According to Homeless Australia’s analysis of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s monthly homelessness data, nationally, 35,736 people sought homelessness support in June 2025 because of domestic and family violence – a 13 per cent rise in just two years.
In New South Wales, more than 8,400 people needed help, with frontline services warning the situation is worsening as housing costs soar.
Homelessness disproportionately affects women, according to the AIHW Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) Annual Report 2023–24, with 75 per cent of people seeking homelessness assistance due to family and domestic violence being women, and 48 per cent being single mothers with children.
Locally, the scale of the problem is stark. The 2023/24 SAHSSI annual report found the Illawarra service received 1,240 referrals for homelessness assistance, with 64 per cent of those directly linked to domestic or family violence.
Many of the women seeking help were escaping dangerous relationships with nowhere safe or affordable to go.
Sally Stevenson, Executive Director of the Illawarra Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre, said the data underscores a crisis that has become “both predictable and preventable.”
“Every day, women in the Illawarra are being forced to choose between staying with a violent partner or facing homelessness,” Ms Stevenson said.
“These are not isolated cases. They reflect a housing system that continues to fail women when they most need protection and stability.”
There is some relief on the horizon.
The NSW Government’s new rental reforms, passed the upper house this month, aim to make it easier and safer for women to leave violent homes where the partner of a family member is violent.
The changes remove the requirement for victim-survivors to notify perpetrators when ending a lease, allow immediate lock changes, and ensure they cannot be held financially liable for damage caused during abuse.
“These reforms are an important step forward,” Ms Stevenson said.
“They mean women can act quickly to protect themselves without being punished financially or legally. But in addition to these reforms, we urgently need more social housing and local services so women in our region have somewhere safe to go.”
The Illawarra Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre is a one-stop place for women to heal and rebuild their lives after experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence. To find out more about our services, contact our team on 4243 9800.