All the latest news from Women's Property Initiatives
WPI Update April 2026
The first quarter of 2026 has flown by and the team at WPI have been busy opening the doors to new properties and ensuring that our newest renters are settling into their new homes well.
While we celebrated International Women's Day with various events throughout March, it served as a vital reminder to strengthen our advocacy for gender equality. Despite the progress made, gender inequality prevails and has a direct impact on women's access to secure and affordable housing. In this update we provide some insight on the gendered nature of homelessness with a link to an AHURI report titled Gendered Housing Matters.
We are thrilled to share with you a summary of the 30 new homes that have been secured as part of our most recent campaign and finalised with funds raised at our Giving Day last year. Most of these homes are now delivered with the construction of the remaining homes (on the Mornington Peninsula and in Melbourne's South East) to be completed this year.
WPI is very fortunate to have strong community support, and we recently welcomed Melbourne Real Estate to our community. We have been overwhelmed by the results of some recent fundraising events within our network. These funds are a crucial part of opening the doors to more homes and ending housing crisis for women and their families. Please reach out if you would like to support or partner with WPI or if you have questions relating to any of the information in this update.
Warm Regards
Roberta Buchanan
CEO, Women's Property Initiatives
New Homes for Women
Local: Box Hill
It has been really exciting to complete the leasing for eight apartments within Local’s latest development, Local: Box Hill. WPI is delighted to partner with Local to open the doors to these eight secure and affordable one bedroom homes for older women. With fantastic amenities in a thriving community, this is impact housing that is changing the future for these women, many of whom have experienced family violence.
Coburg
We are very happy to be working with Homes Victoria to provide secure and affordable housing for women in Coburg. We have leased and are now managing 14 apartments on behalf of Homes Victoria within this vibrant development that are now occupied by women and children at risk of homelessness. These lovely apartments are changing the lives of these women and providing terrific access to transport, services, schools, parks and shops.
30 New Homes
We wanted to share with you a summary of the 30 new homes secured as part of the campaign launched on WPI's 25th anniversary. With a goal of 25 new homes we couldn't be more thrilled to have exceeded this to fund 30 new homes prior to June 30, 2025. This includes WPI's first projects in regional Victoria in Shepparton, Ballarat and Daylesford. Please read more about this achievement in our 30 Homes Catalogue. Thank you to the many, many supporters who made this possible.
Meet Jodi and Tango
Living in regional Victoria, Jodi spent eleven years in a rental property that was slowly falling apart. At first it was easy to ignore - peeling paint, sagging gutters - but over time the damage became impossible to miss. The skirting boards were rotting from water damage, and when the lino was finally pulled up, it revealed black mould underneath. She took the landlord to VCAT more than once. Each time, they promised repairs and each time, nothing really changed.
When the eviction notice came, it felt like the end of something that had been breaking for years. What she didn’t expect was how hard it would be to find another place.
International Women's Day
WPI's International Women's Day Lunch
We gathered with partners, supporters and friends last week for WPI's annual International Women's Day Lunch. A day to celebrate women and the progress made towards gender equality. And the work still to be done. Thank you to our Keynote Speaker, Kerstin Thompson, a leading innovator in Australian architecture who highlighted through her design experience the long lasting impact of a secure home as a place to grow, learn and create memories.
PCA International Women's Day Longest Lunch
Thank you to the Property Council of Australia for making us charity partner for their Longest Lunch for the third year. With a team of enthusiastic volunteers selling raffle tickets, spirited auction bidding and the charm and inspiration of key
note speaker Gai Waterhouse, an incredible $59,000 was raised to support secure and affordable housing for vulnerable women and children.
Many thanks to Chase Gallery, Fisher & Paykel Appliances, Port Phillip Sea Pilots Pty Ltd, Gai Waterhouse Racing for donating the fabulous prizes.
REIV Women in Real Estate Event
We are very grateful to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria for making us the charity partner for their inaugural Women in Real Estate Event. Our team were on site selling raffle tickets while guests enjoyed the wonderful speakers including the amazing Abbey Holmes and Turia Pitt and a live auction led by Greg Brydon. We are very grateful to REIV and the generous supporters who donated raffle and auction prizes to help raise more than $6000 for WPI, and for giving us an opportunity to share our story.
Gendered Housing Matters Report
For International Women’s Day 2026, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) highlighted recent research that found women were often invisible in homelessness data because they were found to self-manage homelessness differently from men or did not identify as homeless.
- Even though women are among the top users of homelessness services, many women avoid them, leaving their homelessness underreported
- Census data shows rates women's homelessness grew faster than men's between 2016 & 2021
- Single mothers comprise 77% of Australia’s one-parent families who are over-represented in social housing
- The earnings gap between women and men means finding and paying an affordable rent (no more than 30% of income) is more difficult for single women.
Real Impact - a new charity partnership with Melbourne Real Estate (MRE)
Leading real estate agency, Melbourne Real Estate (MRE) work at the centre of Melbourne’s housing market and see the opportunities it creates, and the gaps it leaves behind, especially for women and children. Determined to make a meaningful social contribution, MRE recently launched Real Impact; applying their experience in property in a way that contributes beyond transactions – through to initiatives and partnership that support long-term housing outcomes.
We are thrilled to announce that WPI has become the charity partner of MRE.
We are looking forward to work with founder Peter Hooymans and the entire MRE team who have already started to support WPI to assist more women and children to create new beginnings through our work. Part of the partnership included the transition of property management services from our social enterprise Property Initiatives Real Estate Agency (PIREA) to MRE. WPI established PIREA over 10 years ago as a social enterprise and last year made the strategic decision to transition PIREAs services so that we can focus our resources on our core purpose - providing long term affordable housing for women and children.
We are excited about the synergies of the partnership with MRE, but most importantly we are thrilled with the commitment and energy that they are bringing to support WPI as their charity partner from 2026 and beyond.
