Thompson said she was on automatic pilot when she walked into Salvo Care to seek assistance,her life suddenly unfolding “like a bad dream”.
She is one of 10 women featured inUnder Cover, a documentary by Australian director Sue Thomson screening at theMelbourne International Film Festival that looks at Australia’s housing crisis,particularly how it affects women aged over 55.
Thomson spent three years making the documentary,and said she related to each of the film’s subjects.
“We share a lot in common,my life has gone one way,theirs has gone another,but a couple of trip-ups for me and I could have been in a very similar situation,” Thomson says.
“These are women like me who’ve spent their whole life caring for people,raising people,working,often in part-time and casual employment,and then sometimes society looks at us as disposable.”
Older women are thefastest growing demographic facing homelessness in Australia,where 240,000 women aged over 55 are at risk of losing stable accommodation.