Housing and homelessness

In Aotearoa, rainbow people are more likely than their peers to experience homelessness, unsafe housing or unstable living situations.

Homelessness can include being without shelter (like sleeping in streets or parks), couch-surfing, living in cars, or staying in temporary places like motels and hostels, unsuitable places like garages or sheds, or at shelters or services for people without homes.

Homelessness and housing instability can be driven by a range of factors including family rejection or being kicked out of home, violence, discrimination in accessing housing (for example, being denied a rental property because of being trans), employment discrimination, inadequate income and poverty.

It can be hard for rainbow people to find housing support services that are accessible and safe for them. Many professionals haven’t been supported to learn about rainbow competence, and organisations may not have inclusive environments and policies that ensure the services being provided are safe, effective, gender inclusive and culturally appropriate.

We’ve shared some resources below for people working at different levels to understand rainbow homelessness and support rainbow people to access safe housing.

For decision makers and policy writers

If you’re designing services, or developing policies or plans to support housing and homelessness, these resources will help you understand the issues and needs for rainbow communities:

Our advocacy

• Our Submission to the Residential Property Managers Bill (October 2023) describes the importance of addressing rental discrimination for rainbow people, and suggests strengthening requirements for residential property managers to be held accountable for discrimination (watch our verbal submission, starts at about 51 minutes).

• Making Space’s Ministerial briefing paper (October 2022) shares what we know about rainbow homelessness, how the Making Space programme is contributing to change, and the wider structural changes that are needed.

Research

• An Introduction to Rainbow Homelessness, a knowledge brief developed for the Making Space project, offers a simplified snapshot into what existing research tells us about rainbow homelessness in Aotearoa and, in particular, the role of housing and homelessness service organisations.

• Making Space has produced two reports on its work:

  • Evaluation findings from the pilot phase shares what the project found through its pilot in early 2023 with Te Tāpui Atawhai - Auckland City Mission, Emerge Aotearoa and Housing First Auckland

  • Discovery Research Findings and Insights shares insights from the project’s design research, talking to people working in Auckland’s housing services and rainbow people with lived experience of homelessness (accessible Word version of the Making Space insights report)

• LGBTIQ+ Homelessness: A Review of the Literature is a 2019 review of international research on the factors associated with LGBTIQ+ homelessness.

• Local data and research includes:

  • Counting Ourselves (which surveyed trans and non-binary people aged 14 to 83). Almost one in five (19%) had experienced homelessness at some time in their lives, and this was higher for non-European participants (25%).

  • Honour Project Aotearoa (which surveyed Takatāpui and Māori LGBTQI+ people aged 18 and over). Almost 20% of respondents described themselves as currently homeless. Homelessness was correlated to insufficient income and discrimination.

  • Ira Mata, Ira Tangata: Auckland’s Homeless Count in 2018 found people living without shelter are twice as likely to be rainbow-identified compared with the general population.

  • Youth’19 found that rainbow secondary school students were significantly more likely to report housing deprivation (38%) than their non-rainbow peers (28%).

  • Looking more closely at results for takatāpui and rainbow Māori, Youth’19 found they were significantly more likely to be sleeping in temporary or unsuitable places due to unaffordable housing or lack of space (26%) than non-rainbow rangatahi Māori (17%), Pākehā rainbow young people (10%), or non-rainbow Pākehā young people (4%).

  • The Household Economic Survey (2020) found LGBT+ people were more likely to rent than the non-LGBT+ population, and more likely to live in dwellings that had problems with damp, mould, or warmth.

  • Dr Brodie Fraser’s PhD research looked into Takatāpui/LGBTIQ+ experiences of homelessness in Aotearoa:

    • Thesis: “We can’t find a safe or secure environment to be ourselves”: Takatāpui/LGBTIQ+ homelessness in Aotearoa New Zealand

    • Research paper: “You’re so powerless”: Takatāpui/LGBTIQ+ people’s experiences before becoming homeless in Aotearoa New Zealand

    • Media article: Rainbow community face high rates of homelessness

  • In another survey of 334 Takatāpui and LGBTIQ+ youth led by Dr Brodie Fraser, 31% had experienced at least one form of homelessness in their lives.

