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Factors influencing women's lifetime wealth

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Factors influencing women's lifetime wealth

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4125.0 - Gender Indicators, Australia, Sep 2017

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· Sentenced female prisoners are more likely than sentenced male prisoners to be sentenced for illicit drug offences, fraud and theft. They are also slightly more likely to be sentenced for homicide. Sentenced male prisoners are more likely to be sentenced for acts intended to cause injury, sexual assault, unlawful entry with intent, and robbery.

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One paragraph treatment - "You think you know..."

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One paragraph treatment - "You think you know..."

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Told through three vignettes, the story follows an apparently self-sufficient and attractively presented mature woman through her day. She encounters homeless people and contemplates their lives, while reflecting on her own attitudes and situation. Finally, it is shockingly revealed that she is herself homeless, but that she passes through society invisibly. Vision is supported by the sounds of street noises to emphasise the public nature of homelessness. Viewers are prompted to interpret what is occurring in the narrative through explicit texts and sub texts, before calling on them to visit a website for more information on this emerging social issue.

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Statistics on rising women's homelessness

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Statistics on rising women's homelessness

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Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

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Specialist homelessness services annual report 2016-17, Interactive data visualisation - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

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The specialist homelessness services 2016@17 web report is the sixth annual report from the Specialist Homelessness Services Collection (SHSC). It describes the characteristics of clients of...

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Older women have become the surprising new face of Australia's homelessness problem, with huge increases in females aged over 50 being forced to couch surf or sleep in their cars because they have nowhere else to go.

Homelessness Australia has released an analysis of housing data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, reporting there were more than 1600 women over 50 who sought help from homelessness services and said they were couchsurfing in 2016 -- representing a shocking 83 percent rise in just the last four years. The number of older women sleeping in their cars has risen 75 percent over the same period.

Homelessness Australia said that, overall, there has been a 60 percent increase in people sleeping in cars and a 46 percent increase in couch surfing since 2012-13.

"Our housing system is failing the most vulnerable, and the result is rising homelessness," said Jenny Smith, chair of Homelessness Australia.

"Homelessness is an indication that broader social supports and service systems are failing."

Monday marks the beginning of Homelessness Week, where advocacy and community organisations aim to shine a light on the issue which, at last count, affects 105,000 Australians every day.

Homelessness Australia reports only around 6 percent of those people classed as homeless fit the stereotypical definition, that of someone sleeping rough outside or in tents, with around one in five staying temporarily with friends or family. This class is known as "hidden homelessness", people who are not sleeping rough but do not have a safe, secure and stable place to stay.

Just like rough sleepers, the hidden homeless can face life-threatening situations #hiddenhomelessness #HW2017 https://t.co/2XMVadebD4
- CHPVic (@CHPVic) August 7, 2017

Homelessness Australia said it would aim to raise awareness about a "startling" increase in hidden homelessness, which includes people who are forced to stay in cars, boarding houses, overcrowded "squats" or couch surf with friends and family.

Part of the push is a new call for federal and state governments to commit to providing 100,000 new public and community housing properties in the next five years.

"Homelessness can be fixed by providing adequate housing. 100,000 new public and community homes would make a real difference, housing the elderly, families and single people on low incomes," Smith said.

We're calling on all political parties to build 100,000 social housing homes in the next 5 years #HW2017 #100khomes https://t.co/7i7xrfqpLw
- Homelessness Aus (@HomelessnessAus) August 6, 2017

"As the housing crisis takes hold, homelessness services across Australia are groaning under the weight of demand for accommodation for women and children experiencing domestic and family violence, young people as well as rough sleepers."

"We need significant Federal, State & Territory Government investment in social and affordable housing and urgent changes to tax structures so that low income earners aren't forced to choose between paying the rent and putting food on the table."

For more on the 100,000 homes campaign, see endthehousingcrisis.org.au

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Shocking Rise In Older Women Couchsurfing, Sleeping In Cars Due To Homelessness

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Older women have become the surprising new face of Australia's homelessness problem, with huge increases in females aged over 50 being forced to couch surf or sleep in their cars because they have nowhere else to go.

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It is not easy to face a national audience of strangers and talk about one of the most devastating experiences of your life. It was important for us to hear from the courageous women on Insight who shared their stories of homelessness, insecure housing and rental stress. I sincerely thank them for that.

Whilst the personal story is a powerful, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes uplifting approach, it has its limitations. It can be difficult to pick up the thread of systemic and structural factors that may have contributed to the personal narrative being shared. In this instance, the older women experiencing poverty and homelessness clearly had a wide range of experiences and were solving their housing insecurity in a diverse (and inventive) number of ways.

Those of us who have been working on this issue for some years know that no single factor, not one personal decision and not one government policy setting has created the homelessness of any one woman. Years of systemic inaction and poor policy has resulted in more women over 55 now facing poverty and homelessness.

We need to talk about the structural reasons why some older women are homeless:
Government Disinvestment
All Australian States once had a commitment to ensuring that all citizens, regardless of income, had access to adequate affordable housing. The post war housing commission building booms in every State were testament to this commitment.

