Sydney’s first dedicated affordable housing project for transgender women will be built in the inner-city suburb of Darlinghurst following the sale of City of Sydney properties as part of the council’s excess land program.
The seven properties are being sold “at a significant discount” to Common Equity New South Wales which will partner with All Nations Housing Co-operative to create properties for women within the “highly at-risk” group.
Sydney lord mayor, Clover Moore, said she was proud the council was able to help provide affordable housing.
“Trans women are some of the most vulnerable people in our society, and often face rejection and isolation from their families of origin and the broader community,” Moore said.
“Despite the progress we’ve made as a society when it comes to celebrating the contributions and achievements of LGBTIQA+ people, too many trans people regularly experience discrimination and exclusion.
“Providing safe and affordable housing for trans women is essential for their wellbeing. We want all people to feel confident in themselves.”
Under the excess land scheme, unused or underutilised properties owned by the council are identified and sold to organisations working to provide housing for those most in need.
Money raised through the sales then goes back into the city’s affordable and diverse housing fund that provides grants for future housing projects, as the council grapples with a stubborn homelessness problem and an increasingly tight rental market.
The Gender Centre social worker and transgender woman, Aurora Green, said transgender women looking to access housing often encountered barriers due to documentation not matching.
Green said a dedicated service would make it far easier, safer and more comfortable for transgender women to access housing.
“Even though it’s illegal to discriminate against someone based on their gender, it’s still very easy when someone’s submitting an electronic application, you can see conflicting details and give this to someone else,” she said.
“There’s very, very little protection there.”
She said a dedicated service would provide women at different stages of transition more freedom and peace.
“In a dedicated service, there’s so much more flexibility for people that are at different stages of their medical transition or whether they want to medically transition at all,” Green said.
“When there’s a place that’s going to understand why that [ID] information may conflict and be understanding and helpful with that, that’s just so important … It also brings the trans community together.”
A further two properties in Potts Point are also being sold by the city to the B Miles Women’s Foundation for housing for women with complex needs.
