Women suffering domestic violence face severe delays in receiving vital cash: Australia

Women suffering domestic violence are facing huge delays in receiving vital $5000 cash payments to flee their abusers.

As of April, there was a backlog of more than 4000 unresolved cases of women seeking the payment after leaving a dangerous partner. 

The delay is believed to have been caused by a wait of 20 business days for applications to be approved. 

The move was announced by the Morrison government last year and they pledged $145 million for a two-year trial.

The previous government expected demand for 12,000 packages each year, but there have been 13,000 applications already since the trial began back in October.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth has now pledged to reform domestic violence support.

‘One of the challenges that I’m already looking at is how we ­improve the escaping domestic ­violence payment,’ she told the Australian. 

‘This is something that seems to be very rushed by the previous government. It almost seems like they felt they had to do something, so we actually have problems in that program that need to be ­addressed, wait times in particular.

‘There has been a lot of delays. It was very rushed in its ­implementation and so what we face is an overwhelming need and delays in that payment.’

In last year’s budget, the Morrison government committed funding to establish a two-year trial of the program, to be rolled out by Christian social services provider UnitingCare Network.

It is the latest attempt by the government to address domestic violence in Australia. Back in May, millions of Australians were given access to 10 days’ paid domestic violence leave under a landmark ruling by the Fair Work Commission. 

The decision allows more than 2.6 million workers employed under modern awards access the leave on a yearly basis at their base rate of pay.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth has now pledged to reform domestic violence support

The historic move is likely to set a precedent for Australian employers as alarming statistics reveal the prevalence of domestic violence – which has already claimed the lives of 18 women across the country so far this year. 

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, one in six women and one in 16 men, have experienced at least one incident of violence by an intimate partner since the age of 15. 

In handing down its decision, the full bench of the commission noted domestic violence is a ‘gendered phenomenon’, which has soared in the wake of the Covid pandemic. 

‘Family and domestic violence is a ubiquitous and persistent social problem. While men can, and do, experience FDV, such violence disproportionately affects women,’ the commission wrote. 

‘We have concluded that the merits strongly favour a paid FDV leave entitlement.

‘In comparison to women with no experience of [family and domestic violence], women experiencing or who have experienced FDV have a more disrupted work history; are on lower personal incomes; have had to change jobs frequently; and are more likely to be employed on a casual and part-time basis.’