Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

We have a number of measures that we're putting in place because we believe, first and foremost, that when women are making the brave decision to escape a violent situation they need to have a safe place to go. That is why we're providing $144 million for the escaping violence payment and we have provided $72.6 million for the safe places program across the country. The escaping violence program will provide immediate access to funds for women and children when they flee a violent situation, to allow them to pay for things such as school fees, rental bonds and the like. The safe places funding bolsters the $1.6 billion already provided in housing and homelessness funding to make sure that we have new emergency accommodation built specifically for women escaping violence. Safe places will help nearly 6½ thousand women and children every year not just in metropolitan areas but also across rural and regional Australia.