In recent decades, disinvestment in public housing has seen this option move from a dignified housing opportunity for those on low incomes to a largely unobtainable one. Reduced stock, tighter targeting and long waiting periods are the main culprits.
Affordable Housing Gap
Affordable housing in most cities has disappeared. Speculative capital investment has become the focus, rather than rental income. This really took off when the capital gains tax discount was introduced in 1999. This is aided and abetted by tenancy legislation in many states that keep tenants on short leases and provide for eviction without cause.

Did you know that about a million houses in Australia were empty on the night of the 2016 census?
The Working Woman
It is women who carry and give birth to children and this will never change. What can change, however, is the way in which our society responds to that uniquely female responsibility.

We have still not ended the gender pay gap, we still don't have universal and adequate paid maternity leave and women still must spend time out of the paid workforce if they want children.

This is time she is not earning a wage or superannuation. It can also lead to part-time or more junior job opportunities when she returns to the workforce.
Age Discrimination
We all know that a full-time job lifts people out of poverty, but once a woman (and probably also a man) reaches a certain age, unfortunately there are not large numbers of employers lining up to employ them.

In conjunction with changes to the age pension, which by 2023 can only be accessed at age 67, must come greater commitment by public and private sector employers to ensure older people can access jobs.

It is impossible to house and feed yourself on Newstart without the help of others. The resilient women on Insight made that abundantly clear.
Baby Boomer Barriers
The current cohort of women aged over 65 grew up in a different Australia. An Australia where single women, even if paid enough, often couldn't get a home loan. An Australia that until the 1970s insisted some women in some job categories resign their position upon marriage.

There was also no superannuation guarantee. It sounds ridiculous now, but all this (and more) very slowly created a lifetime of discriminatory disadvantage for those women.

It should be troubling to us all that that too many of the women who cared for their elderly parents, the women who gave birth to the next generation and the women who worked their whole lives ... are now living 'on the edge'.

I think Australia is mostly a civil society and we have much to be proud of. We long ago agreed that everyone deserves an education and that health care should be available to all, regardless of income. Those systems aren't yet perfect, but we have them and they work most of the time.We have also agreed that we need good roads, decent infrastructure and adequate transport. So, I am really struggling to understand when and why adequate affordable housing fell off this list of civil things we do as a nation.

It should be troubling to us all that that too many of the women who cared for their elderly parents, the women who gave birth to the next generation and the women who worked their whole lives until an accident, trauma or illness made them unemployed, are now living 'on the edge' and unable to find appropriate permanent affordable housing.
Felicity Reynolds is the CEO of the Mercy Foundation, a community organisation advocating for the end of homelessness. Catch up on Insight's look at the rising number of older women who are becoming homeless, here:

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Not just personal choices: older women and homelessness

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It is not easy to face a national audience of strangers and talk about one of the most devastating experiences of your life. It was important for us to hear from the courageous women on Insight who shared their stories of homelessness, insecure housing and rental stress. I sincerely thank them for that.

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Financial position of older single women.

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Financial position of older single women.

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Single women face a frightening future of homelessness in Australia

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Sydney's tent city crisis is just the tip of the iceberg, and things are set to get even worse for women, writes Jane Gilmore.

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Long Video Treatment - The Invisible Homeless Women's Project

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Long Video Treatment - The Invisible Homeless Women's Project

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Video Title: You think you know....

From the start of this scene, a text message is rolling . It reads "you think you know, what a homeless person looks like.' An attractive middle-aged woman walks towards the Art Gallery. Her clothes are smart, tasteful, and she is immaculately groomed. She appears self-possessed and confident. As she approaches the front entrance of the building, she glances left and sees what appears to be a homeless man sleeping on the grass beneath a tree and her smile falters. Her face is hard to read - is she empathising with the man, or does she find him distasteful? Sounds heard are those of a busy city street.

From the start of this scene, the text message changes to "you think you know, what a homeless person does with their day". The same woman is sitting outside a cafe. She is scrolling through photos of a pleasant holiday on her i-Pad. She looks up and notices a shabbily dressed bag-lady sitting outside the pawn shop across the road. Her gaze lingers on the shop window and signage, then she returns her attention to the i-Pad screen. She bites her bottom lip and frowns. Is she thinking about how the woman manages to support herself? Is she thinking about how desperate a person would be to pawn their belongings? Is she feeling guilty about her own good fortune?   Sounds heard are those of a busy suburban stopping strip.

From the start of this scene, the text message changes to "you think you know,  where a  homeless person spends the night." The woman, wearing silky pyjamas, is sitting up in bed. She is checking the cash she has in her wallet. She takes off her glasses and stares into space. A door slams in the distance and she is startled. As the woman, settles down to sleep it is revealed that her bed is a pull out couch. The room is a cramped spare room full of boxes and piled up clothing. Loud sounds of people arguing and more slamming doors are heard from outside the room as she turns out the light.

It turns out, the woman has been homeless all along, but her situation was invisible as she did not fit the model of a stereo-typical homeless person.

Viewers are called to action, to "think again" and encouraged to visit the website for the Invisible Homeless Women's Project.

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Photoshop tutorial: Editing a video clip and adding type | lynda.com

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I feel my target audience believe that homeless could never happen to them, however job loss, ill health or relationship breakdown can happen suddenly to anyone. I want women in my target audience to identify with the character I create and feel unsettled by what has happened and is happening to her. I want them to reflect on their own circumstances and take responsibility to ensure their future security. So I want to generate emotions leading to empathy, recognition, discomfort and action.

