Angela Spinney, Swinburne University of Technology, June 2012
This report sets out the findings of a research project investigating early intervention strategies to reduce the need for women and children to make repeated use of refuge and other crisis accommodation. The project identifies the reasons behind the decisions made by women, who have been subject to domestic and family violence, to leave the family home for a refuge in order to escape the abuse; whether to return to the perpetrator; and whether to leave again. It also explores the efficacy of primary prevention and early intervention schemes, including perpetrator behaviour change programs, in reducing women’s and children’s multiple experiences of refuge and other emergency accommodation. Finally, the project explores what best practice and service standards would be needed if Staying Home Leaving Violence (SHLV) models were to be implemented more widely in Australia.
This study was supported by the Australian Government through the National Homelessness Research Agenda of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Below are links to the full report and an evidence note that provides a summary of the report findings.
Full Report [PDF – 3,648 KB] [DOCX – 8,109 KB]
Evidence Note [PDF – 49 KB] [DOCX – 142 KB]
A companion study, Homelessness Prevention for Women and Children Who Have Experienced Domestic and Family Violence: Innovations in Policy and Practice, was funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI). The companion study can be found at http://www.ahuri.edu.au/publications/p50602/