Women, Domestic and Family Violence and Homelessness: A Synthesis Report 

• 1.1: Introduction
• 1.2: Objectives and Aims of the Report
• 1.3: Key Terms: Defining Domestic Violence, Family Violence and Homelessness

1.1: Introduction

It is now widely acknowledged that homelessness is a growing problem in Australia. Disturbingly, this remains the case despite Australians enjoying some of the most prosperous economic conditions in decades for the last 15 or so years.

What is arguably less well documented, however, is the face of homelessness in this country. A much wider cross section of society is now represented among the homeless population (Homelessness Australia c. 2008; Johnson, Gronda & Coutts 2008). The stereotypical depictions of the homeless population of the past are changing.

One ‘group’ which remains largely invisible among the homeless population in this country – except, of course, to the domestic violence and homelessness sectors themselves – are the women (and their children) who end up homeless, or at risk of homelessness, because of domestic and family violence (Adkins et al 2003; Crinall 2001; Watson 2000). Few within the general population would realise or believe that the single greatest reason people present to Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) services in Australia – the Federal and State/Territory Government’s primary program for assisting homeless people – is domestic and family violence. However, the fact is, that as with homelessness generally, domestic and family violence related homelessness is a widespread and growing problem in Australia. Every year an unacceptable number of Australian women and children have their lives and housing circumstances disrupted because of domestic and family violence. This is an intolerable situation with significant impacts on all involved, especially children. Women in this situation are, and remain, the ‘hidden’ homeless.

Many arguments have been put forward to explain the invisibility of women’s homelessness. These include: the specifics of the definitions of homelessness, the traditionally more private lives of women and the general marginalisation of women in Australian society. A new and insightful book on pathways in and out of homelessness in Australia also points to the fact that many women who end up homeless because of violence actively avoid identifying as homeless, instead pretending that their circumstances are ‘normal’ so as to avoid being labelled by society as either homeless or someone who has been a ‘victim’ of violence (see Johnson, Gronda & Coutts 2008, especially chapters 4 and 6). This is a particularly typical behaviour pattern for women affected by domestic and family violence with children, primarily because they do not want to be seen as ‘bad mothers’. As Watson stated almost ten years ago now, ‘the issue of homelessness has to be established as existing, and then drawn out of the shadows and illuminated’ (Watson 2000, p. 161). This is particularly the case for the increasing number of women and children who because of domestic and family violence find themselves unintentionally homeless or living in inappropriate accommodation – couch surfing, living in a car, sub-standard accommodation, in caravan parks or boarding houses.

The election of the Rudd Government provides promise that at last the plight of women and children who suffer domestic and family violence and the threat and reality of homelessness will be given greater prominence in the public policy arena.  The Australian Government has committed to the development of a ten year plan to address homelessness in Australia. This plan will be formalised in a policy document or White Paper on Homelessness in late 2008. Debate on the form and structure of the agenda to address homelessness has already commenced through the release of a number of ‘options’ designed to spark discussion around reform of existing SAAP assistance for homeless people in the Government’s Green Paper on Homelessness – Which Way Home?: A New Approach to Homelessness (Commonwealth of Australia 2008). The Government has also signalled its commitment to addressing the incidence and impact of domestic and family violence, and sexual assault against women, establishing the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children on 26 May 2008. The Council is charged with the development of the Government’s National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children.² In addition to developing a National Plan, the National Council is providing leadership and guidance to achieve the implementation of key elements of the government’s election commitments to improve women’s safety. These commitments include:

• developing respectful relationship resources for Australian high school students to educate young Australians, particularly boys, about the impact of domestic violence and sexual assault;
• strengthening support for White Ribbon Day education activities in rural and regional communities to promote culture-change that will reduce violence against women;
• toughening and harmonising state and territory domestic violence and sexual assault laws; and
• strengthening the Australian Institute of Criminology’s National Homicide Monitoring Program to predict risk factors and inform interventions that will protect women and their children from violence;
• funding for research into international best practice models for working with perpetrators of violence.