The colours I should use should appeal to a feminine audience - pinks, mauve, purple, gold for richness, and red for contrast to attract attention (see Padlet background). As I will be filming in a naturalistic style, I won't have a lot of control over colour other than in costume, props and post-production softening with hue.

Orange is a colour which causes many people to feel ambivalent, so this may be a good text colour - to create a feeling of discomfort and uncertainty, signal hazard ahead. Mission SA uses hot pink, Hutt Street Centre orange, Shelter SA red.
https://www.fatrabbitcreative.com/blog/psychology-of-the-color-orange-and-what-it-means-for-your-business

The font I will use is Noto Sans. After reviewing on Google Fonts, this appears easy to read and the style is modern. I decided not to use handwriting styles for this reason. There is a nice range of thin and thick letter styles to select from so that I will be able to emphasise some words more than others.

https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Noto+Sans?selection.family=Noto+Sans

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How will my promotional video be distinctive and grab my audiences attention

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How will my promotional video be distinctive and grab my audiences attention

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My video will look at homelessness from a different perspective - ie older woman rather than men or youth.
My video will be a ficitonal character narative rather than a 'true story'.
My video will show  a woman 'going it alone' dealing with her homelessness, rather than reaching out to support services (this will be shown as an option she is considering).
This video will not promote a homeless service, rather try to encourage viewers who are vulnerable to take action to prevent homelessness - a cautionary tale.

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Women's Legal Service (SA) Inc | Women's Legal Services Australia

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Women's Legal Services Australia is a national network of community legal centres specialising in women's legal issues.

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Advice for women looking for financial security.

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Updated August 08, 2017 09:57:39

Couch surfing among older women has almost doubled over the past four years and there has been a similar rise in the number of older women sleeping in cars, a report by Homelessness Australia has found.

As a result of women bringing up children and being in and out of the workforce, an unexpected crisis can leave them homeless, CEO Jenny Smith said.

"The loss of a relationship, not sufficient superannuation to fall back on as an individual and not owning your home getting towards the point of retirement ... your income has no chance paying for a rental in the current environment," Ms Smith said.

Homelessness Australia estimates there are now 280,000 homeless people in Australia, or around one in every 85 people.

Ms Smith said 70,000 people had to be turned away when they asked for help last year.

"How could it not be increasing? We have none of the policy settings in place at a federal level," she said.

"We do not have an affordable housing strategy, we do not have any increase in support going to homelessness services.

"On the contrary, it's a reduction."

'Taking a bed wherever I could'

Talie Star told the ABC that homelessness can happen to anyone, and in her case she had fled domestic violence.

"I ended up living in different people's houses - people I didn't know," she said.

"Taking a bed wherever I could get one. One of my friend's little girls gave up her bed for me and slept on a mattress so that I could have somewhere to live."

She counts herself as one of the lucky ones.

"I have relatively stable housing now, still problems that have to be worked through, still systemic things to have to navigate but it's so much better being able to at least know where I'm going to put my head down at night," Ms Star said.

'There's safety here'

An initiative known as Common Ground or Housing First is proving successful - it offers long-term accommodation and intensive support for people with issues including drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and mental health.

In Hobart, Jo Robinson had been homeless for almost seven years before being housed at Common Ground.

"I had nowhere to go. I ended up in a place where I was sharing a room with another woman, I needed somewhere to live," she said.

"I was a drug addict, I was a prostitute, I was involved in a lot of things I didn't want to be involved in.

"I needed something that was going to give me safety and security."

She describes her new home at Common Ground as "a wonderful community".

"It's a positive community and there's safety here and that's a really big thing for me," she said.

"And being able to go and talk to people upstairs if I need to."

A first real home

Mission Australia runs Common Ground in Sydney which is one of 12 apartment blocks in the country.

Catherine Yeomans, the CEO of Mission Australia, told the ABC it is an evidence-based model that "we know works".

"We need more sites like this," she said.

At 39 years old, Cheryl Colvett said she had been homeless "pretty much all her life" and her Common Ground studio apartment was her "first real home".

"At first it was a bit strange because 'oh ok I've got a room what do I do now' because I'm used to being homeless on the street, sleeping on the street at night in storms and stuff."

Now she has two cats, Georgie Boy and Lucy, and a bed covered with the soft toys she never had as a child.

First posted August 07, 2017 21:33:02

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Older women becoming hidden face of homelessness

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Updated August 08, 2017 09:57:39 Couch surfing among older women has almost doubled over the past four years and there has been a similar rise in the number of older women sleeping in cars, a report by Homelessness Australia has found.

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Why so many Americans in the middle class have no savings

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On the verge of homelessness: A Kailua woman's struggle highlights rising elderly homeless populatio

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While iPhones have pretty much replaced standalone video cameras, they don't offer the same level of polish that a dedicated video camera or DSLR produces. It's true that "the best camera is the camera you have with you," but you can almost always spot a video shot on a phone.
The quality gap isn't purely due to the lenses and tech within our phones, though. Bad habits make plenty of iPhone videos look lackluster. To show just how good an iPhone video can be, I put all my filmmaking knowledge to use for the montage below.
Instead of using my $3,000 video camera, I picked up my iPhone. With a minimum of accessories, I managed to produce what I think is a pretty cinematic video. You can see the results below - and then I'll give you some useful tips and tricks for shooting iPhone videos like a pro.

