{"id":33373,"date":"2026-06-17T23:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T23:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/33373\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T23:51:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T23:51:08","slug":"homeless-woman-feels-safer-living-in-vehicle-than-shared-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/33373\/","title":{"rendered":"Homeless woman feels safer living in vehicle than shared housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the outside, Susan Morley appears to be living an enviable retirement travelling solo around Australia in a motorhome with her two dogs.<\/p>\n

But, unlike people who choose van life, the 61-year-old is homeless.<\/p>\n

Ms Morley has been living in her vehicle on the Gold Coast for the past three years while waiting for social housing after a series of setbacks changed the course of her life.<\/p>\n

“I had my own business. I was actually a self-funded retiree and I lost all my properties,” Ms Morley said.\"woman<\/p>\n

Susan Morley and her two dogs keep each other company. (ABC Gold Coast: Danielle Mahe)<\/p>\n

Riches to rags<\/p>\n

Ms Morley said she had retired early at 40 and was living a comfortable lifestyle but lost her assets in 2016 after becoming a victim of fraud.<\/p>\n

She was also involved in a serious car accident which left her with chronic pain and unable to work.<\/p>\n

Despite her circumstances, she was able to keep her motorhome and now camps in public spaces across the Gold Coast because she cannot afford the city’s skyrocketing rents.<\/p>\n

“Lucky, I had one at the time because I would have been sleeping in the park in a tent,” she said.<\/p>\n

During the day, she walks her dogs and mostly keeps to herself.<\/p>\n

At night, she parks in well-lit public car parks, closes the blinds and locks herself and her pets inside until morning.<\/p>\n

Although she did not plan to live this way, she said she felt safer there than living with strangers.<\/p>\n

“I’m free to do what I like. I can eat whenever I want. I can go outside, compared to being in a house with other people,” Ms Morley said.\"interior<\/p>\n

Susan Morley says that, after years in her motorhome, she’s over it. (ABC Gold Coast: Danielle Mahe)<\/p>\n

Homelessness a ‘growing crisis’<\/p>\n

Her experience reflects what housing advocates describe as a growing crisis among older Australian women.<\/p>\n

Teresa Reed, founder of The Forgotten Women charity, said women aged 55 and over were among the fastest-growing groups experiencing homelessness nationwide.<\/p>\n

According to Ms Reed, many older women were being pushed into homelessness by a combination of limited superannuation, separation, widowhood and rising living costs.<\/p>\n

While some women turned to shared housing<\/a>, she said an increasing number were choosing to live in their vehicles while waiting for social housing.<\/p>\n

“Many women don’t feel safe in shared housing, but rising rents mean they often can’t afford to live alone,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Rather than put themselves in an unsafe or uncomfortable situation, some choose to live in their cars instead.”<\/p>\n

Concerns raised by locals<\/p>\n

The sight of people camping in their cars in public spaces across the Gold Coast has sparked outrage from residents concerned about their safety, noise and environmental impacts.<\/p>\n

In 2025, City of Gold Coast council received about 3,000 complaints related to people living in cars and vans.<\/p>\n

\"vehicles<\/p>\n

People living in vehicles parked in public spaces is a common sight on the Gold Coast. (ABC Gold Coast: Danielle Mahe)<\/p>\n

Ms Reed said it was unfair to view older women living in vehicles in the same way as those living on the street.<\/p>\n

“This particular cohort is incredibly different,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Many of the perceived things that might make people go, ‘Oh geez, I don’t want someone who’s got drug or alcohol issues in front of my house’, is not these women.<\/p>\n

“Their financial disadvantage is what’s led to their homelessness.”<\/p>\n

Nowhere to go<\/p>\n

Homelessness Australia chief executive Kate Colvin said people living in vehicles were often there because they had no other options.<\/p>\n

“We know that the rental market is just squeezing people out,” Ms Colvin said.<\/p>\n

“People can’t evaporate. They exist and they have to be somewhere. And when the housing market fails, the reality is that tents and cars is where people end up.”\"A<\/p>\n

Kate Colvin says people end up in tents and cars when the housing market fails. (ABC News: Peter Healy)<\/p>\n

She encouraged older women at risk of homelessness to seek support before reaching crisis point.<\/p>\n

“I would really encourage people to reach out for financial counselling or homelessness support so that they can try and hang on to the housing that they have or make a transition into somewhere that’s more affordable,” Ms Colvin said.<\/p>\n

“The earlier that you can get support, the better.”<\/p>\n

It is estimated that more than 400 people are sleeping rough around the city.<\/p>\n

A council spokesperson said people found sleeping in vehicles on roads or in parks were offered support and fines were only issued if move-on directions were ignored.<\/p>\n

Ms Morley said while she understood residents’ concerns, living in the motorhome still gave her a sense of independence and control.<\/p>\n

But, after years on the road, she admitted her patience was wearing thin and she hoped she would soon secure a permanent home.<\/p>\n

“I can’t handle living the way I’m living, to be honest,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I know I’d love to have a house. Even for the dogs, you know what I mean? It’s not much of a life for them just in the van.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From the outside, Susan Morley appears to be living an enviable retirement travelling solo around Australia in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21,29758,29759,4362,29762,29761,29760,7488,29757,5245,13323,13324],"class_list":["post-33373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-can-you-live-in-a-motorhome","tag-can-you-park-in-a-motorhome","tag-cost-of-living","tag-gold-coast-housing","tag-gold-coast-rent","tag-homeless-women","tag-housing-crisis","tag-motorhome","tag-public-housing","tag-van-life","tag-vanlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}