Funding Cliff a Family Violence Catastrophe Waiting to Happen

Cutting $118 million from the family violence sector while demand and risk are escalating is not just short-sighted, it is dangerous. Without urgent action to extend lapsing funding beyond 30 June 2026 and provide long-term, indexed investment, women and children escaping violence will face an impossible choice: homelessness or harm.

A choice between homelessness and violence is no choice at all.

The Centre for Non-Violence calls on the Victorian Government, and all levels of government to urgently:

1. Restore and extend lapsing family violence funding beyond 30 June 2026 for family and gender-based violence primary prevention, early intervention, response and recovery
2. Support children and young people as victim survivors in their own right
3. Invest in safe, secure and affordable housing as a core family violence response

Family violence is the leading cause of homelessness in Australia.[i] Women and children experiencing violence make up a disproportionate share of those seeking homelessness support. In 2024-25, women accounted for around 75 per cent of adults seeking housing support as a result of family violence in Australia.[ii]

Australia’s rental crisis, characterised by skyrocketing rents, low vacancy rates and insufficient social and affordable housing, is not only pushing more people into homelessness, but also worsening family violence outcomes. As housing options shrink, specialist family violence services are spending an increasing amount of time navigating housing systems, while simultaneously facing funding uncertainty that threatens their ability to respond.

In 2024–25, CNV provided 16,422 nights of crisis and transitional accommodation to 294 women and children, with 67 nights being the average length of stay. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children, the average stay was 74 nights. Of the 294 women and children accommodated, 81 remained in crisis accommodation for up to six months due to the lack of secure, long-term housing options. These alarming figures highlight how the lack of safe, affordable housing, combined with shrinking service capacity, are undermining victim survivors’ ability to rebuild their lives.

Emergency and crisis accommodation, including motel rooms, are not adequate solutions. They are often unsafe, temporary and far from ideal for victim survivors recovering from trauma. Motels lack basic safety features, privacy and support services, and frequently force families into spaces that trigger further harm.

Without access to secure housing and adequately funded specialist support, escaping violence becomes a prolonged and dangerous ordeal. Too many women and children are left with no option but to remain in unsafe, temporary accommodation or return to violent homes simply because there is nowhere else to go.

For more than three decades, CNV has supported thousands of victim survivors to leave violent relationships and begin rebuilding their lives. But today’s housing market, marked by soaring rents, record-low vacancy rates and a severe shortage of social housing, means that leaving violence is no longer just about safety. It is about survival.

Between 70-90% of victim survivors supported by CNV say that housing affordability (soaring rental prices, mortgage stress) impacts their decision about when or whether they can safely leave. Many are forced to return to abusive relationships simply because they have nowhere else to go.

CNV’s Victorian State Budget submission makes clear that cutting $118 million from the family violence sector while demand and risk are escalating is not just short-sighted, it is dangerous.

Ending family violence requires more than crisis responses. It requires stable housing, secure funding, and the political will to ensure that every person has the right to safety, dignity and a place to call home.

ENDS

For all media enquiries, contact Rachel Dale, Media and Communications Lead at CNV via [email protected] or 0488 991 978.

[i] Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, (4 December 2025), Specialist homelessness services annual report 2024–25, retrieved 4 February 2026, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/homelessness-services/specialist-homelessness-services-annual-report/contents/clients-who-have-experienced-fdsv.

[ii] Ibid.