HOMELESSNESS among older Australians is rising sharply, with new national data showing thousands of seniors are being pushed out of stable housing as rents climb and living costs escalate.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 19,378 Australians aged 55 and over were experiencing homelessness on Census night 2021, a 28 per cent increase from 2016.
Older people now make up 14 per cent of the nation’s homeless population, a trend frontline services say is reflected in Queensland’s rapidly tightening rental market.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s latest Specialist Homelessness Services report shows agencies assisted 31,700 older clients (55+) in 2023-24, including 12,200 seniors who were already home-less when they first sought help
The AIHW also found that 20 per cent of older clients presented due to a housing crisis, such as eviction or an unaffordable rent increase.
Those rent increases have been steep. SQM Research data shows Brisbane’s median weekly rent rose from $480 in 2021 to $620 in 2024, a 29 per cent jump.
For a single age pensioner receiving $1116.30 per fortnight, rent alone can consume more than half of their income, leaving little for food, medication or transport.
Advocates warn older women are at particular risk. The Housing Older Women Movement estimates more than 500,000 Australian women aged 45 and over are living in housing precarity or at risk of homelessness.
In a 2026 briefing paper, HOWM member Jo Reilly stated, “Suicide is not an aged care plan … silence on this reality is no longer acceptable, nor is inaction.”
Local services say they are seeing more seniors sleeping in cars, relying on motels or couch surfing with friends.
With social housing waitlists stretching years, advocates argue urgent investment is needed to prevent the crisis worsening.
Without intervention, they warn elder homelessness will continue to rise, turning a largely hidden issue into a visible social failure.