Pro iPhone video tips

Considering I shot all that with an iPhone 7, I think the footage looks great. When I showed it my friends who work in video production, they were hard-pressed to realize it was shot on a device that fits inside my pocket.

I'll run you through all the iPhone video tips and tricks I used to produce the montage in the how-to video below.

Below you'll find a slightly more detailed look at the tips in the video, along with links to some of the concepts and products mentioned.

Don't use Apple's stock camera app

While it's super-handy to access from the lock screen, the stock iPhone camera app lacks crucial controls necessary to shoot pro-level video. Sure, you can tap the screen to lock in a focus or exposure point ... but that's about it. In addition, the iPhone 7's built-in camera app limits the bit rate of 4K video to 47 Mbps to keep file sizes down.

You can record higher-quality video and gain more control using one of several third-party apps. My pick of the lot is FiLMiC Pro. At $15, it might seem pricey for an app. But if you shoot a lot of video on your iPhone, it'll be worth every cent.

FiLMiC Pro gives you options

Why FiLMiC Pro? First off, it lets you shoot video at higher bit rates, which in turn means better image quality.

Second, it's full of easy-to-use and powerful tools that let you take complete control when shooting video. The app basically transforms the iPhone's camera into a pocket-size DSLR (in terms of functionality at least). With FiLMiC Pro, it's extremely easy to control exposure and focus with two iPod-like wheels on either side of the iPhone's touchscreen. White balance can be controlled through a color palette or predetermined presets or two custom presets of your choosing.

Setting your white balance and exposure before hitting the record button eliminates the iPhone's tell-tale auto white balance. That's where the video cycles through hues of orange and blue, with the exposure jumping from super-bright to dark, depending on where you're pointing the camera.

FiLMiC Pro's little scroll wheel for focusing makes it super-simple to create cinematic pull focus shots, in which you shift the focus from an object or person in the foreground to the background. Plus, the app's peaking and zebra overlays let you double-check all your settings and make sure the object you want in focus is as sharp as can be.

Frame rates are also easily adjustable within the app, from the cinematic 24 frames per second all the way up to 120 or 240 fps (depending on your iPhone model).

Keep it steady!

Unless you're watching the The Blair Witch Project or Cloverfield, a shaky camera is a big tell that a video got shot on an iPhone. More often than not, professional video makers use tripods or Steadicam rigs to keep viewers from feeling nauseated while watching videos.

If you don't have the funds to buy professional-grade gear, or maybe wouldn't make consistent use of it, low-cost options can deliver similar results.

Don't want to spend a single dollar on accessories? Your best option is to simply lean on objects or even a person to keep a fair amount of shake at bay. Unfortunately, this will limit your movement. Creating a lovely, smooth pan or tilt will end up looking like a wobbly mess unless you're blessed with the hands of a surgeon.

If you want to spend the minimum, invest a few dollars in a tripod mount. This will let you mount your iPhone onto any tripod, so you'll be able to keep your iPhone perfectly steady while you make nice smooth camera movements. These can start at a couple of bucks on Amazon, but I've opted for Studio Neat's Glif, which comes in at $28. I love the small and simple design, plus the construction is solid so my iPhone feels super-secure.

Get yourself a gimbal

Spend a little more and you can get a gimbal, one of the latest and most popular options for steadying your camera. A gimbal reduces vibrations and shakes caused by movements, using three motors to keep the camera level. It gives the illusion that the camera is floating through air.

All of this allows for smooth movements when filming handheld shots. Gimbals prove especially great for tracking shots, where you're following a subject or moving around something. This adds to the cinematic feel of your video.

The most well-known gimbal is the Zhiyun Tech Smooth-Q gimbal, which comes in at $139 on Amazon.

At that price, the Smooth-Q gimbal offers much better value than the Osmo - and still produces amazing results.

Avoid zooming

Never zoom while filming video. Not only does it ruin the clarity and quality of your video, it pulls your viewers straight out of what they're watching rather than letting them enjoy the visuals.

A digital zoom quickly kills the quality of your video. When you're exerting this much effort to get the best video your iPhone can capture, you don't want to ruin everything with grainy, stretched footage. If you need to be closer to something, move physically closer.

You'll retain all the quality of your iPhone's camera, and being closer will also result in developing depth of field. The background of your shot will begin to go out of focus while foreground objects stay tack-sharp, drawing the attention they deserve.

If you want to slowly move closer to an object, use a gimbal and track in. Use an office chair with wheels (or something similar) to slowly push in. The difference will be night and day.

The only time I'd say it's acceptable to zoom is if you're switching between the two lenses of the iPhone 7 Plus.

Video lighting and sound

Lighting can make a huge difference in how good your video looks. Any selfie queen knows this. But when filming with the iPhone, the more light you have to work with the better. Even though the iPhone camera's low-light performance improved by leaps and bounds in the past few years, video captured in a dark room still looks pretty grainy.

Obviously, you can's always control the lighting in your shots, but it's something you should constantly keep in mind. If you can move to somewhere with just a little bit more light, it can make a huge difference. In the example above, the image on the left was produced using just ceiling lights. For the image on the right, I added an extra lamp pointing at me. The difference is pretty clear.

