Increasing numbers of women are presenting to homelessness services and the system isn’t working for them

60% of the people presenting to homelessness services in Australia are women.

The largest single reason this 60% are seeking support? Domestic and family violence.

These were key findings from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s Specialist homelessness services annual report 2024–25. They are findings that are all too familiar to staff on the frontline of both homelessness and family violence. Coupled with the fact that in Victoria, we are seeing the highest number of people accessing homelessness services of anywhere else in the country, it presents an urgent and growing challenge.

“We’re seeing so many women come through,” says James Duffy, cohealth homelessness lead. “Many of them with either a current or historic experience of family violence.”  

James says that the team always works with an understanding of the complex situation that these women are facing. To stay where they have a place to live, but one that is incredibly unsafe, or leave and face the unknown of homelessness, is an impossibly difficult choice and one that’s not lost on the team. Often, there is also  safety and stability for children to consider. 

“Sometimes it’s about a risk they know and understand versus sleeping alone and not knowing what comes next,” says James. “We see women weighing this up every day.”

The crisis response then becomes about trying to find a third option where these women, often with children, can feel some sense of safety and access health and social support. Sometimes, this is a tenancy in cohealth-supported accommodation sites where cohealth provides health and social support, such as Make Room or Buckley Street Supported Accommodation. Other times, the team reaches out to partners to secure temporary accommodation.

A challenge, James says, is systems of available support for women experiencing both homelessness and FV.

“It is common for women presenting to family violence services with housing needs to be referred to homelessness services,” he says. “And then those presenting to homelessness services with family violence concerns are redirected to specialist family violence providers”.

Often, this fragmentation can result in people being bounced around between different services at a time when what they need most is consistent care and support.   

Ali Williams is cohealth’s Program Lead for Family Violence and Integrated Family Services. She says that there is a real need for more specialist family violence support services for women experiencing homelessness. The current model of a family violence worker within a homelessness team is not enough to meet the growing demand. Currently, there are no comprehensive family violence services offering dedicated walk-in crisis case management in Melbourne CBD.

“We want to provide people with wrap-around services,” she says. “But you can’t wrap around services if the services aren’t there.” Ali’s team are referred clients who have experienced family violence and have already secured some form of accommodation, be it a refuge, couch surfing or more permanent accommodation. However, they do consult with both cohealth’s homelessness and AOD teams to provide support for women who are currently experiencing homelessness.

“We do everything in our power to keep people with a roof over their heads,” Ali says. “But as a sector, we’re noticing the gaps.”

A significant service gap exists for victim survivors (and their children) requiring both access to specialist family violence support and housing assistance at the same time. While crisis responses are available, there remains limited capacity for immediate, face-to-face, integrated support that can address safety, accommodation, legal, financial and recovery needs through a single service response.

cohealth Supported Accommodation Program Facilitator Dave Lovelock says that there are limits to what providers can do without systemic change, which needs to come in the form of more available housing.

“The theme is that even with on-site support services and security, women are facing homelessness due to the challenges and risks in leaving the relationship, combined with the lack of medium and long-term housing for them to transfer to,” he says.

This Homelessness Week 2026, we’re echoing the call for urgent action now. For a system where every survivor of domestic and family violence has a safe place to go, and for a country that has a home for everyone.