The locations of 40 new crisis accommodation beds for South Australians escaping domestic and family violence have been announced.
The crisis beds will be placed in the areas of greatest need:
- Northern and Southern Adelaide
- Murray Mallee
- Eyre and Eastern region, including the regional centres of:
- Berri
- Ceduna
- Murray Bridge
- Port Lincoln
- Whyalla.
The locations chosen for the crisis beds are the areas of greatest need following direct feedback from the domestic and family violence sector and the community.
In a move to ensure the beds are available as soon as possible, South Australian Housing Trust stock will be refurbished and fitted with upgraded security to support women to live independently but safely.
Services clients will be offered
Clients in these crisis beds will receive support services including intensive outreach support, help managing safety issues and assistance into safe and sustainable accommodation.
The services will also help people return home if it is safe to do so and help them enter the private or social housing rental market.
A key motivation for this reform is to provide victims with more options closer to support networks, including family, schools and their employer.
Perpetrator interventions
A small number of beds will be used to trial perpetrator inventions, which will see perpetrators removed from the family home and provided with alternative accommodation and access to support services.
This perpetrator pilot means that in some cases, the victims of domestic violence will have the opportunity to remain in their own home, if it is assessed as safe to do so, while the perpetrator is removed. This will mean less disruption to victims at what is an already very traumatic time.
The trial is also an opportunity to explore what interventions might work as perpetrators will have an opportunity to engage with support services to help them change their behaviour.
Timetable for crisis beds
A total of 75 per cent of the crisis beds will be delivered by the end of 2019 and the remaining 25 per cent by the end of April 2020. The beds will include units, refurbished properties and newly-built properties.