Several victims of domestic violence expect to be thrown out of the St George Women’s Housing program in the coming weeks.
The women have stayed beyond the service’s 12-month maximum and face probable homelessness, as no alternative accommodation is available.
One of the group, who did not want to be identified because of safety concerns, said her former partner was jailed for vicious assaults against her and their children.
‘‘My kids had to go through 12 years of domestic violence,’’ she said. ‘‘It got to the stage where [the Department of Family and Community Services] said, ‘If you ever go back we’ll take your kids.’
‘‘That’s how I ended up in a refuge.’’
As one of several women about to face a tenancy tribunal in Hurstville, she has been on a Housing NSW waiting list for eight years.
She is ineligible for any emergency public housing.
The private rental market has not welcomed her family either.
‘‘Every time I apply for a property I get rejected,’’ she said.
‘‘And every time I move I have to change my kids’ schools. I’d need two hands to count their schools because of all the moving we do.
‘‘I literally feel sick; I’m just going to be homeless.’’
Staff at the St George service said the women could not remain in the program, which was in high demand.
Three women said the service had not been able to organise alternative accommodation for them, and was not helpful enough.
One was told weekly group activities such as budgeting, personal health and safety, and scrapbooking classes were mandatory and she could not skip them to attend her TAFE course.
She will face the family court around Easter to determine if she can retain her children, and is worried they might be taken from her.
‘‘If no one comes to help us by the end of the month we’ll be on the street,’’ she said.
‘‘What am I going to say to the judge — that I’m living on the street with my children?’’
A DOCS spokeswoman said that the women and their children would not be left ‘‘out in
the cold’’.
‘‘Women staying with the service are not placed in a position that would make them vulnerable to homelessness,’’ she said.
‘‘The service ensures that women and children are supported to secure accommodation elsewhere on a case-by-case basis.’’
The DOCS spokeswoman acknowledged that ‘‘there are often long waits’’ for public housing.
However, she suggested that they might be eligible for subsidies to help them secure a privately rented unit.
Former St George Women’s Housing employees said that the service’s clients were being placed in an unreasonable situation.
‘‘A lot of [the women] have mental health issues and they come from domestic violence backgrounds,’’ one said.
‘‘They’re terrified.
‘‘It’s a very scary situation for them.’’
Housing crisis
St George Women’s Housing uses 13 properties across Arncliffe, Hurstville, Bexley and Penshurst to shelter women who are in need.
A spokeswoman for the service said the community needed to give single mothers a fair go.
‘‘Homelessness in this country is just huge,’’ she said. ‘‘Landlords need to be more open to housing women who pay rent by Centrelink.
‘‘It’s a guaranteed income. The perception in the community is that single mothers with kids are going to run amok and wreck the property.
‘‘That’s not the case; most of the women are terrific tenants.’’
However, some due to be evicted from the shelter had allegedly committed significant breaches of their tenancy agreements and stayed beyond the agreed
12 months.
‘‘One who has been asked to leave has not paid rent and has damaged property,’’ she said. ‘‘Due to the considerable demand on our service, people who break the rules can’t stay with us.’’
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