Housing and Homelessness in Australia: The Case of Marginalised Women Leaving Prison in New South Wales (NSW)
-
Western Sydney University
Australia -
Western Sydney University Australia
-
Western Sydney University Australia
-
Western Sydney University Australia
-
Western Sydney University Australia
-
Western Sydney University; Women's Justice Network Australia
-
Women's Justice Network Australia
-
Western Sydney University Australia
-
Western Sydney University Australia
Abstract
Finding safe, secure, and ongoing housing is critical for women leaving prison and is central to rebuilding their lives and supporting desistance. Consistent with global trends, the number of women received into prison in Australia has increased, especially amongst First Nations women. Meanwhile, Australia is experiencing a housing crisis with soaring house prices; long waiting lists for public, social, and community housing; and limited affordable housing stock. This paper explores women’s pathways to prison, focusing on the nexus between women’s incarceration and homelessness. It also critically reviews policy and post-release programs intended to provide throughcare, support, and housing for women exiting prisons, drawing on New South Wales (NSW), Australia as a case example. Finally, it highlights the policy and practice changes required for women to leave prison and be supported to find and maintain a safe and affordable home.
Except where otherwise noted, content in this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Downloads
Author Biographies
Professor Gabrielle Drake is Interim Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Professor of Social Work at Western Sydney University. Professor Drake is a recognised expert in the areas of social policy, mental health and disability, child well-being and homelessness. Gabrielle’s research interests include social work practice in child well-being; mental health; disability; boarding houses; housing and homelessness pathways; consumer and carer voices in social work education; and inclusive and emancipatory research.
Gabrielle has thirty years practice experience spanning a variety of roles and practice settings including community and public sector management, strategic policy and reform, research, teaching in graduate and postgraduate social work programs, direct practice, and oversight.
Dr Kilvington-Dowd is an early career researcher in the School of Social Sciences at Western Sydney University. Her research interest is focussed in the areas of gender, identity, social change and programme evaluation
Dr. Rimple Mehta is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Communities and Regional Lead, South Asia in the School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University. At the University, she is one of the Global Challenge Leads for Building Fairer Societies. She has previously worked at the School of Social Work, Tata Institute for Social Sciences, Mumbai and School of Women's Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Her research and field engagements broadly focus on women in prison, refugee women, and human trafficking. She engages with questions of gender, (im)mobilities, punishment and borders. Situating her research within the sub-field of border criminology, she adopts an intersectional feminist perspective with a strong emphasis on questions of epistemology, therefore viewing ‘reality’ from intersecting positions of marginality.
Dr Teddy Nagaddya is a social scientist whose policy-engaged research broadly focuses on interrogating notions of precarity, and precariousness associated with social, cultural economic and political changes over time. She predominantly centres the voices of marginalised populations such as migrants, women and older people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds living within disadvantaged geographies.
Dr Ayah Abubasheer is an Associate Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at Western Sydney University. She completed her PhD at the Australian Catholic University in 2022 and holds a Master’s in Global Politics from the London School of Economics. Ayah has worked with the UNDP and NGOs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and has been involved in research with non-governmental Australian organisations such as the Edmund Rice Centre, as well as academic institutions including Western Sydney University and the University of Technology Sydney. Her teaching covers sociology, politics, and advocacy, and she is currently finalising her book on Islam, politics, and women in the Gaza Strip.
Maggie Hall is a former criminal lawyer and criminal justice social worker. Her research focuses on remorse in sentencing and coproduction in criminal justice.