Inquiry into integrated housing support for vulnerable families

Domestic and family violence (DFV), mental illness and problematic alcohol and other drug use are significant risk factors for homelessness, and significant policy concerns in their own right. It is timely to review policies and programs designed to address them, in part because of the recent increase in visibility and resources attached to these responses. Emerging as a key policy concern in recent years, DFV is now subject to significant reforms designed to improve the safety of women and children (Council of Australian Governments 2010). Substantive national and state-based initiatives have incorporated strategic and systemic reform to promote the provision of more integrated, ‘seamless’ services to women and children affected by violence.

Evidence is emerging that people are benefiting from these reforms, with services becoming more attuned to identifying and meeting housing and other needs in a timely manner. However, this research adds to other evidence that there are critical shortfalls, including in the housing and homelessness sectors, and some groups of people are not served well.