Under Cover

Hundreds of thousands of homeless people in Australia are hidden and go unrecognised as homeless. The majority of them are women. In fact, women over 50 are the fastest growing demographic of homeless in the developed world and are increasingly referred to as the hidden homeless. These women live in their cars, stay on a friend’s couch or sofa bed, or live in short-term accommodation. They find themselves in this uncertain and terrifying position primarily due to the gender pay gap and the lifelong gendered expectation of unpaid labour; where women often find themselves left doing the caring roles in their homes, in their extended family and in their communities.

Under Cover follows ten of these women, as well as three people working to keep older women like them from becoming homeless.

Under Cover will redefine the face of homelessness and trigger mass awareness of the issue of aging women and homelessness, leading to bottom-up change in communities across the country.

The biggest change the issue of homelessness ultimately needs is through federal and state government actions. Our goal with this documentary, therefore, is primarily to raise broader awareness of the issue, creating a voice from individuals and communities around Australia, leading to a bottom-up grassroots approach.

We have extensive partnerships and ambassadors working with us from the private sector, the not for profit space, health organisations and government that are providing guidance, resources and will be utilised further as we approach the release of the film.

Each partnership offers us a chance for expert consultancy, an ability to reach the important players trying to create change and an opportunity to meet the survivors on the ground. Often the consultancy provides statistics, industry overview, and controlled access to participants.

As our film will be factually viable from the outset, we are passionate about seeking further partners to ensure best practices and accuracy when producing this film. As some of the women being interviewed come from lived experience of on-the-street trauma and family violence, our consultants are generously offering on-set guidance and support around filming vulnerable and at-risk older women.

The Under Cover website will be the first port of call for viewers and will prompt people to access further information, as well as providing a number of avenues to support based on where the viewer is located. This could be a way to donate, templates for writing to local MP’s, petions to sign, resources to share the film and key messages and a dedicated support page for anyone that may need links to existing support networks.