Housing priority area

The Royal Commission recommended the government report annually on the unmet housing demand among people affected by family violence. The Royal Commission also recommended the government declare the proposed actions for meeting the continuing unmet housing demand (recommendation 20).

On 10 February 2021, the Victorian government publicly published this data for the first time, with its actions for meeting the needs affected by family violence.

Since 2016 we have:

• acquired 325 social housing dwellings and head leased 401 medium-term tenancies from the sector
• prioritised family violence victim survivors and their families for social housing through the Victorian Housing Register
• provided over 6,500 flexible support packages each year to help victims survivors of family violence.

This comes on top of the following investments:

• We committed to building 1,000 new public dwellings for people experiencing homelessness. We have built 349 new homes across Victoria for people experiencing homelessness. Another 700 are currently under construction or about to begin construction.
• We have provided 38 new and leased properties across regional Victoria, providing women and children a safe and secure environment in which to live.
• We committed $30 million for the Regional Estate Revitalisation project to redevelop out-of-date public housing in Ballarat, Bendigo and Benalla over 10 years. To ensure the best outcomes for the redevelopment, community consultation on plans has occurred in Ballarat and Bendigo. Relocations have now commenced. The redevelopments will see a minimum 10 per cent growth in social housing. Aged dwellings will be replaced with additional growth in affordable and possibly private housing.
• Over the past two years, the average length of stay in refuge has remained stable at approximately six weeks.
• Nine family violence refuges have been redeveloped and are operational. These provide women and children with a safe and secure environment where support is available.
• The Personal Safety Initiative continues to support victim survivors to access appropriate and effective technology and security. This allows them to remain safely in their own homes and communities. Personal safety responses for victim survivors experiencing or at risk of experiencing family violence are funded and accessed through the Victorian Government’s Family Violence Flexible Support Package program. Personal safety responses may include home modifications, personal duress alarms and CCTV.
• The Men’s Accommodation and Counselling Service (previously known as the Perpetrator Accommodation and Support Service) supports eligible men who use violence. This includes crisis accommodation, wrap-around support to address immediate concerns and linking them to services to address their offending behaviour. This service was established during the COVID-19 pandemic. It helps to keep victim survivors safe in their own homes by providing crisis accommodation and support for perpetrators. From September 2020 to June 2021, 290 perpetrators were accommodated in the program and the program has been extended until 30 June 2022.
• The Medium-Term Perpetrator Accommodation and Support Service complements the Men’s Accommodation and Counselling Service. It provides medium-term (up to six months) accommodation and case management support for people who use violence. This Service is being piloted in partnership with local housing providers. It is run by three perpetrator case management providers (in Central Highlands, Loddon and North East Melbourne) and two Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (in North East Melbourne, Hume Moreland an Inner Gippsland).

• Aboriginal-specific refuges provide a space for Aboriginal women and children experiencing family violence to receive culturally appropriate support. The first refuge has been completed. The second is in the design phase. Land is being sourced for a third. Three core and cluster Aboriginal-specific refuges will be developed, rather than the initial two planned.
• The Social Housing Growth Fund is providing safe, stable and secure housing for older women, women and children experiencing family violence, Aboriginal Victorians, people with a disability and people with a mental illness across the state. It is being implemented in partnership with the community housing sector. The program has delivered 133 new social housing dwellings. At least 75 per cent of these were allocated to applicants with a priority need for housing.

Family violence is the number one cause of homelessness for women in Victoria. We must continue to improve and increase social housing for victim survivors and their children. Providing safe and secure housing helps victim survivors to continue living their lives without the imminent threat of family violence. The core and cluster models we are implementing for family violence refuges allow victim survivors to live independently while also engaging with support services, creating the opportunity to rebuild their lives and thrive.

Ensuring that victim survivors of family violence can stay in their home while supporting perpetrators to move out is important to help hold perpetrators accountable for their actions. Supporting perpetrators to move out of the family home means that victim survivors are able to remain safely within their own home and community. Importantly, it also creates an opportunity to support perpetrators to change their behaviour. It also reduces the chance they will return to the family home if they feel they have nowhere else to go – potentially violating family violence intervention orders. The use of the personal safety responses supported by the Personal Safety Initiative deters perpetrators from breaching intervention orders. It also enables the collection of evidence to support criminal prosecutions when a breach occurs.

We know there are some cohorts of women who are more likely to experience homelessness than others, including Aboriginal women. Family violence is the leading reason Aboriginal women seek support from specialist homelessness services. By providing Aboriginal-specific refuges, we are building a system that is person-centred and responsive. This ensures the family violence system is accessible, available, person-centred and culturally relevant. The principles of self-determination underpin all housing responses to family violence. This assists in creating culturally safe environments for victim survivors.