First or crisis response reform
Responsible government
- South Australia
Fourth Action Plan actions
- Improve support and service system responses
- 17 Collaborate across services, sectors and workforces to ensure responses to women affected by domestic, family and sexual violence are coordinated, meet women’s needs, avoid women having to retell their story and promote their recovery.
- 18 Improve access to and embed trauma-informed support for perpetrators of domestic, family and sexual violence to prevent reoffending and promote rehabilitation and treatment.
- 20 Improve access to suitable and safe accommodation within their communities for women who have experienced domestic, family and sexual violence.
What are we doing?
The South Australian Government is embarking on an initiative to redesign the first or crisis response to women and their children to enable women to remain in their own homes; engage perpetrator support earlier; and provide support for children and young people in their own right.
What have we achieved so far?
The State-wide Domestic and Family Violence Alliance commenced operation on 1 July 2021. Under the new model, organisations will work together with their other non-government alliance members and with State Government, drawing on their combined skills, experience, rather than as separate organisations. Examples of this include the establishment of Communities of Practice. This new approach will support the adoption of best practice service approaches for women and their children across the state, with coordinated and collaborative approaches minimising those situations where woman are further traumatised by re-telling their story.
The Alliance model means both the State Government and non-government partners take collective ownership of opportunities and responsibilities, and ensures organisations will work together to close service gaps, including accommodation options and housing pathways. In addition, metropolitan and regional providers are now all delivering Safe at Home responses to support women and their children to remain in their own home when safe and appropriate to do so.
The Domestic and Family Violence Perpetrator Response Pilot (DFV-PRP) became fully operational in January 2021. The DFV-PRP aims to improve the wellbeing and safety of victims of domestic, family and sexual violence, through the provision of up to nine SA Housing Authority properties across the Adelaide metropolitan area, which will see perpetrators removed from the family home and provided with alternative accommodation and access to support services.
What is next?
The DFV-PRP contract currently expires on 31 December 2021, however the SA Housing Authority are currently exploring extension opportunities.
Under National Partnership on COVID-19 Domestic and Family Violence Responses, South Australia is currently in the process of establishing the Safe and Secure Housing program which will support women and their children in crisis accommodation (hotel/motel clients) with case management support to transition from insecure housing, to secure housing by directly supporting women to transition to the private rental market and/or into community housing, where feasible to do so.
Additionally, a review of the Domestic and Family Violence – Crisis Accommodation Pilot (DFV-CAP), also known as the “40 beds program” is currently in progress. This review will inform future directions for crisis housing responses clients experiencing Domestic and Family Violence.
What difference will we make?
This initiative should result in:
- A reduction in women and their children staying in motels and other crisis accommodation.
- More women able to stay in their own homes.
- Perpetrators are engaged with services and monitored by SAPOL and other relevant organisations.
- Perpetrators can access crisis accommodation linked to service support.
- Services are better able to respond to women and their children in a timely and coordinated fashion.
- Children and young people are supported in their own right.