The Federal Government has also committed to the construction of 600 additional houses to accommodate people who are homeless including women and children escaping domestic violence.

These actions have (cautiously) raised the hopes of the domestic violence and homelessness sectors that a workable solution for addressing homelessness and particularly domestic and family violence related homelessness will be developed and implemented.

This paper is a synthesis report on the complex, multifaceted and important issue of women, domestic and family violence and homelessness. By and large, the report re-iterates the findings and recommendations presented in the two comprehensive and useful reports on housing and support services for Australian women and children affected by domestic and family violence by Chung et al in 2000 and more recently by Weeks and Oberin (2004). These documents are important in the context of this report as the discussion and recommendations contained in them remain as relevant today as when they were written: an indication of the fact that little has changed in terms of the types of assistance needed by women in this situation.    

The information in this paper also draws on the discussion and recommendations in the responses of relevant specialist women’s, domestic and family violence and homelessness sector responses to the Homelessness Green Paper (Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse 2008, DV Vic 2008; Homelessness Australia 2008; WESNET 2008; WWDA 2008a; YWCA 2008). There is a wealth of suggestions and recommendations in these papers that need to be considered by Governments. Paramount among the suggestions in these submissions is the need for addressing homelessness and violence against women to be placed within a formalised Human Rights framework, where access to appropriate or safe, secure, affordable and accessible housing and freedom from violence (including within the home and the family unit) is a basic right for all, regardless of background, economic status, gender and disability.

Before moving on, it should be noted here that the consultations undertaken with representatives of, and workers in, the domestic violence and homelessness sectors, and the literature reviewed for this report clearly reveals that the pathways into homelessness due to domestic and family violence are complex. So too are the causes of domestic and family violence. The population affected by domestic and family violence is not a homogeneous population and, as such, a range of different supports and assistance is needed by women and children. Accordingly, it cannot be overstated that there is no one solution to domestic and family violence related homelessness, or to homelessness or domestic and family violence. There is also no easy to roll out solution. Certain types of assistance work for some victims or survivors of domestic and family violence and not for others. Moreover, the types of assistance and support needed depend greatly on the personal circumstances (health, social, cultural and geographic background et cetera) and the financial resources of/available to women, especially their independent financial capacity. This said, there are clearly two types of assistance which are critical in terms of assistance for women escaping or who have survived domestic violence:

• provision of safe, secure and affordable housing; and
• provision of a continuum of individualised and open-ended support, including outreach services, that wraps around women and their children in a range of areas (therapy, health, life skills, housing assistance et cetera) for as long as they need it.

These two types of assistance must be the central focus of an integrated long-term approach and commitment to addressing the safety and security of women and children. This approach must have bi-partisan support and a whole-of-Government focus. It must be formalised and directed at the Federal level and coordinated with State and Territory Governments, as many of the services needed for an integrated approach are State/Territory responsibilities.   

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1.2: Objectives and Aims of the Report

The objective of this report is to inform the implementation of a number of Government election commitments to reduce homelessness and the incidence of violence against women and children. As such, the aims of the project are to: 

• examine how domestic and family violence leads to homelessness;
• identify the characteristics of women who are most likely to become homeless because of their experience of domestic and family violence;
• present the most successful strategies and models that prevent violence related homelessness;
• present the most successful strategies and models that provide support and accommodation for women and their accompanying children, who become homeless so they can build stable lives and be able to participate socially and economically; and
• recommend models (including staying safely at home models) that best assist women at different stages of their life course who experience domestic and family violence. 

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1.3: Key Terms: Defining Domestic Violence, Family Violence and Homelessness

The terms ‘domestic violence’, ‘family violence’ and ‘homelessness’ are used in this report as per generally used and accepted Government definitions. With regard to domestic violence, the definition developed under the Australian Government’s Partnerships Against Domestic Violence Initiative (PADV) (Office for the Status of Women and Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet 2001, p.7) offers an appropriate definition.³ That is:

Issues of power and control are central to the definition.

