PART 2

In Part 1 of this article, I wrote about what is needed by and for victims of domestic violence in Tasmania, what is being received, and the gap between the two. In Part 2, I continue to discuss what victims of family violence need, focusing on housing. I discuss what solutions to housing our federal and state governments are providing.

The availability and security of low-income housing in Tasmania is at a crisis point. Lack of such housing is one of our state’s greatest problems, with best estimates available suggesting there are more than 1,300 people experiencing homelessness in Tasmania, and that there is an unmet housing need of 8,100 dwellings (www.salvationarmy.org.au/socialjusticestocktake/tas/).

Older women and women escaping partner violence represent the greatest cohort facing housing insecurity, ad their vulnerability to homelessness often means they must remain in unsafe environments rather than leave and risk having to live on the streets.

What is needed

As mentioned, women in Australia are disproportionately vulnerable to housing insecurity and domestic violence, with the two issues firmly interlinked. Therefore, increased access to affordable housing, women’s refuges and immediate emergency accommodation (including shelters) for those first leaving partner abuse, and transition housing for those moving from refuges into more stable and permanent housing in the community, has to be prioritised.

We need faster turnover of building applications to lessen the backlog that currently stands in councils, and we need a substantial increase in the number of tradesmen associated with dwelling construction – this will require the scaling up of the building and construction industry.

The government has acknowledged that that current demand for assistance with shelter and homelessness support is outpacing available service responses. There are plans in place and aspirations to increase housing availability, but there is a considerable gap between having a housing strategy plan and delivering it.

The government states that housing accessibility and supply is best served by long-term policy consistency. This may be so, but with an ever-increasing number of people unable to afford the most basic of housing, even when it is available, a long-term solution will not deliver immediate support.

What is being received

In a recent productivity roundtable in Canberra it was determined that building applications need to cost less and be simplified. State governments are working with the federal government to achieve these determinations.

The Tasmanian Housing Strategy’s Action Plan 2023-27 is the first of five plans that will drive the Tasmanian government’s delivery of its vision to end homelessness in Tasmania. The primary focus of this action plan is to deliver 2,000 social and affordable homes by the end of 2027.

The Tasmanian government’s target is a net increase of 10,000 social and affordable homes by 2032. With seven years to go, the Homes Tasmania dashboard shows we are already approaching the halfway mark. The government is relocating existing policy functions, regulatory responsibilities, and system stewardship from Homes Tasmania to the Department of State Growth. This shift will allow Homes Tasmania to focus squarely on its core responsibilities: building social and affordable housing, delivering tenancy and homelessness services and providing key worker accommodation.

Through Homes Tasmania, the government has already delivered more than 4,300 of these homes. The National Housing Supply and Affordability Council (NHSAC) recently confirmed that Tasmania is the only state in Australia to have increased its share of social housing between 2018 and 2023 (Action Plan 2023-27 | Housing Strategy).

. . .

The NSW Minister for Women and Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Jodie Harrison, recently announced government funding of the first modular response in metropolitan Sydney to address the dual crises of homelessness and domestic violence. Eight specifically designed, pre-built modular units will create urgently needed crisis accommodation for women and their children escaping violence. The expansion of the Women’s Community Shelters Network is part of a project funded by $2.4 million NSW Government Core and Cluster funding (Women are still the face of homelessness in 2025).

In Hobart, St Vincent De Paul has submitted a building application for similar units to be built in the CBD, but council is opposed to this development, stating that such units are not appropriate and do not fit with businesses currently in the CBD.

In conclusion: the federal government’s 10-year National Plan (a plan that our state government is working to implement as well) to reduce violence against women and children discusses the four pillars of support: primary prevention, early intervention, response and recovery.

For me, response is most important, especially when this support involves tangible solutions available in the short term. Short-term solutions make a visible difference almost immediately and the quality of the response can be measured. Primary prevention and early intervention solutions such as the long-term policy consistency the Tasmanian government is considering may take time before showing positive results.

Victims need housing now!

Deborah Thomson moved to Tasmania with her daughter in 2010, and now lives with her partner of nine years and a parrot. She moved to escape domestic violence and, inspired by her new partner, wrote her first book, Whose Life Is It Anyway? Recognising and Surviving Domestic Violence, to help others recognise abuse (and in particular coercive control), in the home, and to increase their motivation to leave earlier. After publishing her first book, she became a trained advocate through Engender Equality, a non-government Tasmanian organisation working with people and communities impacted by family violence. Deborah Thomson advocates for survivors of family violence, speaking at domestic violence events across Tasmania, through media channels and podcasts. She recently completed a second book, detailing lived experience with domestic violence by her then husband, spanning 17 years from 1985 to 2003. This book is now used in Tasmania as an information resource for family violence counsellors and students on practicals.