New research has quantified that the cost for people leaving domestic and family violence has risen by 71 per cent since 2016, from $4,098 to $7,017 – significantly outpacing inflation.
Anglicare Sydney undertook the comparative analysis to chart the difference of the immediate costs of leaving, including bond, moving truck rental, and temporary accommodation, and the follow-on costs of rebuilding a household and establishing safety in the last decade.
Rent and bond costs have more than doubled. Both fuel and childcare costs are also more than 50 per cent more expensive in 2026 than in 2016.
Claire Dunlop, General Manager of Relationships & Wellbeing at Anglicare said, "To see that the cost of leaving a violent home has risen 71 per cent in ten years is confronting, because behind every number is a person trying to reach safety.
"For many victim-survivors, leaving already takes enormous courage. What this research shows is that financial barriers are becoming another obstacle to safety. When housing costs, childcare, transport and everyday essentials keep rising, people can feel trapped between violence and financial insecurity."
According to Ms Dunlop, the research put numbers to a challenge that support services know all too well.
"Beyond the direct costs of leaving violence, victim-survivors are trying to simultaneously find housing, transport, manage childcare, maintain or find employment, and rebuild financial stability.
"They are doing this without savings, stable housing, or reliable support networks and in many cases, around the movements or surveillance of an offender, to avoid detection," Ms Dunlop said.
The report also outlines how financial preparation can play an important role in helping people maintain independence and stability when leaving an unsafe situation.
Ms Dunlop said, "We are seeing more cases where coercive control involves debts being accumulated in a victim-survivor's name, so not only is there forced financial dependence or restricted access to funds, but damaged credit histories.
"Carrying that burden, victim-survivors either can't or feel like they won't be able to access secure housing or credit, obtain utilities, or establish financial independence.
"People know support services exist. But during a housing and cost-of-living crisis, further support is needed to ensure safety is accessible, achievable and sustainable for everyone."
Anglicare Sydney is calling for stronger support for victim-survivors of domestic and family violence, including:
- Stronger immediate financial supports, including increasing the Leaving Violence Program from $5,000 to $7,000 and indexing future increases to CPI, expanding access to no-interest loans and emergency brokerage funding for essentials such as bond assistance, whitegoods, childcare and relocation costs, and strengthening protections against financial abuse.
- An expansion of housing responses, including funding 3,000 additional long-term social and affordable homes each year for people leaving violence, extending the Housing Australia Future Fund Crisis and Transitional Accommodation Program, expanding transitional and long-term housing options, and establishing priority social housing pathways for victim-survivors.
- Improved economic and employment protections, including increasing paid domestic and family violence leave from 10 days to 15 days, strengthening tenancy and workplace protections, and improving access to flexible work arrangements to support safety, recovery and long-term financial security.
