means for them, and what the implications for the redevelopments are for our public housing stock. You can find out more on their website here: https://www.savepublichousing.com/

Fiona, Shane, Pam and Leonie talk about the year at HAAG and for older people's housing issues more generally. From activist campaigns to Royal Commissions, what did we achieve in 2019 and what remains to be done? As we mentioned on the show, if you're looking for a Christmas lunch, the Council to Homeless Persons has a list of meal services for people experiencing homelessness. They also have a l...

Shane and Fiona interview Margareta Windisch about her research into heatwaves and older people, and how good quality housing can play an important part in protecting people against the increasing heatwaves we are facing.  Heatwaves are silent killers, and they kill the silent.  Hear about how heatwaves are a political issue.

This month, HAAG has been busy as state and federal governments investigate issues that effect older people's housing. Shane talks about the state government's reviews of the Retirement Villages Act and the Residential Tenancies Regulations, before Fiona and Leonie continue discussion of the Aged Care Royal Commission and homelessness as an aged care issue. 

After HAAG members and workers joined the climate strike on September 20, I wanted to find out more about the connections between climate change and older people's housing. In this episode I talk to Emma from the Brotherhood of St Laurence about their Equity and Climate Change project, and what climate justice and housing justice have in common. If you'd like to learn more about climate change, du...

The second part of our discussion on cohousing. Fiona and Leonie from HAAG talk to Myfan Jordan from Per Capita about her new research with a focus on older women's housing and aged care. You can read more about her research here.  Fiona also discusses her experiences explaining the connections and disconnections between homelessness and aged care at the Royal Commission last week.