Sound also plays a crucial part in video - especially if you're talking to the camera or presenting a video for, say, YouTube. Using an external microphone such as the Rode smartLav+ will make a huge difference in quality. It also means you can be further away from the camera when filming. (As you can probably tell from the video above, nothing helps that much if you're filming in the wind.)

Make every frame count

My final tip doesn't require any additional products or apps, but will make a huge difference. Learn to properly frame every shot. (And I don't just mean shooting in landscape as opposed to portrait.)

Rather than just randomly pointing and shooting, put a little bit of thought into how you frame each shot. This will go a long way toward producing outstanding video.

Both the iPhone camera app and FiLMiC Pro offer grid overlays. They help you balance a shot naturally: There are points in an image where content just "snaps" into place.

Using the grids to frame your shots makes your video imagery more visually pleasing. If you want to learn more, search Google for the " golden spiral" or the " rule of thirds." But basically, all you need to know is to turn on the grids in your camera, and either align your subject to one of the intersecting lines or stick your horizon onto one of the horizontal lines.

There's no set rule, as it's all a matter of taste. However, the grids give you something to measure your taste against. Also experiment with frame rates and camera movements.

Once you've shot all your video, it's time to edit everything together. I use Adobe Premiere on my Mac day in and day out. But plenty of apps, such as Apple's new Clips, allow you to edit great videos straight from your phone.

Show us your own iPhone video

Hopefully, these iPhone video tips can help you produce more amazing videos than usual. If you've shot any videos on your iPhone, leave a link in the comments section, as I'd love to check them out. Also make sure to subscribe to the Cult of Mac YouTube channel to stay up-to-date with all our latest videos.

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iPhone video tips: How to shoot iPhone video like a pro | Cult of Mac

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While iPhones have pretty much replaced standalone video cameras, they don't offer the same level of polish that a dedicated video camera or DSLR produces. It's true that "the best camera is the camera you have with you," but you can almost always spot a video shot on a phone.

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How the commodification of housing has created a permanent crisis in our cities.

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End Youth Homelessness, the UK's national movement to end homelessness for young people, has teamed up with creative agency Leo Burnett and their partners the Jack Agency, for the Campaign called "Get them to a Safe Place" An animated figure maneuvers across spray painted words on the outside of buildings - the division between home and the street - highlighting the precarious position in which 80,000 vulnerable young people find themselves each year, and pressing need to Get them to a Safe Place.

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vInspired: Teamv campaign 1: Tackling Youth Homelessness

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Erin and Kaitlyn’s story: Homelessness can happen to anyone

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My primary audience are older women at risk of homelessness. I am hoping they will consider their circumstances, and if they are in denial about their security,  begin to take preventative actions. This is because research (Peterson 2015) shows that women from 'conventional housing backgrounds' need minimal support to remain in housing if there is early intervention. This means they need to reach out for support before they lose their current home. Frequently they do not know how, or fail to engage with support services until it is too late.

The broader community is also a target audience as these women are grandmothers, mothers, sisters, daughters and friends. They will typically lean on those closest to them in the event of a housing crisis. Housing affordability and security needs to be addressed as a social issue. It is no longer only affecting marginal, or traditionally disadvantaged groups of people.

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Bordwell, D, Thompson, K 2001, 'The shot: mise-en-scene', Film art: an introduction, 6th edn, McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 156-192.
This chapter outlines basic cinematic techniques which convey meaning to the audience. Covers techniques of setting, costume/makeup, lighting, movement/acting. Discusses framing the action and balancing the composition, but notes unbalanced shots can create strong effects. Colour palettes, camera angles etc all forms systems of meaning with which the audience is familiar and understands. Finally, 'the spectator must be cued to notice certain things (and not to notice others)' in effective film communication.

As I am planning to create a character narrative to communicate my message, the treatment will need to be strictly designed so that the story arc completes within the 30 sec time frame.

Casey, R, Goudie, R & Reeve, K 2008, 'Homeless women in public spaces: strategies of resistance', Housing Studies, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 899-916.
This article argues all women experience some sense of exclusion from public spaces based on their gender. This is strongly associated with fear of physical violence and sexual predators, but also social norms which connect women's identities (as wives, mothers, daughters) with roles within the home. While male homelessness is associated with living on the streets or in shelters, women are more likely to lean on friends and family to provide safe temporary accommodation. Women develop strategies, such as being well dressed and clean, to 'blend-in' in secure places like libraries, shopping centres, airports and public toilets, enabling them to carry out private activities (sheltering, eating, washing) in public. They thereby resist stigmatisation as homeless, and maintain independence.

In my video, I will use this idea of being 'hidden in plain sight' to disrupt my viewers perceptions of homelessness as being both a male phenomenon, and of homeless people being 'socially dysfunctional', as these women are moving through public spaces unseen.

Mahlknecht, J 2011, 'The textual paratext - the cinematic motto and its visual representation on the screen', Word & Image, vol.  27, no. 1, pp. 77-89.
An exploration of the use of text placement in cinema, as part of directing a message(or motto) to be read by audiences. Describes the extra-diagetic (explicit and outside the story, i.e. scrolling text outlines the message), diagetic (incorporated in narrative, i.e. character reads a newspaper headline featuring the message), and hybrid texts (actual text used at a subliminal level e.g. the character passes a sign in the street, and the audience makes the connection). These can be used to lead audiences to the moral message of the film. Like branding - is it best to put the logo up front, incorporate it in the story, or feature it at the end of the message? This has given me options on how to reinforce my message in the video without appearing to 'preach' to my audience.

