Budget support welcomed for victims of family violence
Budget support welcomed for victims of family violence
12 May 2021
Lieutenant-Colonel Lyn Edge, Secretary for Mission, reads through the 2021-22 Federal Budget papers in Canberra.
The Salvation Army has welcomed the Federal Government’s budget announcement of a significant investment in preventing and addressing family violence.
These investments, including $5000 packages to assist people leaving domestic abuse situations, aim to ensure that people who experience family violence do not also experience long-term poverty.
The Salvation Army’s Policy and Advocacy Team has been advocating with input from the Army's Family and Domestic Violence stream for such support in a number of its recent submissions to government.
“We know family violence is a leading cause of homelessness. An immediate package of funding to ensure that victim-survivors can meet their housing needs during the critical and dangerous time after leaving an abusive relationship will make a huge impact,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Lyn Edge, Secretary for Mission.
“Being able to post a rental bond to secure private accommodation and purchase replacement personal and household items will help people maintain housing and employment.”
Representatives from The Salvation Army were invited into the Budget Lockup on Tuesday 12 May to find out before its official release exactly what budget items would impact the people it serves.
Lyn said the money allocated for supporting victim-survivors of family violence would make a big impact.
“For people escaping family violence, this initiative can be the difference between facing homelessness and knowing you will be able to afford a rental bond. It can be the difference between worrying about how you will feed your children and being confident that you can make it through. For some women, this is going to be the difference between staying and leaving.”
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