Beth Fuller was living a secure life in regional New South Wales with her husband when her marriage unexpectedly ended.
It threw her world into turmoil and left her financially vulnerable.
"I moved from home ownership, where I was very comfortable and we had a very good lifestyle and plans for the future," she said.
Ms Fuller, now aged 62, said she left her marriage with very little superannuation, having focused more on her relationship and family over the years.
She said the sudden change in her circumstances and insecure housing situation dramatically affected her sense of mental and emotional wellbeing, to the point she attempted suicide.
"It all brought my mental health to the fore. All my professional career I had kept my mental illness under the radar," Ms Fuller said.
"I was certainly avoiding a mental health referral, or basically revealing to anybody my situation, because this was a great shame to me."
Ms Fuller ultimately turned to family and friends for support, and moved from the Manning Valley to Kempsey on the state's Mid North Coast to make a fresh start.
From house to house
It took time for Ms Fuller to find her feet and for about 18 months she moved between her parents and friends' houses.
"Initially it was so confronting," Ms Fuller said.
"I moved into my parents' place after I was able to leave hospital.
"I house-sat for some friends and visited friends, and they were gorgeous in giving me a place to be."
Ms Fuller eventually found a rental property, but it was not easy.
"There wasn't much around, and anything that had a good, safe area was way outside my price range," she said.
"I couldn't afford it … I ended up with a very small place in an area of town I wouldn't normally have lived in."
Inquiry underway in NSW
Ms Fuller's experience compelled her to make a submission to a current NSW Upper House inquiry into homelessness among older people aged over 55.
The inquiry is being run by the Standing Committee on Social Issues, examining the rate of homelessness, contributing factors and impacts on health and wellbeing.
The final hearing wrapped up this week, with findings due by late September.
"The committee will examine opportunities for change and improvement, including around early intervention, services to support older people experiencing or at risk of homelessness," committee chairperson Scott Barrett said.
Ms Fuller wanted to raise the issues facing older women, pointing out that a lack of secure housing often contributed to mental health problems.
"I advocate for mental health and suicide prevention," she said.
"Also this new pressure that's come from rental markets — the cost of rent is just exorbitant."
Older women vulnerable
Housing for the Aged Action Group (HAAG) executive officer Fiona York said older women were particularly vulnerable to housing affordability and increasing rents.
"Older women don't necessarily have any superannuation.
"They are in traditionally lower-paid work, part-time work, and they find themselves losing their jobs in older age or having to leave the workforce to care for family, or becoming unwell, and that compounds in later life."
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's specialist homelessness services annual report 2020–21 noted that in 2016 there were an estimated 6,900 older homeless women on Census night — an increase of 2,100 (44 per cent) from 4,800 in 2006.
The report also noted that "research has suggested that there may be more homeless women than data suggests given the tendency of women to self-manage their homelessness".
Ms York said there was a lot of "hidden homelessness" among older women who used all their resources to survive.
"They may be only one pension payment away from homelessness."
Hope for change
Ms York said they were hoping to see a number of changes implemented in NSW, including lowering the priority age for social housing eligibility from 80 to 55.
"The other thing most importantly is to build at least 5,000 social and affordable homes per year for 10 years, with some of that earmarked specifically for older people," she said.
Meanwhile, six years after such a major life change, Ms Fuller felt more positive.
"In a chain of chance, I found a house, which I scraped together every single bit of my money to purchase," she said.
"Some might say that was risky, but what it's given me is a sense of future."