Mayock, P, Sheridan, S & Parker, S 2015, '"It's just like we're going around in circles and going back to the same thing …": the dynamics of women's unresolved homelessness', Housing Studies, vol. 30, no. 6, pp. 1-24.
This article makes a strong argument for the Housing First approach to resolving long term homelessness. Housing stability allows social services supporting (re)entry into employment, addressing health concerns, (re)building social or family networks etc. to be more effective.

My message (perhaps on the website, not in the video) should target prevention of homelessness through actively managing risks, and early engagement with social services, as this is more effective than correcting homelessness after it has become entrenched.

Petersen, M 2015, 'Addressing older women's homelessness: service and housing models', Australian Journal Of Social Issues, vol. 50, no. 4, pp. 419-438.
This article argues that the pathways of older women into homelessness are not well understood and require greater research. Traditional programs designed to alleviate homelessness due to drug/alcohol abuse, mental illness etc. are inappropriate responses to a growing cohort of older women experiencing housing distress. Instead it calls for the life experiences of these women, and their individual requirements for support, to be explored. The author notes that older first-time homeless women are more likely to have been renters, live alone, and have encountered a crisis in health, in retaining work, or in being able to meet increasing rental costs. Many have never had to reach out for welfare assistance and don't know where to start. Women with a 'conventional housing history' in 'housing crisis' often require minimal support to remain independent. The author calls for attention to "the discourse of housing - affordable, secure housing - rather than continued discourse of homelessness".

I think this analysis informs the approach I am going to take with my video. My homeless woman will have had a conventional background and not be visibly homeless, but be fearful of slipping into further dependence on others. Women should be encouraged to make an early assessment of personal risk, and engage with support services can help secure existing housing. On the website it would be good to emphasise affordable, secure housing as the desired outcome of policy intervention, not further support services for homeless people.

Videos

Mission Australia 2015, Homlessness - an eye opener, YouTube, 10 June, viewed 10 March 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCSIkKsRUQU>.

This video is part of an awareness campaign about youth homelessness. It uses sad music to emphasise the difficulty of a (young) homeless woman's plight as she sleeps in a public place (shopping mall). Interviews are conducted with passers-by in a documentary, news article style. They describe how this image does not connect with their stereotypical understanding of the causes and demographics of homelessness. Most were sympathetic and recognised the complexity of the issue.

Black and white film to show the set-up, colour to show the activity. Pink typography showing statistics on black and white background. This reflects the brand of Mission Australia. Fast cuts interspersed with longer passages. Close up on faces to reveal interviewees reaction to homeless girl sleeping is effective (shock, distaste, confusion, concern). We don't see her face - she anonymously represents the youth demographic.

This video has similarities with my project, but I am looking at a different demographic. I will try a different approach i.e. not use the "sleeping rough" analogy. As with the news articles (posted here), I want to dig deeper into the everyday experience of mature women in this situation, emphasising their invisibility to casual observers.  The use of typography and statistical data is interesting, and I may use this.

Council of Homeless Persons 2017, Hidden homlessness, YouTube, 18 July, viewed 10 March 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8JZaC_dmbo>.

Really powerful example of how ordinary people can find themselves homeless told by an attractive, articulate, well presented and educated woman. Narrated in the first person and supported by statistical information. Similar pacing to previous video - relatively slow. The narrator reenacts her experience of  living in her car surrounded by her belongings. Car is parked under a bridge with pillars covered in graffiti, in what appears to be a run down area. The juxtaposition of her orderly appearance, military background, and chaotic living circumstances is stark.

Soundtrack is again sad, poignant piano score. I want to draw my viewers in by engaging their curiosity, identifying with my actor, and have an impactful reveal at the end of my video, so I need to some unpredictability which I could create with my my soundtrack selection. Ambient sounds from the street may work better, using changes in the soundscape to reflect changes of location.

Shelter SA 2016, Housing, Homelessness and Older People, YouTube, 3 April, viewed 10 March 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmh6vmnQ3iU>.

Presented by a young person as an historical narrative and featuring an older couple as actors. Highlights changes in assumptions about home ownership at various life-stages during (conventional housing background) Baby Boomer  lifetimes. Calls out the disconnect between life planning/expectation, and reality many find themselves in. Describes government lack of policies on housing affordability and inadequate pension levels for renters/mortgage holders in later life. Appears to be a university project, so target audience is academic grading research/project outcome.

Actors presented as happy, relaxed, secure and living well (the ideal) so there is contrast between the narrative/statistics given in the presentation. Could be more powerful as the happy couple seen are not experiencing housing stress, however if viewers are, then they will see what they are missing out on. This approach might not generate enough concern amongst those at risk to take action. My video will need look professionally produced, and be more assertive to attract the attention of my target audience.

End Youth Homelessness 2016, End Youth Homelessness, YouTube, 5 October, viewed 21 March 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhmOVlUs3gs>.