It should be noted here, however, that there are many definitions of domestic violence and indeed the term domestic violence itself is a contested term; primarily because ‘domestic’ often denotes a private sphere of life (Weeks & Oberin 2004). It is not the intention of this report to discuss the appropriateness of definitions and terms and their evolution and contentions. Weeks and Oberin (2004) capably cover these issues in Chapter Two of their comprehensive report Women’s Refuges, Shelters, Outreach and Support Services in Australia: From Sydney Squat to Complex Services, Challenging Domestic and Family Violence (see also Office for the Status of Women and Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet 2001, pp. 7-11).

Family violence is used throughout this report in conjunction with domestic violence as this term is preferred by Indigenous communities, where incidents of violence are not always about intimate partner abuse (Memmott et al 2003). As the PADV Initiative notes,

Box 1.1 lists the wide range of behaviours associated with domestic violence and family violence. These behaviours include physical, sexual, spiritual, verbal, emotional, social and economic abuse.

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Box 1.1: Behaviours associated with domestic and family violence

Source: Office for Women 2008; Inspire Foundation 2008

Domestic and family violence occurs within households across all age groups. It can be frequent or infrequent, and is often not obvious to an outside observer. 

As used in the homelessness literature generally and in calculating homelessness statistics in Australia, the definition of homelessness in this report is based on two dominant definitions of homelessness. The first is a widely used definition developed by Chamberlain and MacKenzie in 1992. This definition uses a minimum cultural community standard of being housed to determine homelessness. That is, that ‘inadequate housing’ means not having as a minimum standard ‘a small rental flat—with a bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom and an element of security of tenure—because that is the minimum that most people achieve in the private rental market’ (p. 291). Chamberlain and MacKenzie’s definition of homeless is further broken down into three levels: primary, secondary and tertiary homelessness. Further definition of each of these is provided in Box 1.2.

Box 1.2:     Chamberlain and MacKenzie’s three levels of homelessness

Source: Chamberlain and MacKenzie 2003

Chamberlain and MacKenzie (2003) also draw attention to another group they consider to be marginally housed and therefore at risk of homelessness: people renting accommodation in caravan parks because of financial necessity rather than as a ‘lifestyle choice’ and who may have difficulty accessing other more conventional housing in the market.

Many women (and children) who escape domestic and family violence may fall into one or more of these categories of homelessness after leaving the perpetrator of the violence. This said, many women escaping domestic and family violence are not actually ‘roofless’, as they have a home to live in. However, because this place is an unsafe place for them to live they are homeless (Chung et al 2000; Weeks & Oberin 2004; Johnson, Gronda and Coutts 2008). 

The definition of homelessness used in the SAAP program itself (see Box 1.3) recognises the safety of an individual’s or family’s home as a factor in determining homelessness, as well as other factors such as whether housing damages a person’s health, is affordable and provides an adequate level of amenity. Homelessness Australia – the national peak advocacy body for homeless Australians and homelessness organisations in Australia – uses this definition of homelessness.⁴

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Box 1.3:     Definition of homeless in the SAAP Act 1994 (Cth)

1. Headline from the Australian Government’s Green Paper on Homelessness (Commonwealth of Australia 2008, p. 8).
2. See (http://internetauthoring/sa/women/progserv/violence/nationalplan/Pages/default.aspx)
3. Replaced in 2005 by the Women’s Safety Agenda – Elimination of Violence (http://internetauthoring/about/publicationsarticles/corp/BudgetReports/budget2005-06/budget2005-wnwd/Pages/budget2005-wnwd13women.aspx).
4. Homelessness Australia (http://www.homelessnessaustralia.org.au/site/aboutus.php)