The intersection of domestic violence and homelessness
Almost 2 million Australians aged over 15 years have experienced partner violence, and 1 million have experienced physical or sexual violence from another family member in their lifetime [1].
Domestic and family violence causes considerable disruption to the lives of Australian families, with many affected seeking alternative accommodation and often falling into homelessness. The majority of victims of domestic violence are women and their children, although men may also be victims. Domestic and family violence makes women and children vulnerable to homelessness in two major ways: firstly, violence removes the sense of safety and belonging associated with the home; and secondly, leaving a violent situation usually requires leaving the family home [3].
In situations where people experiencing domestic and family violence need to leave their home, Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) can provide:
- crisis and emergency accommodation
- income support
- counselling
- referrals to legal services
- connections to social housing providers
- other specialised support or referrals to specialist providers.
Policy framework to support victims of family and domestic violence experiencing homelessness
Responses to homelessness are outlined in the National Partnership Agreement of Homelessness (NPAH), a partnership agreement funded by the National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA). The NPAH contributes to the NAHA outcome 'people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness achieve sustainable housing and social inclusion'. In March 2015, the Commonwealth Government committed to extending the NPAH until 2017, providing $230 million in funding (to be matched by states and territories). The funding prioritises front line services and assistance focused on women and children experiencing domestic and family violence [5].
The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and Children 2012–2022 provides a framework to coordinate Commonwealth and State and Territory governments to reduce violence against women and children. The plan highlights the need to ensure services meet the needs of women and their children experiencing violence. This includes providing appropriate services at the right time and catering to the specific needs of client groups such as young women, older women, Indigenous women and women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (COAG 2011). Each state and territory has complementary plans in place to respond to domestic violence and support those affected.
The Specialist Homelessness Services Collection (SHSC) began on 1 July 2011, replacing the previous Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP). The collection has been designed to collect data from homelessness agencies that are funded under the NAHA and the NPAH. Clients who access Specialist Homelessness Services are described in this report using data from the SHSC.
Over the three years to 2013–14, AIHW was able to identify around 520,000 Australians who accessed specialist homelessness services. Of these, just over 187,000 were adults and children seeking assistance for reasons of domestic and family violence.
Key findings
- Of all SHS clients (including children), almost 150,000 females and just over 40,000 males indicated experiencing domestic and family violence.
- For those adult clients experiencing domestic and family violence, just over 10% indicated they had experienced both mental health issues and problematic drug or alcohol use, compared with 8% for those adult clients not experiencing domestic and family violence.
- Of all SHS client groups experiencing domestic and family violence, most were women with children (45,400), followed by young women presenting alone (23,800), and Indigenous women (19,600).
How do domestic and family violence clients compare to non-domestic and family violence clients?
The table below examines the differences in demographics of clients who sought assistance for domestic and family violence with those that sought assistance for other reasons.
While SHS agencies mainly assist people who are victims of family and domestic violence, they may also assist perpetrators of violence who are seeking assistance and therefore may appear within the data in this report. The SHSC is not able to separately identify these clients.
Overall, there were almost 150,000 female clients and just over 40,000 male clients who indicated experiencing domestic and family violence. Of these, nearly 113,000 were adult females and almost 14,000 were adult males (aged 18 or over). For females, the greatest proportion were those in the 25–34 year age group (25%) followed by 35–44 years (21%). Males, however, reported the greatest proportion of domestic and family violence clients in the 0–9 year age group (47%), followed by 10–14 years (13%).
Female clients experiencing domestic and family violence were more likely to be 'sole parents' (40%), whereas male clients were more likely to be a 'lone person' (42%). The majority of female clients were not in the labour force (52%) or unemployed (30%). This was also the case for male clients, where 48% were unemployed and 38% were not in the labour force.
| Age (years) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indigenous status | ||||
| Country of birth | ||||
| Usual living arrangement | ||||
| Education enrolment | ||||
| Labour force status | ||||
| Female clients experiencing domestic and family violence | Other female clients | Male clients experiencing domestic and family violence | Other male clients | |
| How many? | 144,710 | 159,736 | 42,507 | 173,624 |
| 0–9 | 13% | 15% | 47% | 15% |
| 10–14 | 4% | 6% | 13% | 5% |
| 15–17 | 5% | 8% | 8% | 6% |
| 18–24 | 16% | 19% | 10% | 16% |
| 25–34 | 25% | 18% | 8% | 18% |
| 35–44 | 21% | 16% | 8% | 18% |
| 45–54 | 11% | 10% | 4% | 13% |
| 55–64 | 3% | 5% | 1% | 6% |
| 65+ | 2% | 3% | 1% | 3% |
| Indigenous | 23% | 23% | 27% | 19% |
| Non-Indigenous | 77% | 77% | 74% | 81% |
| Australian-born | 75% | 79% | 86% | 78% |
| Overseas-born | 25% | 21% | 14% | 22% |
| Lone person | 21% | 29% | 42% | 55% |
| Sole parent | 40% | 33% | 15% | 8% |
| Couple with child/ren | 15% | 13% | 13% | 10% |
| Couple without child/ren | 8% | 7% | 8% | 6% |
| Other family | 11% | 12% | 13% | 9% |
| Other group | 5% | 7% | 9% | 11% |
| Enrolled | 12% | 14% | 28% | 10% |
| Not enrolled | 88% | 86% | 78% | 90% |
| Employed | 19% | 11% | 14% | 9% |
| Unemployed | 30% | 38% | 48% | 51% |
| Not in the labour force | 52% | 51% | 38% | 41% |
Source: AIHW Specialist Homelessness Services Data Repository.
Notes
- Data are excluded where age, Indigenous status, country of birth, usual living arrangement, educational enrolment or labour force status is unknown or not stated.
