Letter

In response to Australia faces a looming crisis of older women retiring in poverty. Here’s what

The plight of older female pensioners

Yes, the inadequate aged pension and the shortage of affordable housing affects many older women.

A friend in her late 70s is renting an affordable flat from an organisation that informs her that this accommodation is temporary and she will soon be again on the move. She regularly visits the local Housing NSW office, where there is a constant turnover of clearly demoralised staff and many requests for duplicate documentation, especially for copies of her most recent bank statements.

When she produces one statement they ask for statements from her “other” banks, and she has to inform them, yet again, that she has only one bank account. She sees little point in this exercise, as she is told repeatedly that the waiting list for government housing is 10 years. That recently increased to 14 years. She expects to be dead by the time accommodation becomes available. “What is the point of Housing NSW?” she asks. Her GP suggests her symptoms might be due to “stress”. Exactly.

— Janet Grevillea from Lake Macquarie