Reducing the need for women and children to make repeated use of refuge and other crisis accommodation

This report sets out the findings of a research project investigating early intervention strategies to reduce the need for women and children to make repeated use of refuge and other crisis accommodation. The project identifies the reasons behind the decisions made by women, who have been subject to domestic and family violence, to leave the family home for a refuge in order to escape the abuse; whether to return to the perpetrator; and whether to leave again. It also explores the efficacy of primary prevention and early intervention schemes, including perpetrator behaviour change programs, in reducing women's and children's multiple experiences of refuge and other emergency accommodation. Finally, the project explores what best practice and service standards would be needed if Staying Home Leaving Violence (SHLV) models were to be implemented more widely in Australia.