Kathleen Chalmers never imagined she would be homeless when she arrived in Canberra two years ago.
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But when the 59-year-old public servant was diagnosed with breast cancer after 18 months of housesitting, she was forced out of her home and into uncertainty.
Without a partner or close family nearby, Ms Chalmers was left technically homeless as she couch-surfed through the "absolute chaos".
"People think of public servants as being pretty well off," she said.
"I earn a reasonably good income, but there's only a pay between me and not having somewhere to live."
Ms Chalmers is part of a hidden problem in the capital, according to the National Council of Women of Australia, which is trying to highlight the increasing number of older women at risk of homelessness.
ACT vice-president Margaret Findlater-Smith said Canberra's expensive rental market and the low threshold for public housing meant a growing number of older women were being forced out of a stable, secure home when their luck turned.
"You don't see middle-aged women on the streets," she said. "But it appears more and more often because there are more women of this age."
Low paying jobs, relationship breakdown or insufficient savings have been identified as common causes of homelessness among older women, but Ms Findlater-Smith said the extent of the problem had not been measured in Canberra.
While the 2011 census widened its definition to include people who were couch-surfing or living in overcrowded housing, it failed to provide gendered data on the 1785 people listed as homeless in the ACT.
Ms Findlater-Smith said research into the issue was needed in order to develop policies and alter services across the capital.
"No one really knows how many people it's affecting in the ACT," she said.
"A lot of the older women don't want to go into a refuge."
The ACT government has funded an investigation to identify the housing gaps for older women and have granted $20,000 to housing organisation ACT Shelter to undertake gendered research.
In addition to addressing the needs of women earning low or middle incomes, ACT Shelter executive officer Leigh Watson said the research would examine the predominance of family and domestic violence as a cause of women's homelessness.
"The prevalence of domestic and family violence as a cause of homelessness must continue to be clearly recognised in all policy and program responses," Ms Watson said.