Thomas Oriti reported this story on Monday, April 14, 2014 12:14:00

ELEANOR HALL: While young Australians struggle to find work, many older Australians are dealing with the challenge of finding a home.



Research from the University of Queensland shows an alarming increase in the number of women aged over 55 who are homeless.



The report indicates that many of these women have no history of being reliant on welfare or support services, as Thomas Oriti reports.



THOMAS ORITI: In 2007, Kay Dolman's marriage came to an end after 36 years. She moved from the Adelaide Hills to Sydney, but she had no money to pay the rent.



KAY DOLMAN: I was in a situation that I never ever thought I would ever be in. It was a shock to the system to come back. And the people I knew were still in their marriages, they had their homes, they had their superannuation, they were starting to go into retirement. It was a huge embarrassment.



THOMAS ORITI: Matters got worse when she crashed her car twice without insurance.



At the age of 61, she began treatment for depression.



KAY DOLMAN: By late 2007, I gained part-time employment within the disability industry. This enabled me to begin saving for bond money, and I found a place near my work. And family and friends, they donated second-hand goods and op-shops came in handy but my pay only just covered my rent.



THOMAS ORITI: Kay Dolman isn't an isolated case.



Research from the University of Queensland, being launched today in Sydney, reveals an increase in the number of women over 55 who are experiencing homelessness.



Many of the women had led conventional lives and had never asked for support before.



Dr Maree Petersen is a co-author of the report, from the University's Institute of Social Science Research.



MAREE PETERSEN: We have to respect what service providers are saying: that they're seeing increasing numbers of older women. Whilst the ABS goes to great extents to count the homeless, it's just a big ask for them to be able to capture what we call the "hidden homeless".



THOMAS ORITI: Census data points to an 11.7 per cent increase in the number of women over 55 classified as homeless between 2006 and 2011.



In Sydney alone, frontline workers at the YWCA say 15 per cent of their clients now fit that description.



The CEO of YWCA New South Wales, Anna Bligh, says there's been a spike in past three years.



ANNA BLIGH: It's an emerging trend of older women who in some respects have been left behind by the massive social and economic shifts; women who have gone into retirement without assets, women who haven't had a lifetime of accruing superannuation.



And I think it should concern everybody that those women who have spent a lot of their lives rearing children, caring for others, are now finding themselves in poverty-stricken circumstances.



THOMAS ORITI: The report puts the increase down to the decline of the nuclear family, an increase in single-person households and increasing longevity, with a rising number of women reaching a very old age, but housing affordability is a key concern.



Social justice group the Mercy Foundation commissioned the research. Felicity Reynolds is the organisation's CEO.



FELICITY REYNOLDS: We've got a structural affordability problem in Australia that has to be dealt with. We also need additional community and public housing to make sure that women who have spent a great deal of their lives raising the next generation are not left to be homeless.



THOMAS ORITI: Dr Maree Petersen from the University of Queensland says there are solutions.



MAREE PETERSEN: So the bottom line is about housing, about having an availability of affordable housing. And social housing fits that bill very well. And also, I think, being able to get the message across to women about where they can go for assistance.



THOMAS ORITI: Back in Sydney, Kay Dolman is putting the past behind her.



KAY DOLMAN: By late 2009 I was in my own home; a unit within walking distance of my work. I felt that I could at last put down my roots and relax. It was like for the first time in many years I had my own space. I didn't have to share and I didn't have to live out of a suitcase.



ELEANOR HALL: That's Sydney woman Kay Dolman ending that report from Thomas Oriti.