“Young women, especially those with children, are often forced to choose between safety and a roof over their heads.”
It’s a grim reality that Victoria Parker is all too familiar with.
The Lady Musgrave Trust chief executive said ensuring women and children at risk of homelessness can find a bed for the night needed a whole-of-industry solution.
It’s not just about providing crisis accommodation, the charitable organisation is at the coal face, and is focused on providing tangible solutions for those in need.
“Housing supply is central,” Parker said.
“Without enough suitable, affordable homes, young women and their children escaping violence simply have nowhere to go.
“There is a clear need for more diverse and purpose-built housing typologies to support young women and children in need. Standard housing often fails to address their specific safety, privacy and support requirements.”
But it’s not up to just one individual or organisation to solve this problem.
Parker said it required all levers to be pulled, all levels of government along with private industry to work collaboratively to address the pent-up demand in housing.
“The solution requires industry, government, and community partners working together to increase supply, with developers playing a crucial role by contributing land and expertise to projects so that good quality homes and communities are created,” she said.
“Providing appropriate housing and high-quality support (as a two-pronged solution) can build capacity, grow potential and ultimately interrupt intergenerational cycles of disadvantage.”
Parker said financial hardship and a chronic lack of affordable housing, as well as domestic and family violence, were major drivers for young women at risk of homelessness.
“Many lack the resources or support networks to recover from crisis,” she said.
Parker would like to see more purpose-built housing to support young women and children. She said she wanted to see more people with lived experience involved in the design phase to ensure that housing solutions were “genuinely tailored to their needs”.
She said this could include features such as secure, self-contained units, shared communal spaces and onsite support services.
“The result is housing that is not only functional and safe but also empowering and supportive, giving women and children the best chance to rebuild their lives,” she said.
“Some of our recent success has come from close collaboration with the development and construction sectors—some examples of what this has looked like include developers donating land, builders constructing at cost, and project consultants contributing their expertise pro bono.
“This approach has delivered thousands of nights of safety each year for those in need … working together brings substantial benefits.”
Victoria Parker is speaking at The Urban Developer’s three-day flagship conference, Urbanity, on the Gold Coast on July 29-31. She will join Chris Ferris, Justin Butterworth and Natalie Rayment to discuss big ideas to supercharge housing supply. For more information click here.
