Give priority to victims gaining stable housing as quickly as possible

Slot gameThe Family Violence Housing Assistance Implementation Taskforce commenced a program of work in May 2016 with the Victorian Government to identify and respond to 'blockages' in refuge and crisis accommodation and transitional housing to ensure that people in refuge or crisis accommodation have an increased range of housing options once their immediate safety and support needs have been addressed in refuge.

Since 2016, there has been significant investment in stable housing through the Housing Blitz package and through a range of initiatives aimed at helping women and children rebuild their lives and achieve safe, stable housing. This investment includes:

• delivering improved refuge and crisis accommodation responses for victim survivors of family violence, including redeveloping all communal refuges to the ‘core and cluster’ model by 2020
• constructing two new Aboriginal family violence refuges
• acquiring 184 new social housing properties targeting victim survivors and their children
• expanding the private rental head leasing program with 124 new head leased properties targeting victim survivors and their children
• building an additional 130 properties to provide long term public housing
• expanding access to private rental assistance to support people to access and maintain private rental housing
• a funding boost for family violence Flexible Support Packages to meet the individual needs of victim survivors of family violence, including support to stay safe at home through a related expansion to the personal safety initiative
• providing additional case management to support victim survivors of family violence to transition out of refuge accommodation

This is in addition to related system reform work under Victoria’s Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Plan (2018) and Homes for Victorians (2017). Through the 2018–19 State Budget, Government has committed to expanding supports to enable victim survivors to gain stable housing as quickly as possible by:

• $27.7 million over four years to fund up to 12 family violence refuges to continue to provide secure, after-hours crisis accommodation for women and children seeking immediate support. This will enable refuges to refer and accept women and children with the greatest need and at the highest risk
• $4.1 million over two years for continuation of 120 family violence head leased properties to provide additional housing options for victim survivors of family violence

In late 2018, the Premier announced a second-term investment of $209 million to build an additional 1,000 public housing properties over three years to 2022. The ‘Building New Homes to Fight Homelessness’ initiative will include 800 one and two-bedroom properties and 200 three-bedroom properties, providing homes for around 1,800 Victorians around the state. A number of these properties will be targeted to particularly vulnerable homeless Victorians including victim survivors of family violence.