YWCA Canberra is disappointed that the Safer Families Assistance Package, administered by ACT Housing, has again been exhausted within months of the start of the Financial Year.
This is a vital payment that provided $2000 in cash to help people leave violence. And crucially one that included survivors of family violence, such as violence between non-intimate partner family members.
“The premature closure of this scheme for 2024-2025 is directly at odds with the ACT Government’s own messaging about supporting women to leave violence. Women who bravely pick up the phone are being told there is no money for them. It’s an enormously stressful situation for them and for the staff they rely on”– Ms Crimmins said.
In prematurely closing the scheme for new applicants, the ACT Government has directed people to the federal government scheme.
“The ACT scheme filled a gap that was not captured by the Federal Government scheme: it didn’t require people to have already left the violence, and it was cash whereas the federal scheme is a mix of vouchers and cash”.
“YWCA Canberra is continuing to provide support for those clients who would otherwise rely on this payment, but we urge the ACT Government to top up the funding between now and the end of this Financial Year as it compounds the pressures of already limited resources” – Ms Crimmins said.
For more information, please contact:
Eleanor Sander O’Hearn
Executive Director Communications Advocacy Engagement
Eleanor.sanderohearn@ywca-canberra.org.au
0475 240 101