Highly impactful animated representation on the causes and impacts of youth homelessness. Government campaign to address homelessness. A lot of factual and narrative information is conveyed through the use of text integrated into the story, e.g. when the character lands on the word "safe place" at the end of the video. Use of spray paint as medium, analogous to graffiti. A home is then drawn around the character using "safe place" as the basis. The audience then understands that this is the desired outcome of the story and goal for the campaign.
Soundtrack is ominous music with aggressive street sounds (trucks, jackhammers, shouting, crashing) which contribute to menacing feeling. No dialog/voice over.
I am considering using street sounds to emphasise the public nature of homelessness.

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‘What do I need to show or say in the promo video that will persuade my audience to take action? What do my target audience already know, think or feel about my message?’

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‘What do I need to show or say in the promo video that will persuade my audience to take action? What do my target audience already know, think or feel about my message?’

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Raise awareness of the issue and provoke curiosity, disquiet, a sense of personal vulnerability, self-interest, empathy.

Undermine the myth that people somehow 'deserve' to be homeless; because they have, or are doing, something 'wrong'.

Challenge perceptions about what homeless women 'look like' i.e. bag ladies. Reveal the opposite.

Will need to provide evidence that homelessness is affecting more older women and why.

Challenge the viewer to take action i.e. review their personal situation, enquire about friends circumstances, donate to charities who support homeless people, lobby politicians. (Due to time constraints will likely need to target one action.)

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Women comprise 47.0% of all employed persons in Australia; 25.6% of all employed persons are women working full-time, and 21.4% are working part-time* (ABS 2019, Labour Force). Women constitute 37.3% of all full-time employees and 68.1% of all part-time employees (ABS 2019, Labour Force).

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My primary target is the independent, mature woman, with a professional or middle-class background, who is approaching retirement age, and is unaware, or in denial, that she is at risk of homelessness.

My secondary target audience is the broader community, to raise awareness and stimulate debate about how a lack of housing affordability is pervading society, and impacting unexpected demographics.

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Increasing numbers of older Australian women find themselves vulnerable to homeless, however their predicament is not visible in the community.

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Updated August 03, 2010 10:34:00

The traditional image of a homeless person is of an elderly man, but a new report says a rising number of older women are losing their homes because of poverty.

The 'It Could Be You: Female, Single, Older and Homeless' study, by Ludo McFerran from the Older Women's Network, found being over the age of 45 and single increases a woman's risk of becoming homeless.

Ms McFerran says older women who were divorced, in low-paying jobs, and living in rental accommodation are particularly at risk.

"Increasingly, older women are homeless because they are poor, often owing to detrimental social and economic impacts of divorce and separation," she said.

Ms McFerran is calling for more public and private rental accommodation for single, older women, and for a program to convert existing rental houses into separate living quarters funded by the Federal Government.

"The emerging levels of housing risk for older women cannot be reduced without a combined effort by governments, industry and community," she said in the report.

Analysing official data, the study found there has been a steady increase in the number of women over the age of 45 seeking crisis accommodation at government-funded homelessness shelters.

Older women outnumbered older men in requests for services in 2007/8 and 2008/9 for the first time on record.

The report also found that the number of women aged over 65 seeking crisis accommodation in Sydney had more than doubled from 2007/8 to 2008/9.

She said the wage gap between men and women, and the tendency for women to have lower incomes from superannuation, contributed to the problem.

'Falling apart'

Ms McFerran interviewed 31 homeless women between the ages of 45 and 80 for the study.

"For most of the women I interviewed, it was their first experience of homelessness," she said.

Most of the women had worked, raised children, and been in abusive relationships. They became homeless because of poor health or unemployment.

"I always worked. I worked my way up to be a switchboard operator at Telecom," one woman said in the report.

"Up until a few years ago, then I got really sick, had to have an operation. That is when everything really started falling apart. I was doing OK until I got really sick."

Adult children were often unable or unwilling to assist their mothers because of their own economic circumstances.

One woman interviewed said her daughter had refused to help her out.

"I stayed with my daughter for two days, then she said 'Mum, pack your bag, I'm going to take you to housing. I'm sorry Mum, you have to go'," she said.

"She dumped me at the local housing office."

One-third of the women interviewed had owned their own home but lost it after separation, divorce or the death of their partner.

Some gave the proceeds of the sale of the family home to their children.

They also had to give away most of their possessions after becoming homeless because they had no storage space.

'It's not safe'

Half of the women interviewed for the report had been forced to sleep rough.

"It's not safe for a woman; you have to keep one eye open and the other shut," said one participant.

"There was no way I would lie down, all the way down, I would squat, any noise wakes you up, you can't have a sound sleep anyway," she said.

Ms McFerran says homelessness services were unable to meet the demand for crisis accommodation from older women.

There is just one shelter for older women in Australia run by the St Vincent de Paul Society.

Women over the age of 45 must seek refuge at shelters aimed at younger women and children.

Ms McFerran predicts the problem will get worse because of the ageing population, the rise in house prices and the housing shortfall in Australia.

She says while the current Federal Government is spending an unprecedented amount of money on public housing and tackling homelessness, older women are ignored in the policy debate.

Sue Cripps, the chief executive of Homelessness NSW, said there was a chronic underestimation of the number of homeless women in Australia.

