CW: Discussion of domestic violence.
It’s eighteen hundred hours on the frontlines of domestic violence and we are in a refuge in an unidentified location with Letitia, a senior case worker at NOVA for women and children.
Letitia takes us on a tour of the discreet but homely refuge accommodation. As she does so she explains “my role as a senior case worker is to offer support and guidance and professional insight into the support services available for women”. NOVA supports women and children who are escaping domestic or family violence and are at risk of homelessness.
Letitia specifically supports women because women are disproportionately impacted by domestic violence and are one of the rising demographics experiencing homelessness. In 2021 Equity Economics found 119,200 clients, or 41% of all specialist homelessness service clients, sought assistance while experiencing domestic and family violence, with more than half (55.8%) requiring accommodation. Of these, almost one in four (24.3%) were turned away. This is because in NSW less than half the people experiencing homelessness on any given night are able to actually access crisis accommodation.
Letitia like many frontline workers, is starkly aware of the difficulties facing the sector noting “what people don’t realise about the frontlines is that we can only accommodate for three months in a refuge space – what we really need is long term housing”.
For many the housing crisis might seem a recent issue but a lack of long-term housing has been a documented concern since a 1982 review of Crisis Accommodation found that “the effectiveness of crisis accommodating was constrained by the lack of affordable housing”. That’s 42 years of the sector needing more affordable housing. This is why DVNSW is calling on the Hon. Rose Jackson, the NSW Minister for Housing and Homelessness for an additional investment in the lead up to the NSW budget on 18th June.
The sector needs an additional $54 million per annum for existing domestic and family violence refuges to ensure that no victim-survivors are turned away. DVNSW has also asked the NSW Government to build an additional 7500 social and affordable homes each year for 20 years, to ensure safe and affordable homes for victim-survivors who have escaped domestic and family violence. Also, a minimum of 750 more transitional homes are immediately required to provide an exit pathway out of crisis refuges for women, children and young people who have experienced domestic and family violence.
Letitia is the eighteenth frontline worker Domestic Violence NSW have featured this May as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This 24 hours on the frontlines campaign run by Domestic Violence NSW uses a series of videos to showcase the pervasiveness of domestic violence in the community and the strength of the sector working tirelessly to stop it. If you want to join the fight against domestic violence, check out their pledge.