This report was commissioned by the members of the Domestic and Family Violence Crisis Lines of Australia Network (hereafter known as DFVCLAN).

The purpose of this report is to collate and analyse the statistics of those women contacting the Domestic and Family Violence crisis lines of Australia who do not currently hold permanent residency within Australia. The variables being most closely examined are the types of services required by non-PR CALD women (hereafter known as the client), the types of service provided, the broader accommodation needs and how they were best met. All statistics in this report are an amalgam of all state-wide crisis services across Australia and all identifying client information has been removed.

Project Background

The ramifications for victims of domestic and family violence who do not hold permanent residency within Australia have been found to be profound and severely increasing the impact of domestic violence on women and their child/ren. These ramifications include:

• Limited or no access to public housing assistance,
• Limited or no access to financial assistance from the federal government,
• Limited or no access to funded refuges who cannot accept more than one or two women or families without income,
• Limited or no access to medical assistance,
• Limited or no access to education,
• Increased financial dependence upon the abuser,
• Increased vulnerability to an abusive partner by way of threats of deportation,
• Increased vulnerability to an abusive partner by way of threats to remove the children,
• Increased vulnerability to domestic and/or sexual slavery,
• Increased risk of death and/or disability.

This statistical analysis draws upon data and methodology from the initial snapshot report commissioned by DFVCLAN for the same client group for the period March 2014. That initial snapshot analysis was able to highlight issue parameters within which further study was beneficial.