Specialist Women's Shelter Snapshot

A review of 35 specialist women’s shelters that support single parents, children and young people.

In June 2022, PRF commissioned dandolopartners to work with peak domestic and family violence (DFV) organisations and a group of 35 specialist women’s shelters across Australia, to build a fuller picture of their work and experiences. These shelters previously received COVID-19 surge funding from PRF.

As a group, the shelters provided crisis accommodation, medium term accommodation or a combination of both services to approximately 14,500 clients per year.

The resulting snapshot of the collected data shows that all the shelters reported an increase in demand, resulting in the unmet needs of women attempting to escape violence. The snapshot also shows that financial instability of clients removes safe choices, certain clients face more stress, and that the shelters operate with gaps in their funding.