Ahead of the Women's Safety Ministers Council meeting, the federal government must commit an additional $4.6B to address the shortfall in social housing that would allow women escaping violence to have a secure place to live and rebuild their lives.
Women and children experiencing family and domestic violence are the largest cohort using homelessness services, with over 100,000 seeking support each year.
The most recent data shows:
- Nearly 12,000 women and children seeking short term accommodation are missing out each year.1
- 40% of homelessness services report closing their doors to new clients at least once a fortnight.2
- In NSW alone, at least 6 women are turned away from services every single night.2
- 60% of victim survivors have not secured stable housing by the time they leave crisis accommodation. For far too many women and children, that means returning to a violent perpetrator.1
Undersupply of public housing continues to exacerbate family, domestic and sexual violence, and puts increased pressure on already stretched frontline services.
Additionally, state and federal governments must support women's safety sector calls to:
- Fully funding critical frontline services
- Increase Leaving Violence Payments to $7,500 to meet the increased costs of living
- Remove barriers to access for Centrelink crisis payments
As stated by Senator Larissa Waters, Leader of the Australian Greens and Spokesperson on Women
"When politicians ask "why didn't she just leave?", they're ignoring that unaffordable housing, rising rents, and crisis and transitional housing shortages leave women and children with nowhere to go.
"Housing and homelessness is a women's safety issue. Faced with homelessness, many women are forced to choose to stay in violent homes.
"Housing pressure means that more victim-survivors are reaching out to crisis accommodation and other frontline services for help. But the sector is breaking at the time it is needed most, forcing services to turn away women and children every day.
"This is something that the government can, and must, fix by investing in public housing and frontline services. The Ministers meeting today must take on this challenge and send a clear signal that women's safety matters. All victim survivors should be able to access support when they need it."
"$4.6 billion is less than a quarter of the $17 billion per year that a gas export tax would generate and a drop in the ocean of the billions we're currently wasting on nuclear subs we're unlikely to ever receive.
"Labor knows there is massive unmet need, but even their pilot project to collect data on that need is years overdue and just got another extension. The sector, and the women and children who rely on it, cannot wait any longer.
"Labor must start prioritising people over corporate profit, and investing in the things that people need to survive, and live a good life."
BACKGROUND
Data sources
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
- Equity Economics (DVNSW), 2026, The unmet demand crisis facing domestic and family violence services in NSW
Investment modelling
| AIHW 2025 |
Treasury figures (in ANAO audit report) |
| Of the 51,7000 clients seeking short term or emergency accommodation, nearly 12,000 were not able to be provided with it |
Government contributions under the HAFF can include concessional loans, upfront capital grants and availability payments.7 The average level of government support, in nominal value terms, is estimated by Treasury to be $770,387 per dwelling over 25 years for rounds one and two ($392,518 in net present value terms). |
| 11,744 women currently unable to secure housing x $392,518 / dwelling = $4.62B |
