
Family and domestic violence affects people of all ages and from all backgrounds, but it predominantly affects women and children (AIHW 2019). In Australia, 1 in 6 women (17% or 1.6 million) and 1 in 16 men (6% or 548,000) have experienced physical or sexual violence from a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15 (ABS 2017). Approximately 2.5 million Australian adults (13%) experienced abuse during their childhood; the majority knew the perpetrator and experienced multiple incidents of abuse (ABS 2017).
Family and domestic violence is the main reason women and children leave their homes in Australia (AHURI 2021), with those who have experienced family and domestic violence making up 42% of Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) clients in 2020–21. Since 2011–12, the number of SHS clients who have experienced family and domestic violence increased by an annual average of 4.2% (Historical data table HIST.FDV).
In March 2021, the Parliamentary inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence found that victims-survivors of violence often bear the costs for leaving the relationship, the family home and their community (HRSCSPLA 2021). The inquiry recommended federal, state and territory governments consider funding for emergency accommodation for people who use violence (perpetrators) to prevent victim-survivors being forced to flee their homes or continue residing in a violent home (HRSCSPLA 2021).
In February 2019, the Australian Government announced $78.4 million for the Safe Places package to provide safe places for people impacted by family and domestic violence. Safe Places was designed to provide new or expanded emergency and crisis accommodation for women and children experiencing family and domestic violence. The program aimed to build up to 450 safe places and assist up to 6,500 people escaping family and domestic violence each year (DSS 2020). On 28 September 2020, it was announced that Safe Places would receive additional funding for 40 projects, as well as another $12.6 million on 11 May 2021 as part of the 2021–22 Budget (Ruston & Sukkar 2021).
SHS agencies provide a crisis response service for people who have to leave their home due to violence, yet data suggests that the pathway into stable, secure, long-term housing is challenging (Flanagan et al. 2019). Women and children affected by family and domestic violence are a national priority cohort in the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, which came into effect on 1 July 2018 (CFFR 2019) (see Policy section for more information).
Reporting clients experiencing family and domestic violence in the Specialist Homelessness Services Collection (SHSC)
In the SHSC, a client is reported as experiencing family and domestic violence if in any support period during the reporting period the client sought assistance as a result of physical or emotional abuse inflicted on the client by a family member or if as part of any support period a person required family or domestic violence assistance.
The SHSC had information on clients experiencing family and domestic violence of any age. Changes made to the SHSC separates victim and/or perpetrators support services provided to clients. However, for 2020–21, separation of the victim and perpetrator service information is not provided due to data quality concerns that are common in the first reporting period after implementation. For more information, see Technical information.
Data quality statement note:
From 2017–18 to 2018–19, there was a three per cent decrease in the total number of Victorian homelessness clients and a 10 per cent decrease in family violence clients following years of steady increases in these numbers. The decrease was primarily due to a practice correction in how some family violence agencies were recording clients. In addition, during 2018–19, a phased process to shift family violence intake to non-SHS services began, which may result in an overall decrease in the number of SHS family violence clients over the coming years. Caution should be used when comparing Victorian client numbers over recent years. For more information, see 2019–20 SHS Data Quality Statement and 2020–21 SHS Data Quality Statement.
In 2020–21 (Supplementary table FDV.1):
- SHS agencies assisted around 116,200 clients (of any age) who experienced family and domestic violence, equating to 42% of all SHS clients.
- There was a decrease in the number of SHS clients who had experienced family and domestic violence (around 3,000 SHS clients) compared with 2019–20.
The rate of SHS clients who experienced family and domestic violence was 45.2 per 10,000 population, a decrease from 47.4 in 2016–17.
Client characteristics
Figure FDV.1: Key demographics, SHS clients who have experienced family and domestic violence, 2020–21