2.1: Methodology
To meet the objectives of this report (see 1.2) a two stage methodology was used. First, a review of the national and international published and unpublished literature on women, domestic and family violence and homelessness was carried out. This review revealed an extensive body of literature around these issues.
Relevant literature and data for the report was identified by:
- searching two key electronic databases to locate academic literature of relevance, i.e. Thomson Scientific’s ISI Web of Knowledge and Bell and Howell Information’s ProQuest. Search terms used included combinations of words such as: women, domestic, violence, homelessness, model, women’s safety strategies, elder abuse, disability, safety housing, et cetera.
These searches revealed the volumes of information written nationally and internationally relevant to the topic of the report, and the breadth of the disciplines involved, i.e. psychiatry, medicine, health and social care, criminal law, housing, civil rights, policy and management. The literature search was largely limited to material published since 2000, as the seminal piece of work on women, domestic and family violence and homelessness by Chung et al (2000) reviewed the literature to this point in time, and one of the de facto objectives of this report was to identify what has changed in terms of women, domestic and family violence and homelessness since the publication of Home Safe Home;
- searching the websites of Australian and overseas governments including the Federal Government, all State and Territory Governments, the UK, US and Canadian Governments;
- searching the websites of service and research organisations known to be active in related fields of study – e.g. the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, WESNET, the Australian Institute of Family Studies, and VicHealth;
- searching the websites and links of the main women’s information and advocacy organisations in Australia, i.e. the Young Women’s Christian Association, the National Foundation for Australian Women, Security4Women and the Federal Government’s Office for Women;
- Searching through journals which do not have an electronic presence for example Parity; and
- following leads suggested by the participants in the telephone interviews.
Second, a series of targeted interviews was undertaken with selected service providers, peak women’s domestic and family violence and homelessness groups, and client representatives across Australia. Interviews were undertaken with relevant people and organisations across as many jurisdictions as possible, and with organisations assisting vulnerable groups, including women with disabilities, Indigenous women and women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The organisations and groups interviewed were selected in consultation with the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
Many of the groups interviewed contacted the researchers directly, having received notification about the project through the networks of the national women’s secretariats (Security4Women, WomenSpeak, Australian Women’s Coalition and the National Rural Women’s Coalition). Appendix A lists the groups and organisations consulted or with whom discussions took place.
The targeted consultations were conducted mostly through telephone interviews and teleconferences, though some were held face-to-face. Participants in the consultations were asked three basic questions to guide the discussions in the interviews. These were:
- what are the essential needs of women who experience domestic and family violence and are homeless or at risk of homelessness?
- are there particular groups of women (e.g. rural women) who are missing out on access to housing, services and assistance?
- are there any housing models (housing programs or housing assistance) for women in this situation that you know of that are working?
The consultations provided important information on the:
- women who face the prospect of homelessness and who seek help/and or receive assistance from service providers in both urban and regional and rural Australia due to domestic and family violence. While direct input from women who have experienced violence and/or homelessness was not sought (the tight timeframe for the project and effective ethical processes cannot occur in such a short timeframe), a number of the professional people involved in roles with relevant peak bodies and service providers were able to provide examples of the experiences of women who have experienced homelessness as a result of domestic and family violence;
- issues peak bodies and service providers confront everyday, including the level of unmet need experienced in various parts of the country and the effect the decline in public housing and housing affordability in general are having on levels of homelessness among women;
- suitability and success/failure of particular housing programs operating in the different jurisdictions of Australia and the suitability and applicability of international models; and
- specific needs and challenges faced by women from a range of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, and from different stages of the life course.
Despite the demands on the domestic and family violence and homelessness sectors generally (from numerous recent and current Government consultations on certain policies) and the immediacy of the timeframe necessary in consulting with people, the sector was overwhelmingly generous in assisting with this project. It is a sector comprised of people with many decades of experience, passion, dedication and a wealth of knowledge that cannot be adequately presented in this synthesis report. This wealth of experience and understanding of the complexity of the issues involved, of the needs of women and children affected by domestic and family violence, of the holistic integrated approach that is needed to assist women find stable, affordable housing must be an integral part of the planning process and of the development of any approaches to ameliorate homelessness.