"The census count of about 46,000 homeless women on any given night is a blunt tool because women are hidden, they don't sleep rough at night because of the dangers and boarding houses are largely unsafe for women," she said.

The 2006 census found 17 per cent of homeless people are over 55. One-third were women.

First posted August 03, 2010 10:20:00

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Updated August 03, 2010 10:34:00 The traditional image of a homeless person is of an elderly man, but a new report says a rising number of older women are losing their homes because of poverty.

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Week 1
I think this course will introduce me to new digital media applications which I can use to present my ideas in my studies and after I graduate. I am looking forward to using the assignment structure to develop an influential video. I am hoping to develop my video making skills further as so far I have only used Movie Maker and photo-shopping tools to collate content and make short digital stories.

I already have a couple of topics I am passionately interested in researching, so I think my list of 80 possibilities was seeded with the idea that I would like to do something involving one of several evolving social problems I have been reading about in social media, or hearing about in podcasts and news reports. This is leading me towards looking into the question of rising homelessness amongst older women.

The 30 second time limit for the video will be challenging but the more I think about my topic and condense the message, the harder hitting and more persuasive it will be. I think this is a great challenge!

Week2
My readings have shown me how hidden homelessness amongst older women can be, especially from what the researchers call 'conventional housing history' background. This seems to be because they have strategies and tactics to avoid being recognised as homeless, but this also means that they do not seek help from the usual organisations (charities, churches, govt. agencies). They don't feel that these services are tailored to their circumstances. I have identified these women as my target audience.

Ideas about how to develop my treatment are developing rapidly - I keep testing in my own mind how to present my video in a realistic way, present a believable story, so at risk women will identify it with their own situation. Would identify with this message/story?  I have scribbled lots of notes on paper as my ideas develop.

Slogans are coming to mind - "she never saw it coming" "it will never happen to me" "think again" .

Week 3

Thinking about my video and how I can deliver my message effectively, continues to refine my message: I want to highlight the hidden nature of women's homelessness. While the issue remains hidden, no change will occur.
Working on my PC rather than the Mac has been much easier as I have no experience with the later. On both devices however, I have found HTML code is easy to edit and the website is coming along.

Week 4

Examining videos on the internet on this subject, a the majority fit into one of two patterns. Either individual stories of people who are currently or historically homeless, and how this impact/ed them. These stories often focus on the cause of homelessness as being 'undeserved' i.e, an accident of fate. Or they are an animation to raise awareness, with a focus on youth homelessness, often focused on abuse. This means my target group is underrepresented, and my perspective needs to offer something previously unseen to cut through. Mind map exercise should help identify new perspectives.

Week 5
I feel like my treatment is becoming more complex and may need to be less ambitious. Props, actors and location shooting are not my problem - it will be whether I can construct a succinct story in 30 seconds. May have to use combination of video and still shots to convey message. Still like the idea of subliminal texts.

My treatment ideas are changing as I look to incorporate visual and typographical choices to create a brand. I am now thinking that my live action video can be very simple and I can introduce elements as 'thoughts' through images which overlay the action. My colour palate ideas are also changing. The colours in the backdrop of my padlet are appealing to my target demographic so I might incorporate these. I have taken photographs in my local area of support services for people in financial difficulty and have started constructing my character through imagining her life before she found herself in her current position.

Week 6
This week I have been able to visualise my video from beginning to end and I have written my treatment to reflect this. I have had the idea of rolling text across the screen as well as textual cues within the action, such as street signage, the content displayed on an i-Pad, counting cash will be used.
I am undecided about having a musical sound track overlaid with ambient street sounds, as this may be too complex technically. My campaign will be titled "You think you know..."

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1. Women
2. Marriage
3. Children
4. Families
5. Poverty
6. Homelessness
7. Social suport
8. Government support
9. Safety net
10. Social responsibility
11. Mutual obligation
12. Services
13. Charities
14. Finances
15. Welfare
16. Volunteers
17. Houses
18. Communes
19. AirBNB
20. Landlords
21. Profit
22. Housing availability
23. Regional areas
24. City streets
25. Refuges
26. Domestic violence
27. Drug abuse
28. Alcohol abuse
29. Ice
30. Remote communities
31. Quality of housing
32. Squalor
33. Work availability
34. Educational attainment
35. Hopelessness
36. Social justice
37. Equity
38. Fairness
39. Hard times
40. Poverty trap
41. Food banks
42. Food wastage
43. Consumerism
44. Disposable society
46. Disposable people
47. Responsibility
48. Vulnerability
49. Local communities
50. Churches
51. Agendas
52. Who benefits?
53. Who pays?
54. Is there a benefit to society in having an underclass?
55. Warning to others
56. Conformity
57. "There but for the grace of God go I"
58. It will never happen to me
59. Distant issue
60. How to make people care?
61. Personalise the story
62. If it was you, what would you hope someone would do for you?
63. Characteristics
64. Mental health
65. Addiction
66. Donations
67. Safe places
68. Sponsorship
69. Relationships
70. Continuity
71. Compassion
72. Change
73. Values
74. Feel good
75. Empowerment
76. Root causes
77. Consistency
78. Tailor made
79. Long term plan
80. Investment
81. Lobbying
82. Activism
83. Solutions - affordable housing
84. Causes - multiple pathways
85. Social  role  of older women/mothers/grandmothers