Homelessness and domestic, family + sexual violence

🏚️ In our Tenancy division at CAWLS, Aboriginal women make up roughly 92% of our clients facing tenancy issues, with almost 80% of our tenancy clients also experiencing DFSV in the same timeframe.

Many of the women who present to our service have children and are managing the dynamics or relationships involving DFSV, on top of waiting for public housing … a waitlist in Central Australia and the Barkly Region that is between 6-10 years 🚫

While waiting, these women often find themselves couch surfing between family members’ homes for years, often in overcrowded houses. This lack of stability makes them more vulnerable to further incidents of domestic violence and increases the risk of additional legal matters such as child protection involvement ⚖️

⛔ These women primarily come to us in a crisis situation and one stand out is that there is not enough suitable interim housing for women escaping domestic and family violence 📣🙅

⚠️ There is no transitional housing in Tennant Creek for Women and no homeless shelter for women in Alice Springs and Tennant Creek 🆘

🔎 According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of older women experiencing homelessness in Australia has grown by 40 per cent between 2011 and 2021 to more than 7,000. In many cases, a marriage breakdown, death of a partner, illness or loss of a job, together with a lack of savings, plunges older women into their first experience of homelessness…

Read the full story from the ABC via 🔗 https://ab.co/3wRf2BT

ℹ️ CAWLS are here to help and support all women of Central Australia & the Barkly. If you would like advice on your housing situation or would like to discuss what options you have, please know, you are welcome at CAWLS, always 🙏 Contact us on freecall 1800 684 055 to make an appointment.