Family and domestic violence survivors struggle to secure housing amid crippling crisis

A crippling housing crisis has left family and domestic violence survivors struggling to find a place to live, with some even being forced to return to the abusive homes they fled.

Family and domestic violence survivors are struggling to secure long-term housing and are even being forced to consider returning to their abusers in the face of a crippling housing crisis.

Survivors have lifted the lid on the daily stresses of meeting strict requirements, with several telling the Saturday Herald Sun of a lack of support to find and secure longer term housing. Some say they have been forced to return to the abusive homes they had fled due to a lack of affordable houses being available for them.

One survivor, who wished to remain anonymous, said she had been fed “false hope” by registered charity Wayss, which rents properties back to vulnerable people and families.

Told she would be supported from emergency accommodation into a longer-term housing solution, the woman said she had been left in the dark by her case manager.

She now faces the prospect of being kicked out of her home.

A survivos says she has had to battle for permanent housing for more than a year under threat of VCAT. Picture: Jason Edwards

The mother of two said she was just trying to “hold it together” in the face of uncertainty.

“I’ve finally got my son to a place where he can relax and now I feel like it’s going to be ripped away from him,” she said.

“Nobody should be put in this position where they feel they are being taken advantage of, left in a worse position than they started.

“I was being promised all this support and now it feels like we have been thrown a few steps further back.

“It’s left knots in my stomach … I just want to cry every night when my kids are in bed.”

She claimed Wayss had increased her rent to try and force her out of her property, which would be in breach of her contract.

“They’ve taken advantage of me while I’m in a vulnerable situation and they are pocketing the rent money,” she alleged.

The survivor faced the threat of having to vacate her home and have boxes packed in seven days. Picture: Jason Edwards

Another survivor, also living in Wayss supported accommodation, feels she is being systematically forced out of her short to medium-term home to appease the backlog of vulnerable people also seeking housing.

Just over a year after the single mother fled an abusive household, the woman spends her days holding down a job in childcare, caring for her autistic son and trying to meet the strict transitional housing requirements Wayss enforces.

“I felt that I’ve gone from one abusive relationship to a systematic abusive relationship,” she said.

The woman and her 15-year-old son sought out emergency accommodation in early 2023 after her partner became abusive.

“I was being financially abused and (when) I found out that my partner wasn’t paying the mortgage on the house … things just went downhill from there,” she said.

“We had to sleep in my car on a number of occasions.”

When she was finally accepted into the Wayss program, she was told she could stay in the accommodation for the “short to medium term” until she was able to find her own home.

“I was under the assumption I would be supported in finding long term accommodation which could either be private rental or public housing,” she said.

Family and domestic violence survivors say they are being forced to consider returning to their abusers due to the housing crisis. Picture: Townsville generic

In August last year, the woman was threatened with a notice to vacate her home and was only given 90 days to leave before she would be taken to a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to decide her fate.

“It’s caused severe mental stress, I’ve had to seek mental health assistance because of the stress … I’ve had to start taking anti-anxiety medication because of the stress,” she said.

“I’m not the only one, there’s definitely a lot more than me,” she said.

“A lot of people are staying in abusive relationships because there is nowhere to go.”

She has since been able to find permanent housing after months of painstaking inquiries.

A former Wayss employee, who wished to speak under the provision of anonymity, said there was more opportunity for perpetrators of family violence to secure long-term housing than a victim in the current climate.

Having been involved with the service for several years, the former support worker accused the Department of Health and Human Services of “passing the buck” on the issue due to its apparent unwillingness to spend more on services or homes.

“They don’t have the funding, the funding continually gets cut every year and they don’t even have the money to fix the properties they’ve already got, let alone build more or get more,” they said.

“This should have been looked at a long time ago.”

They added Wayss, and similar support services, were tossing tenants out “at the drop of a hat” instead of supporting tenants into longer term housing.

“Now (that) there’s this big backlog, they’re trying to work out ‘well how do we get them out so that we can get new people in there.’”

A Wayss spokeswoman said their organisation, along with all those working in the sector, went “above and beyond” for their clients to make sure they were not forgotten.

The spokeswoman said services had been tailored to accommodate survivors during what they described as “the biggest housing crisis and lack of affordable housing Australia has seen”.

“Wayss is very aware of the personal stress and confusion that is being felt by not only our renters but an ever-increasing cohort of Victorians, particularly in the southern region,” they added.

A survivor claimed Wayss had increased her rent to try and force her out of her property, which would be in breach of her contract. Picture: Jason Edwards

Homelessness and crisis accommodation organisations similar to Wayss say there simply is not enough social and affordable housing to transition survivors into.

A Uniting Victoria and Tasmania spokeswoman said their specialist program was only capable of providing initial crisis response and there are now “limited pathways” into stable, secure, long-term housing.

“The challenge to help all people move into permanent homes is getting harder and harder,” she said.

She added the systemic issue was being compounded by the housing crisis in Victoria, calling on the state government for “serious” investment into new affordable housing.

“We value the homelessness and family violence programs currently funded by both federal and state governments, but without addressing the shortage of affordable housing and people’s ability to meet the cost of private rentals, these programs can only have modest impact,” she said.

In response, a Victorian government spokeswoman said they had increased housing allocations for family violence survivors by 189 per cent since 2019.

They added transitional housing still played a “vital role” in transitioning survivors, but it was not designed as a long-term accommodation option.

“When victim-survivors require more time to find permanent housing, housing providers can seek an extension to their stay in short-term accommodation,” the spokeswoman said.

Homelessness and crisis accommodation organisations say there simply is not enough social and affordable housing for survivors. Picture: Paul Miller

Newly elected Victorian Opposition leader Brad Battin said he was appalled to hear the mistreatment of one member of his constituency who personally reached out to him last year.

“The Allan Labor Government has failed (this woman) and put her in a position where homelessness is a very real outcome,” Mr Battin said.

“When Labor say they care, they have failed by putting in legislation that impacts the most vulnerable in the community.

“When (the woman) said to me she considered returning to her former house, a place she fled domestic violence, it sent shivers down my spine this was her only alternative, or having no place to live due to Labor’s housing crisis.”

Originally published as Family and domestic violence survivors struggle to secure housing amid crippling crisis