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The Advertiser Foundation Blanket Appeal: Kids fleeing violence the tragic new face of Adelaide's homelessness crisis
Homeless shelters are receiving waves of children fleeing violence at home, including some arriving all on their own.
And a shortage of affordable rental properties is trapping mothers in emergency motel accommodation for months, prompting some to return to abusive partners just to get back into stable housing.
In one case raised by the SA Homelessness Alliance a woman and her two children stayed in emergency housing for six months before she 'returned to the perpetrator' out of desperation.
The alliance is warning 'situations such as these will become more common' as rents increase.
Welfare organisations across the country have shared the latest data on demand for their services in submissions to a royal commission into domestic, family and sexual violence in South Australia.
A Homelessness Australia snapshot shows more than 2300 young people under the age of 18 arrived unaccompanied at homelessness services in SA in 2022-23.
They accounted for 41 per cent of the 5583 children who came through the doors, including with parents, that year.
SA's Women's Safety Services also estimated that 40 per cent of people living in its shelters that year were children.
The following year, in 2023-24, about 30 per cent of those who sought help through the SA Homelessness Alliance because they were suffering family violence were aged between 15 and 25.
In its submission to the royal commission, the Salvation Army warned there 'is insufficient safe accommodation' for those escaping abusive households and social housing waitlists are 'at an highest'.
'Our services anecdotally hear of women and children having to remain in motels for two to three months before a place becomes available in a refuge,' it says.
'Most concerningly, the absence of affordable housing exits means that many … feel they have no option but to return to the residence of the person using violence.'
St Vincent de Paul's submission says its 20-room women's crisis centre is 'frequently at full occupancy' and some were staying 'for up to six months, with little hope of securing long-term housing'.
'Our assistance line receives daily calls from women who have been turned away from other services or are experiencing long waiting periods,' it says.
The Hutt St Centre says half the women it saw in a six-month period had 'experienced violence, including controlling behaviours' and its CBD family space is 'often in high demand'.
Treasurer Stephen Mullighan has committed to allocating 'a very substantial' amount of funding to act on the recommendations of the $3m, year-long royal commission, which are expected to be handed down in August.
Why these doctors won't turn their back on homelessness
A group of dedicated medicos refuses to allow themselves to become desensitised to the plight of those experiencing homelessness in Adelaide – in fact, their empathy only grows.
For the eighth consecutive year, the Australian Chinese Medical Association Foundation is generously supporting the Advertiser Foundation Blanket Appeal.
In 2025, the group whose members include GPs, specialists, medical officers and students is again among the first major donors to kickstart the appeal, this year contributing $10,000.
Foundation chairperson Dr Francis Ghan, an orthopaedic surgeon, said he remained shocked and saddened by the sheer number of South Australians facing homelessness and that it impossible not to be moved by the many stories of hardship.
'It is total devastation for a person to lose their home,' he said.
Friend and fellow face of the foundation Dr Lap Kwong Han agreed.
'We feel we have some form of responsibility towards the less privileged … in particular the homeless people,' he said.
Hutt St Centre CEO Chris Burns welcomes the support and says every dollar donated helps in a very real and practical way, allowing his service to provide toiletries, warm clothing and bedding as well a 'warm meal in the morning'.
White Ribbon changes name, supports Blanket Appeal
A group that has been advocating in Adelaide for more than a decade and a half to end men's violence against women – motivated by a tragedy overseas – has generously donated to The Advertiser Foundation Blanket Appeal.
Formerly known as White Ribbon Breakfast, hosting a breakfast each November for the past 16 years to raise awareness of gender-based violence, it has just relaunched as Wake Up To Change.
The $5000 gift will be channelled to support programs at women's homelessness and recovery service, Catherine House.
Treasure Mike McCarthy said it made sense to support the women-only charity, particularly in light of new statistics showing demand for its services was at an highest with as many as 55 women on its waitlist for safe housing.
'Each year we raise funds to raise awareness and support local initiatives – in 2024 we raised $30,000 and are very happy to be able to show our support for Catherine House and its many programs,' he said.
White Ribbon Breakfast held its first event in 2009 when five influential women's organisations – Business and Professional Women (BPW), Zonta International, Soroptimist International, the National Council of Women SA and the Federation of University Women – came together to celebrate a global movement.
In 1991, three men in Toronto, Canada, launched the White Ribbon Campaign in response to the 1989 Montreal Massacre, in which 14 women were murdered.
They encouraged men to wear white ribbons as a public pledge to never commit, condone, or remain silent about violence against women.