- Usual living arrangement, education enrolment and labour force status excludes clients aged less than 15 years.
- Age, country of birth, usual living arrangement, educational enrolment and labour force status is assigned at the client's first presentation to a specialist homelessness agency.
- Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
Do these clients have other vulnerabilities? (Client comorbidities)
Substance misuse and mental health issues have both been identified as pathways into homelessness (Chamberlain and Johnson 2011). Clients who experience family and domestic violence are more likely to experience additional comorbidities than those who have not experienced family and domestic violence.
For those adult clients experiencing domestic and family violence, over the 3 years from July 2011 to June 2014:
- 65% had experienced no additional comorbidities.
- Around 1 in 3 (31%) reported that they had experienced a mental health issue.
- Over 1 in 10 (13%) indicated they had experienced problematic drug or alcohol use.
- Just over 10% indicated that they had experienced both mental health issues and problematic drug or alcohol use.
For those adult clients not experiencing domestic and family violence, over the 3 years from July 2011 to June 2014:
- 7 in 10 (70%) experienced no other comorbidities.
- Over one quarter (26%) reported that they had experienced a mental health issue.
- Over 1 in 10 (12%) indicated that they had experienced problematic drug or alcohol use.
- Around 8% indicated that they had experienced issues for both mental health and problematic drug or alcohol use.
Indigenous clients
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people comprise 3% of the Australian population [2]; however, they are over-represented as users of specialised homelessness services for all domestic and family violence clients, with around 1 in 4 (24%) identified as Indigenous. Indigenous domestic and family violence clients were more likely than non-Indigenous clients to be female (74%) and live in a sole parent household (41%). Indigenous clients experiencing domestic and family violence were also more likely to be children than non-Indigenous clients, with 38% being under the age of 15 (compared with 31% for non-Indigenous domestic and family violence clients).
Specific client groups of interest
This analysis examines six key client groups, within the domestic and family violence SHS client population. These include:
- Women with children
- Young women presenting alone (under 15–24 years)
- Indigenous women
- Women from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB)
- Older women (55+ years) and
- Males.
Of all client groups experiencing domestic and family violence, most were women with children (45,400), followed by young women presenting alone (23,800), and Indigenous women (19,600). Males compromised just over 15,000 clients (Table 2).
| Age (years) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indigenous Status | ||||||
| Country of birth | ||||||
| Living arrangement | ||||||
| Education enrolment | ||||||
| Labour force status | ||||||
| Women with children | Young women presenting alone (15–24) | Indigenous women | Women from NESB | Older women (55+) | Males | |
| How many? | 45,404 | 23,805 | 19,601 | 17,021 | 7,126 | 15,361 |
| 15–24 | 13% | 100% | 33% | 15% | — | 42% |
| 25–54 | 85% | — | 64% | 78% | — | 53% |
| 55+ | 2% | — | 3% | 8% | 100% | 5% |
| Indigenous | 18% | 25% | 100% | 1% | 12% | 20% |
| Non-Indigenous | 82% | 75% | — | 99% | 89% | 80% |
| Australian-born | 70% | 81% | 97% | — | 58% | 80% |
| Overseas-born | 30% | 19% | 3% | 100% | 42% | 20% |
| Lone person | — | 30% | 21% | 20% | 38% | 45% |
| Sole parent | 72% | 23% | 37% | 38% | 13% | 11% |
| Couple with child/ren | 28% | 9% | 13% | 20% | 7% | 13% |
| Couple without child/ren | — | 8% | 7% | 9% | 22% | 8% |
| Other family | — | 21% | 17% | 8% | 16% | 13% |
| Group family | — | 10% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 9% |
| Enrolled | 8% | 31% | 8% | 16% | 2% | 18% |
| Not enrolled | 92% | 69% | 92% | 84% | 98% | 82% |
| Employed | 20% | 13% | 8% | 23% | 17% | 14% |
| Unemployed | 24% | 39% | 39% | 27% | 19% | 49% |
| Not in the labour force | 56% | 48% | 54% | 50% | 64% | 37% |
Notes
- Data are excluded where age, Indigenous status, country of birth, usual living arrangement, educational enrolment or labour force status is unknown or not stated.
- Age, country of birth, usual living arrangement, educational enrolment and labour force status is assigned at the client's first presentation to a specialist homelessness agency.
- Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
- Groups are not mutually exclusive, clients may belong to more than 1 group.
Comorbidities among groups of interest
Males experiencing domestic and family violence were the most likely to report having a mental health issue (47%) or experiencing substance misuse (35%), compared with other domestic and family violence cohorts.
Older women experiencing domestic and family violence were the least likely to report having a mental health issue (21%) and women from non-English speaking backgrounds were the least likely to be experiencing substance misuse, with only 3% indicating problematic drug or alcohol use.
If you are experiencing domestic or family violence or know someone who is, please call 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or visit the 1800RESPECT website.
References
- ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2013. Personal Safety Survey 2012. ABS cat no. 4906.0. Canberra: ABS.
- ABS 2014. Australian demographic statistics. ABS cat no. 3101.0. Canberra: ABS.
- Chamberlain C & Johnson G 2011. Pathways into adult homelessness. Journal of Sociology 49:60–77.
- COAG (Council of Australian Governments) 2011. National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–2022. Canberra: COAG. Viewed [20 August 2015].
- Morrison, the Hon. S 2015. Coalition reverses Labor's funding cuts on homelessness with $230 million commitment prioritising victims of domestic violence. Media release by Minister for Social Services. 23 March. Canberra.
- Southwell J 2002. Family Violence and Homelessness: Removing the perpetrator from the home, Domestic Violence and Incest Resource Centre, Discussion Paper No. 3. Melbourne.