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2.2: Limitations of the Report
The tight timeframe placed on this project – six weeks from commencement to submission of final report to the Office for Women – meant that a very focused approach was required for the research and consultations. Because of this the authors acknowledge that this is by no means a comprehensive synthesis of the issue of women, domestic and family violence and homelessness. This is a complex issue, and the authors of this report do not purport to have located all working and workable models of housing assistance for women. The short timeframe for this project and difficulties encountered by the researchers in finding the specific details of support initiatives and, importantly, evaluations of such initiatives, means that other appropriate models to assist women may exist, particularly internationally. A comprehensive review of international housing and support models to assist women escaping domestic violence requires a much more detailed review of literature and practice experience than possible here. It would also require direct consultation with stakeholders and clients of such programs, particularly given the absence of evaluations of such programs.
This report is a ‘synthesis report’ – it synthesises the important issues around this topic: the extent of domestic violence related homelessness; emerging groups of women in need and some of the key program and strategies operating or needed in the sector to support women affected by domestic and family violence, especially for those women (and their children) who become homeless. The opinions and experiences of people working in the sector informed the direction of the research.
Because of the tight timeframe on the research, it was impossible to investigate the options for women affected by domestic and family violence who do not access crisis accommodation – the vast majority of women affected by domestic and family violence. We did, however, ask the people we spoke to from the domestic violence and homelessness sectors about these women. Most participants commented that they did not know what these women do, or expect that they make their own way through the trauma of the violence and the housing system, or stay with friends or relatives. These comments reinforce the brief discussion of what women who do not access crisis services do that is included in the comprehensive report by Weeks and Oberin in 2004 (see section 4.10, pp. 71-72).
The main source of data for this report was National Data Collection Agency (NDCA) data, from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). The data present statistics on the characteristics of users of SAAP services across Australia – the Federal and State/Territory Governments’ support program to assist people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness; providing transitional supported accommodation and associated support services ‘in order to help people who are homeless to achieve the maximum possible degree of self-reliance and independence’ (AIHW 2007b). The discussion of the extent and characteristics of women affected by domestic and family violence in this report is therefore not representative of all women in Australia affected by violence. It does not provide information on the characteristics of the majority of women who do not use/access crisis accommodation services. Data on the characteristics of these women is not collected in any regular and comprehensive fashion. The NDCA SAAP data or the published information from the analysis of these data also has other limitations. For example, the data does not collect information on such things as disability; an issue raised as a concern in section 4.3 of this report.
The NDCA data available on women using SAAP services because of domestic and family violence is drawn from the current Homeless people in SAAP – SAAP National Data Collection Annual Report, 2006–07, Australia (AIHW 2008). While this publication provides important data on certain characteristics of all SAAP users, including women escaping domestic violence, the data is not as detailed as the data presented in the bulletins on certain SAAP users produced by the AIHW, i.e. Female SAAP Clients and Children Escaping Domestic and Family Violence 2003-04 (AIHW: Marcolin 2005). An update of this bulletin with the current data on SAAP users affected by domestic and family violence would assist greatly in understanding the characteristics of women affected by domestic and family violence presenting to services, and is clearly needed. Production of an updated series of custom tables from the NDCA data on women using SAAP services because of domestic and family violence as is presented in Weeks and Oberin (2004, chapter six) to 2001-02, is also needed to show trends among women over time, i.e. tracking changes in the age profile of female clients presenting to SAAP because of domestic and family violence, as well as by CALD background, for Indigenous women, for women with and without children and changes in these statistics by State/Territory.
The tight timeframe for researching the topic of this report also means that there are some areas this report could not specifically cover. These include: broad strategies for prevention of domestic and family violence against women, and for early intervention to prevent violence. It was also not possible to undertake a comprehensive investigation of the many prevention and early intervention strategies for domestic and family violence generally. Limited discussion of these strategies, is included in section 5.1.
A number of areas/issues in need of further research are identified throughout the report. For example, detailed examination of working and proven successful early intervention actions – this is something that should be a priority of the Federal Government’s new National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children to commission as part of the Government’s National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. Other areas where further research is needed include:
- the extent and impact of domestic and family violence on women in remote mining communities and the capacity of regional domestic violence services to meet the needs of women in these areas;
- how to better support women from CALD backgrounds on 457 visas;
- a national study investigating the accessibility of domestic and family violence services for women with disabilities;
- long-term research on the housing and support needs of women affected by family violence in remote Indigenous communities;
- income support measures for women affected by domestic and family violence;
- housing assistance measures for women affected by domestic and family violence;
- what long-term support is needed by and works for women affected by domestic and family violence; and
- an extensive examination (and ongoing examination) of the support and housing models/programs assisting women affected by domestic and family violence across Australia and overseas.