When domestic violence leads to homelessness

Domestic violence is a greater cause of homelessness than mental illness or drug abuse. It can hit young families out of nowhere, leaving them nowhere to go.

It's a curse that affects 1 in 3 Australian women and when other circumstances combine, homelessness can be only a few steps away.

Statistics show that more than half of all women with children who left their family home did so because of domestic violence.

Yet people like Melanie, a woman stranded with her three kids in Sydney's west, cannot get the support they need and are regularly moved between temporary accommodation in motels.

As is so often the case, the collateral damage is children. Shockingly, a quarter of Australia's homeless are children.

Melanie's son is just starting kindergarten so the timing could for their struggles not be worse.

Government response
In his first month in the job, Mr Rudd promised to make homelessness a priority. Clare Martin, CEO of ACOSS, reports that 8000 homes being built as part of Mr Rudd's plans to halve the homeless rate of 105,000 by 10 years.

So far, $1.2 billion is planned to be invested, but the government says there are billions more to come.


The facts

• 105,000 people were homeless last year or 1 in 200 Australians

• The biggest cause is domestic violence (46,000)

• 2 out of 3 women with children (66%) are turned away from shelters and services

• 180,000 households are on the public housing waiting list in Australia, 39,000 in NSW alone