Leaving Violence Program is sponsored by Department of Social Services, Commonwealth of Australia. Provides financial assistance and support services to eligible victim-survivors of intimate partner violence aged 18 and over.

About the Program | Leaving Violence Program The Leaving Violence Program is not a crisis service. If you're in immediate danger, call 000 . The Leaving Violence Program The Leaving Violence Program supports people leaving a partner who uses violence with financial and other supports.

This can be a risky time. The Program is available to eligible victim-survivors regardless of gender or visa status. The Program is delivered through the National Program and 4 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led service providers based in the Broome WA, Cairns QLD, Darwin NT and Dubbo NSW regions.

I would like to apply for myself Manage my existing application Select one of the following to provide you with information that suit your needs I am looking for help. I want to know how this Program can support me and whether I am eligible to apply. I live in the Broome, Cairns, Darwin or Dubbo regions and would like to access help from an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation.

The Leaving Violence Program can support you to leave an intimate partner who uses violence through individualised support packages that offer financial and other supports. The Program is available to support those who are eligible regardless of gender or visa status. The Program offers 2 models for how someone can apply for and be supported by the Program.

This is through the National Program that you can apply for using this website or, if you live in the Broome, Cairns, Darwin or Dubbo regions, through 4 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led service providers. If you live in the above regions, you can find out more by clicking on the “I live in the Broome, Cairns, Darwin or Dubbo regions and need help” tab above. The program is open to people of any gender or sexuality.

Am I eligible for the Program? To be eligible for support through the Leaving Violence Program, you must meet all of the below eligibility criteria: be a victim-survivor experiencing Intimate Partner Violence; have left or have a plan to leave a violent Intimate Partner Relationship; have changed, or have been planning to change, how or where you live in the past 12 weeks because of the violence.

This can, for example, be that you: have left your shared home, or partner has left or been made to leave your shared home and you have stayed in the home, or have a plan or want help to make a plan, to leave a partner who uses violence and change your living arrangement; reside in Australia and have a current address; (at the time of application as an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or temporary visa holder); be experiencing financial stress; have not been supported through the Leaving Violence Program, Escaping Violence Payment (EVP) trial, or the Temporary Visa Holders Experiencing Violence Pilot in the last 12 months.

Browse the Program Fact Sheet How can the Program support me?

Eligible victim survivors can access up to 12 weeks of support that includes: financial support of up to $5,000 (with up to $1,500 via bank transfer and up to $3,500 in goods and services); risk and needs assessments; referral services to other supports that can help such as counselling, legal assistance, specialist family and domestic violence case management, financial counselling for support with debts, and other community support services.

What can’t the Program do for me? The Program is not a crisis service, and while it will support you in a timely manner, it cannot support you with a crisis – if you are in danger, you should call 000 . The Program will not be able to do ongoing counselling or case management with you but can refer you somewhere for you to get that help.

The Program cannot find you housing but can make sure you are referred to the services that can support you with this. You can also use the financial support to pay for housing costs if you choose. Before commencing your application, please note the following: The application process will take approximately 20 – 30 minutes to complete with no option to save and return later, so please ensure you have the time to do this.

Please make sure the device you are using to complete your application is a safe device. Please go here to find out if your device is safe. Please make sure you are in a safe space to complete your application.

You can exit the page at any time using the quick exit button at the top of the page. If you have forms of Identification ie. drivers license, passport, proof of age card, visa, this will be used for future calls.

If you would like other information on other supports available to you, please click here . If you need assistance, please contact 1800 2 LEAVE ( 1800 253 283 ). To apply the Leaving Violence Program please click the apply now button below.

The form has 4 sections to complete. Not all of the questions are compulsory to provide answers to. So feel free to provide answers to any optional questions if you are comfortable to do so.

Completing your application Before submitting your application, you will be able to review your answers and let us know when it’s safe for a Leaving Violence Program support worker to contact you. After you submit your application A Leaving Violence Program support worker will review your application and contact you at a time you’ve indicated is safe. For your safety, this call will be from a private number.

If you need to reach us beforehand, please call our helpline at 1800 253 283. The average duration of the first call is up to 40 minutes. If we are unable to reach you when we call, we will send a generic SMS or Email (if you have consented to that).

We may also make another attempt to contact you during the safe times that you have indicated. What are the Leaving Violence Program Regional Trials? The Leaving Violence Program Regional Trials are being delivered across four regions of Australia in Broome, Cairns, Darwin and Dubbo .

The Regional Trials focus on meeting the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victim-survivors and provide further choice to victim survivors in these four regions. Any victim survivor living in the service delivery region can apply for the Program through the regional trial providers or through the national service. The program is open to people of any gender or sexuality.

Who are the Regional Trial Providers? Broome – Broome Regional Aboriginal Medical Service. Broome Regional Aboriginal Medical Service (BRAMS) delivers the Leaving Violence Program Regional Trial in Broome and across the West Kimberly Region of Western Australia (WA).

