05/10/2026
It should not be a privilege to have safe and affordable housing. Today on , under the theme “Adequate Housing for All,” Soroptimist International South East Asia Pacific (SISEAP) calls for urgent, gender-responsive solutions to the global housing crisis.
Across our 13 countries, older women, low-income households, and survivors escaping domestic violence face an escalating housing security crisis. Housing is more than a roof, it is safety, dignity, climate resilience, and economic independence.
From building Gers with victims of violence in Mongolia to delivering parliamentary submissions on housing equity in Australia, SISEAP clubs combine frontline emergency support with strategic upstream advocacy to ensure women’s voices shape national housing policies.
Realizing Adequate Housing for All requires:
Secure land tenure and expanded social/public housing
Gender-responsive urban planning and safe neighborhoods
Safe housing pathways for women and children escaping violence
Join us at SISEAP, and assist us with frontline shelter support, community housing partnerships, and national policy advocacy,
Read on to see how we are standing up for gender-responsive housing solutions.
For 2026 The programme database verifies that there have been 124 recorded club grass roots projects, donations, activities, and submissions directly touch on housing, homelessness, shelter, and living security across our region.
1. Frontline Housing & Shelter Support (Grassroots Projects & Donations)
• Women’s Property Initiatives (Australia): SI Shepparton contributed $5,000 during a matched-giving initiative to secure permanent, affordable long-term housing for women and children escaping domestic violence or poverty.
• Ger Project with NCAV (Mongolia): SI Ulaanbaatar partnered with the National Center Against Violence (NCAV) to construct traditional Gers (shelters), providing safe, secure accommodation for domestic violence survivors and their children.
• Emergency Refuge & Shelter Relief (Australia & NZ):
o Hobart & North West Tasmania Women's Shelters & Bayside Women’s Shelter: Clubs provided funding, care packs, and direct operational grants to support local emergency housing and crisis refuges.
o Canberra Women’s Refuge: Ongoing support delivering dignity and hygiene packs to women entering emergency accommodation.
o Starting Over Support & ReLove (Australia): Supplying furniture, household items, and greenery to help women transitioning from crisis shelters into independent rental homes.
2. Policy & Government Advocacy (Upstream Submissions)
• Senate Inquiry into Intergenerational Housing Inequity: SI Australia (led by SI Brisbane) lodged a national submission to the Senate Select Committee, auditing the Federal Budget to demand structural housing quotas, rental affordability, and digital safety integrations.
• Gender-Responsive Urban Planning (Economic Development Queensland): Submission on the Land Activation Program (SEQ Tranche 1 Draft PLUP) establishing planning standards that link public housing delivery with urban safety, DV crisis pathways, and accessible infrastructure.
• National Action Plan & Employment Services Submissions: Formal briefs to the Department of Social Services (Second Action Plan 2022–2032) and DEWR highlighting how structural housing insecurity, financial sabotage, and punitive welfare compliance mechanics drive women into homelessness.
• National Campaigns: Active participation in nationwide campaigns like "Everybody’s Home" (advocating for expanded public and social housing for renters) and Women in Poverty SA Inc (campaigning to simplify mutual obligation compliance for women escaping domestic violence while trying to access social housing).
Story: The Hidden Crisis — Women in Housing Poverty Across Our 13 Countries
Across the 13 countries in the SISEAP federation, housing insecurity is rarely just about a lack of roofs, it is deeply gendered. Women face cumulative economic disadvantages, including lower lifetime earnings, superannuation gaps, unpaid care responsibilities, and systemic barriers to land ownership and credit.
1 Statistics & Realities of Women in Housing Poverty
• The Rapidly Growing Cohort: In developed economies across our federation (such as Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand), older single women (aged 55+) represent the fastest-growing demographic experiencing homelessness and housing stress.
• The Domestic Violence Connection: Intimate partner violence remains the leading cause of homelessness for women and children across the Pacific and South East Asia. Without safe, affordable housing options, many women are forced to choose between staying in unsafe environments or risking rough sleeping.
• Pacific & South East Asian Contexts: In countries like Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Mongolia, security of land tenure and emergency shelter remain critical issues. Disasters, climate events, and informal housing arrangements disproportionately threaten lower-income female-headed households, leaving them without legal protections or structural safety nets.
• Systemic Hurdles: Women seeking social housing frequently face punitive "mutual obligation" rules, forcing trauma survivors fleeing violence to meet rigid bureaucratic requirements just to maintain emergency or transitional shelter.
How SISEAP Advocates at a Government Level for Safe & Affordable Housing
SISEAP leverages an Upstream Advocacy Framework, transforming frontline insights from local clubs into actionable policy reform:
1. Parliamentary Submissions & Public Inquiries: Submitting technical policy briefs to Senate inquiries, Treasury pre-budget consultations, and statutory authority reviews to demand mandatory quotas for affordable and public housing.
2. Gender-Responsive Urban Planning: Advocating directly with urban development authorities to integrate "Safety-by-Design," proximity to public transport, social services, and domestic violence response infrastructure into all new land activation projects.
3. Removing Administrative Barriers: Campaigning to reform punitive welfare and social housing compliance rules that penalise women and children escaping crisis situations.
4. Coalition & Campaign Support: Partnering with key civil society coalitions (such as the Everybody's Home campaign) to amplify national calls for major public investment in social, public, rental, and community-led housing models.
