The difficult choice: Unpacking the rapid rise of homelessness amongst women

The Guardian

16-05-2025

In Australia, the rate of homelessness among women is rising at six times the rate of homelessness among men - almost half of these cases can be attributed to domestic violence.
When Linh arrived in Melbourne with her husband, far from the security of her home in Vietnam, his behaviour changed.
'He lost his temper over the smallest thing,' the 30-year-old says. 'I was scared to ask a simple question in case he yelled at me. His behaviour got worse, and the yelling turned to physical violence.'
Without friends or family nearby, Linh felt increasingly isolated. The violence escalated when she became pregnant.
'My husband was careful to strike me where the bruises wouldn't show,' she says. 'He called me worthless. After a while, I came to believe it.'
Two weeks after their daughter, Anh, was born, he ripped off his shoe and threw it at the baby, who lay sleeping in her cot. That was when Linh knew she had to take her daughter and leave.
Linh says the following three months were the worst of her life. She and her baby were alone, sleeping in her car, and in hostels and motels.
'It was so stressful, not knowing where we were going the next day or what might happen,' Linh says. 'I felt like crying all the time. But I held back my tears until the night, so Anh wouldn't see.'
Homelessness among women in Australia is a growing problem; in 2021 it was rising at six times the rate of homelessness among men, according to that year's census. Of the more than 6,000-person increase in people experiencing homelessness nationwide between 2016 and 2021, more than 80% were women.
Family violence is the key driver of homelessness among women. According to a 2024 report from Homelessness Australia, 45% of all women and girls presenting to homelessness services in 2022-23 identified family and domestic violence as a reason, ahead of other factors including financial difficulties and housing affordability stress.
Women are being forced to choose between a roof over their heads and the threat of violence from their male partners.
'It is a choice no one should have to make, but it is an all-too-common reality,' says Claire Henderson, who leads the family violence portfolio at Launch Housing, one of Melbourne's largest independent homelessness support and community housing providers.
Launch Housing's history dates back to the 1960s, when its parent organisation was founded in the Melbourne inner-city suburb of Fitzroy.
The agency was established to support young men in the local area, but today about 50% of people that Launch Housing supports are women or gender diverse people, and the organisation operates a range of innovative support services specifically for women, children and families.
Henderson says family violence is not always physical. Emotional, financial and sexual abuse, and coercive control, are all forms of family violence that can strip victim survivors of their resources and support, trapping them in perpetual poverty or powerlessness.
'Homelessness is expensive,' she says. 'Moving from motel to motel, taking time off work to view rental properties, paying for storage, covering medical bills, withdrawing money early from superannuation – all these things further deplete financial resources, which are too often depleted already due to the experience of family violence.
'The victim survivors we see do not have adequate financial resources to finance a major life upheaval and this is often a direct result of financial abuse.'
Women can be more vulnerable to homelessness due to multiple financial stresses, including wage disparity, the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) reported last year. Women's weekly earnings in 2022 were 14% less than men's on average and, as a result, finding and paying for rent that was no more than 30% of their income – and therefore considered 'affordable' – was more difficult for women.
The barbs of family violence trauma pierce deeply, and Henderson says homelessness increases the likelihood that victim survivors will return to their violent partners, choosing one type of safety over another: housing over freedom from violence.
'Without housing, safety cannot be achieved,' she says. 'Without safety, psychological recovery is extremely difficult. Safety is the foundation on which all positive progress is built. With safe housing, victim survivors can begin the healing process. Without it, the trauma endures.'
Launch Housing provides dedicated programs for pregnant women and their babies, as well as crisis housing in which women can stay for up to six months while receiving wraparound support on site, and services that prevent and intervene across the entire journey of homelessness.
Viv's Place. Photo credit: Mathew Lynn.
In what Launch says is an Australian-first, Viv's Place is permanent community housing for women and children escaping family violence.
Modelled on a program in New York City, the integrated complex of 60 apartments, along with communal kitchens, living spaces, play areas, offices and gardens, as well as on-site support services, has become home and a community for women and children escaping family violence.
'Securing safe housing allows victim survivors space and time to recover,' Henderson says.
'It halts the cycle of trauma caused by family violence and perpetuated by homelessness. It allows the parent-child bond, which is so often ruptured intentionally by the person using violence, to repair. It allows children to resume schooling. Families can reconnect with relatives and friends they were isolated from. Support networks can grow and thrive. It can be a new beginning.'
Life changed for Linh and Anh the day they approached Launch Housing for support. Linh was given clothes, nappies, formula and a bundle of stuffed animals and rattles for Anh. 'They were the first toys she ever had,' Linh says.
They moved into a safe and affordable apartment, which was the turning point for Linh: 'When I saw our apartment, I had hope for the first time … it made me feel so happy, I cried.'
Today, Linh and Anh have a home, Anh is in a playgroup and Linh is training to become a support worker to help other women escape violence.
Viv's Place is a prototype for integrated permanent housing and support services in Australia, which Launch Housing wants to replicate, if it gets more funding and support. The rate of family violence homicides in Australia is rising, and without further investment in services such as Viv's Place, this may continue.
As Henderson says: 'Safe places like Viv's are quite literally, lifesaving. We need to build more.'
Your donation to Launch Housing gives women and children across Melbourne the chance to start again with a new home.
If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, phone 1800 RESPECT. For counselling, advice and support for men who have anger, relationship or parenting issues, call the Men's Referral Service on 1300 766 491.