Domestic Violence in Australia

Australia must tackle domestic violence to stop homelessness | National News | News.com.au

AUSTRALIA needs to address domestic violence to tackle the problem of homelessness among women, with 46,000 women already in need of shelter, a welfare group says.

Speaking out on International Women's Day, Homelessness Australia said women without a roof over their head should be a priority for government, particularly during tough economic times.

Women accounted for 46,000, or almost half of the country's homeless, the welfare group said.

It said women made up 40 per cent of those sleeping rough or in improvised shelters.

Among people living in boarding houses with no security of tenure, 28 per cent were women, and 48 per cent of what Homelessness Australia calls "couch surfers" - who depend on the charity of family and friends - were women.

Domestic violence was the biggest driver of homelessness, and women and children were worst affected by it, the group said.

"The largest single cause of homelessness in Australia is domestic and family violence, which overwhelmingly affects women and children," Homelessness Australia said in a statement.
Related Coverage

* Mothers afraid to seek welfareThe Australian, 22 Aug 2009
* More than $280m to tackle homelessnessNEWS.com.au, 2 Aug 2009
* WA homeless surge with rentsPerth Now, 9 Jul 2009
* Homelessness surges as rents soarsThe Australian, 9 Jul 2009
* Thousands of kids cast out on the streetsNEWS.com.au, 17 Jun 2009

"Sixty-six per cent of children who sought refuge in a homeless service last year were in the care of a woman made homeless by domestic violence."

Spokeswoman for the welfare group, Pauline Woodbridge, said the statistics showed the country had much to do to tackle homelessness and its causes.

"The statistics show that we have a long way to go in addressing women's homelessness, and its primary drivers, domestic and family violence," she said in a statement.

"The needs of indigenous women and women of non-English-speaking backgrounds demand particular attention in this area."

Executive officer of the welfare group Simon Smith said he hoped the federal government's national plan to tackle violence against women and children would overlap with its Homelessness White Paper.

"This is a priority, with economic downturn likely to swell the numbers of people who are homeless, and further stretch a homelessness sector already undergoing far-reaching reforms," Mr Smith said.