Policy documents

• The right to housing of LGBT youth: an urgent task in the SDG agenda setting - a statement by the United Nations Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component on the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context.

• Human Rights Watch Submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing - summarises what is known about LGBT youth homelessness in the US and around the world, and makes policy recommendations for states.

• Local strategies that acknowledge rainbow/LGBTI+ people as a group disproportionately impacted by homelessness include the Aotearoa New Zealand Homelessness Action Plan 2020-2023, MAIHI Ka Ora (the National Māori Housing strategy) and the Auckland Plan 2050.

• The Human Rights Commission’s Aratohu tika tangata ki te whai whare rawaka i Aotearoa - Framework Guidelines on the right to a decent home in Aotearoa names rainbow communities as one of the groups that are disadvantaged in relation to housing.

Stories and analysis

• Homelessness in the Queer, Gender-Diverse & Intersex Community -  a fact sheet from RainbowYOUTH.

• End Transgender Homelessness – information from Gender Minorities Aotearoa about trans homelessness in Aotearoa and ways people can help to address the issue.

• Why 1 in 5 transgender people experience homelessness and Woman evicted with 3 hours’ notice for being transgender were part of the Here We Are article series from RNZ, about transgender mental health.

• K Rd Chronicles, episode 4, highlights housing issues for young trans people, and shares one young person’s story.

• Discrimination in housing market leading to takatāpui and LGBTQI homelessness shares some of the stories from Dr Brodie Fraser’s PhD research.

• Homelessness is not just living on the streets: 5 housing workers explain why - our Homelessness Lead, Nyx, and others working in homelessness support services, talk about what youth homelessness looks like.

• LGBTI homelessness: Auckland's most vulnerable rough sleepers shares some of the issues for rainbow people sleeping rough in Auckland.

• Young queer and trans people face growing housing barriers in level 3 – outlines some of the ways the COVID-19 pandemic has affected rainbow young people’s access to safe housing.

You can also get in touch with us for advice.

For social service workers supporting rainbow people

• Making Space is our project in collaboration with RainbowYOUTH to build capacity within Auckland’s housing and homelessness sector to provide safe and effective housing support services that are responsive to the needs of rainbow people.

• Homelessness in the Queer, Gender-Diverse & Intersex Community - has a few basic tips from RainbowYOUTH about supporting rainbow young people to find housing.

• Supporting Aotearoa’s Rainbow People was developed as a guide for the mental health sector, but is a good introduction to rainbow identities and experiences.

• LGBTIQ+ Inclusive Practice Guide for Homelessness and Housing Sectors in Australia is a practical guide for housing and homelessness services in Australia to implement systems and cultural change.

If you’re thinking about how to improve your service’s responsiveness to rainbow young people, our evaluate tool is a great place to start.

For rainbow people and their whānau

If you’re looking for help for yourself or someone you’re supporting or working with, these are places where you can find direct support:

• Work and Income provides help with housing, including when you have nowhere to stay.

• Citizens Advice Bureau provides free, confidential, independent information and advice to anyone, including about how to find housing, access support services, and get support from Work and Income. You can call 0800 367 222, visit a local CAB, or contact them online.

• If you’re in Auckland, RainbowYOUTH has a homelessness service for rainbow young people who are at risk of, or who are experiencing, homelessness. This includes people living in unsafe environments, couchsurfing or having problems at home. RainbowYOUTH can help with accessing things like Work and Income benefits, safe and supportive housing, and emergency housing services.

• Outside of Auckland, other rainbow community organisations may be able to help connect you with local services, or give you advice or support if you’re being discriminated against.

• If you’re looking for a rainbow-friendly flat, Rainbow Housing NZ is a Facebook group for queer, trans, takatāpui, and rainbow people in NZ who are looking for houses or housemates, and rainbow-friendly houses offering rooms.

• If you want to talk to someone about stress or pressure associated with housing, OutLine provides a free nationwide peer support service for rainbow people (free call 0800 OUTLINE (0800 688 5463) any evening between 6pm and 9pm to talk to a trained volunteer).