The Australian Women's Loneliness Report

What this report is

This is a concise synthesis of public Australian evidence about loneliness, social isolation and circumstances that may shape women's opportunities for connection. It is not a new survey and does not claim that every woman has the same experience.

Reviewed: 28 August 2026.

Safe Refuge Counselling is a private counselling practice for women in Mount Barker and online. It is not a crisis or domestic violence service.

If you need support now

If someone is in immediate danger, call Triple Zero (000) or go to the nearest emergency department.

• Lifeline: call 13 11 14 or use its current text and chat options for crisis support.
• 13YARN: call 13 92 76 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander crisis support.
• 1800RESPECT: call 1800 737 732 or use its online options for domestic, family or sexual violence support.
• PANDA: call 1300 726 306 for perinatal mental health support; check the website for current hours.

You do not have to be in crisis to speak with a GP, counsellor or other appropriate health professional.

Loneliness and social isolation are not the same thing

Loneliness describes a felt gap between the connection a person wants and the connection she experiences. Social isolation describes limited social contact or participation. A person can spend substantial time alone without feeling lonely, or feel lonely while surrounded by people.

Australian sources use different questions and thresholds to measure these ideas. Results from one instrument should not be treated as interchangeable with results from another.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's social isolation, loneliness and wellbeing analysis explains those measurement differences and reports results from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey. It is the primary source for the national figures used below.

What the national data supports

The AIHW analysis reports that, in the 2021 HILDA survey data it examined, 15% of Australians aged 15 and over were categorised as experiencing loneliness. The reported proportions for females and males were close: 16% and 15% respectively.

That small national difference does not support a claim that women are uniformly or inherently lonelier than men. It does support asking how life stage, disability, caring, household circumstances, migration, location and community connection may affect particular groups of women.

AIHW's People with disability in Australia reports that 29% of people with disability aged 15 to 64 experienced loneliness in the 2021 data it presents, compared with 17% of people without disability. Those are disability-population figures, not figures specifically for women, and should not be represented as such.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics' 2024 Time Use Survey reports that female participants spent more average time on unpaid work than male participants. This is relevant context when considering time available for rest and social connection, but the survey does not prove that unpaid work causes loneliness.

Why a single headline can mislead

Loneliness estimates vary because surveys may use different wording, scales, age ranges and data years. Some measure a direct response to "I feel lonely"; others combine several questions into a scale. A broad online survey and a longitudinal household survey can therefore produce different percentages without either result necessarily being wrong.

There are other limits:

• National sex categories can hide large differences within groups.
• Data about women with overlapping identities and circumstances is often limited.
• Living alone is not the same as loneliness.
• An association between loneliness and another health or social factor does not prove which caused the other.
• A population statistic cannot diagnose or predict an individual woman's experience.

The NSW Parliament inquiry into loneliness documents evidence and policy proposals considered in New South Wales. It is useful policy context, but it should not be used as a substitute for national data or individual assessment.

Circumstances worth asking about

The safest use of population evidence is to guide better questions, not to create stereotypes.

Caring and limited discretionary time

Some women carry substantial unpaid domestic and caring work. The ABS Time Use Survey supports the broader sex difference in unpaid work described above. For an individual woman, the useful questions are practical: Is there time and energy for relationships? Is care shared? Is social contact another task to organise rather than a source of support?

Disability and access

AIHW data shows a clear loneliness disparity for people with disability. Barriers can include transport, inaccessible venues, communication, cost, fatigue or exclusion, but the relevant barrier must be identified with the person rather than assumed.

Pregnancy and early parenthood

Pregnancy, birth and early parenting can reorganise routines, identity and relationships. Feeling lonely during this period does not itself establish a perinatal mental health condition. If loneliness sits alongside persistent anxiety, low mood, intrusive thoughts or difficulty functioning, a GP, maternal and child health service, or perinatal mental health service can help assess what support is needed.

Safe Refuge's perinatal mental health guide explains common Australian pathways and urgent-support boundaries. Perinatal counselling describes the non-crisis support offered by the practice.

Migration and language

Migration can change proximity to family, familiar community structures and language access. It does not produce one predictable emotional response. Safe Refuge's guide for migrant women focuses on practical questions about interpreters, privacy, system navigation and practitioner fit.

Bereavement and life transitions

Bereavement, separation, retirement, relocation, illness and changes in friendship can alter connection. Loneliness and grief can overlap without being the same experience. The grief literacy guide explains different forms of grief, while grief counselling describes Safe Refuge's counselling scope.

Rural and regional life

Distance can affect access to in-person services and community activities, but regional life should not be treated as synonymous with isolation. Online counselling can widen choice for some adult women when a private location, suitable technology and appropriate local emergency arrangements are available.

What a woman can do with this information

There is no universal intervention that suits every cause of loneliness. A practical first step is to identify the kind of connection that feels missing.

Questions that may help include:

• Do I want companionship, emotional closeness, community, practical help, shared identity, or a sense of belonging?
• Did the loneliness begin after a particular change or loss?
• Is there one relationship I want to strengthen, repair or place a boundary around?
• Are cost, disability, transport, language, caring or safety limiting access to people and places?
• Is anxiety, low mood, grief, trauma or exhaustion making contact harder?
• Would a community group, peer service, faith community, health professional or counsellor fit the need I have identified?

Small contact is not automatically meaningful contact, and a large social network does not guarantee belonging. The aim is not to reach a target number of friends. It is to understand what connection would be safe, wanted and sustainable.

When professional support may be useful

Loneliness is not a diagnosis. Counselling may still be useful when it is tied to grief, identity, boundaries, relationships, migration, caregiving, trauma or a major transition.

A medical or specialist pathway may be more appropriate when symptoms require diagnosis, medication advice, urgent assessment or care outside a counsellor's scope. A GP or Medicare Mental Health can help identify pathways. Safe Refuge's state-by-state guide links to official government mental health entry points.

Safe Refuge offers women's counselling in Mount Barker and online counselling for adult women whose needs sit within the practice's non-crisis scope. Sessions are not Medicare-rebatable. Review the current fees and Aana's background and approach before booking.

A free Discovery Call is available for practical questions about fit. It is not a clinical assessment or crisis call.

Method and sources

This report was rewritten to retain only claims traceable to the linked primary or official sources. No primary data was collected by Safe Refuge.

Core sources:

• AIHW: Social isolation, loneliness and wellbeing
• AIHW: People with disability in Australia, social inclusion
• ABS: How Australians use their time, 2024
• NSW Parliament: The prevalence, causes and impacts of loneliness in New South Wales

Published: 17 April 2026

Reviewed and materially updated: 28 August 2026