Can Real Property Law Play a Role in Addressing Housing Vulnerability? The Case of Older Women Experiencing Housing Stress and Homelessness

This article provides necessary background to the growing number of older women who are experiencing homelessness in Australia. These women may be in a more precarious situation than their male or younger counterparts when facing illness, divorce or unemployment. Particular groups of older women at risk include lesbians, women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Indigenous women, the disabled or ill, and those in rural areas. Property law may be able to play a constructive role in alleviating housing vulnerability and homelessness generally, in relation to older women, by reconfiguring traditional approaches to landlord and tenant law, as well as, pursuing appropriate law reform.