For information on how to access the Leaving Violence Program Regional Trial delivered by BRAMS, please visit https://www. brams. org.

au/leaving-violence-program . Office operating Monday to Friday 8:00am – 4:30pm local time, Thursdays 8:00am - 2:00pm local time. Cairns– Remote Area Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation (RAATSIC).

Remote Area Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation (RAATSIC) delivers the Leaving Violence Program Regional Trial in parts of the North Queensland region of Australia. This includes Cairns, Townsville Cape York, Cairns Tablelands, Torres Strait Islands, Mt Isa and Palm Island. For information on how to access the Leaving Violence Program Regional Trial delivered by RAATSIC please visit https://www.

raatsic. org. au/leaving-violence-program or call 1300 605 092 .

Office operating hours Monday to Friday 8:30am-5:00pm local time. Darwin – North Australian Aboriginal Family Legal Service. The North Australian Aboriginal Family Legal Service (NAAFLS) delivers the Leaving Violence Program Regional Trial across their current service footprint in the top end of the Northern Territory (NT).

This includes Darwin, Palmerston, Katherine, Nhulunbuy and 45 remote communities in the West Daly, Tiwi Islands, Big Rivers, East Arnhem and West Arnhem Regions. For information on how to access the Leaving Violence Program Regional Trial delivered by NAAFLS, please visit https://naafls. com.

au/leaving-violence-program or call (08) 8923 8200 . Office operating Monday to Thursday, 8:30am-4:30pm and 8:30am-4:00pm Fridays local time. Bunmabunmarra delivers the Leaving Violence Program Regional Trial in the Dubbo Region extending over the Far West and Central West regions of New South Wales (NSW).

Delivering the service in Wellington, Narromine, Gilgandra, Trangie, Warren, Coonabarabran, Coonamble and Nyngan. For information on how to access the Leaving Violence Program Regional Trial delivered by Bunmabunmarra please visit https://bunmabunmarra. com.

au or call (02) 5816 9035 , or Toll Free 1800 214 156 . Office operating Monday to Thursday 9:00am-5:00pm and 9:00am-4:00pm Fridays local time. Am I eligible for the Program?

To be eligible for support through the Leaving Violence Program, you must meet all of the below eligibility criteria: be a victim-survivor experiencing Intimate Partner Violence; have left or have a plan to leave a violent Intimate Partner Relationship; have changed, or have been planning to change, how or where you live in the past 12 weeks because of the violence.

This can, for example, be that you: have left your shared home, or; partner has left or been made to leave your shared home and you have stayed in the home, or; have a plan or want help to make a plan, to leave a partner who uses violence and change your living arrangement.

reside in Australia and have a current address; (at the time of application as an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or temporary visa holder); be experiencing financial stress; have not been supported through the Leaving Violence Program, Escaping Violence Payment (EVP) trial, or the Temporary Visa Holders Experiencing Violence Pilot in the last 12 months. Browse the First Nations Program Fact Sheet How can the Program support me?

Eligible victim survivors can access up to 12 weeks of support that includes: financial support of up to $5,000 (with up to $1,500 in cash or cash equivalent and up to $3,500 in goods and services); risk and needs assessments; referral services to other supports that can help such as counselling, legal assistance, specialist family and domestic violence case management, financial counselling for support with debts, and other community support services.

The Regional Trials have the same eligibility as the National program. What can’t the Program do for me? The Program is not a crisis service, and while it will support you in a timely manner, it cannot support you with a crisis – if you are in danger, you should call 000 .

The Program will not be able to do ongoing counselling or case management with you, but can refer you somewhere for you to get that help. The Program cannot find you housing but can make sure you are referred to the services that can support you with this. You can also use the financial support to pay for housing costs if you choose.

For the Regional Trials, you can apply online, over the phone or face to face . Please visit the service providers website in your region for more information on how to apply: Broome − https://www. brams.

org. au/leaving-violence-program . Cairns − https://www.

raatsic. org. au/leaving-violence-program .

Darwin − https://naafls. com. au/leaving-violence-program .

Dubbo − https://bunmabunmarra. com. au .

If you would like more information on how to apply for the National program, you can find out more by clicking on the ‘I am looking for help’ tab above. If you want to apply for the National Program, click the “Apply now” button below. Manage my existing application For Crisis Support and Suicide Intervention Please call Lifeline 13 11 14 .

Additional help and support options can be found in the Supports page . For Domestic, Family or Sexual Violence If you or someone you know is experiencing, or is at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence: Call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 . Chat: 1800RESPECT.

org. au . Prefer speaking to a Leaving Violence Program support person?

You can reach us at 1800 253 283 . The Leaving Violence Program operates Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm, excluding public holidays. Are you a referral agent or support worker looking to help your client get access to the Leaving Violence Program?

As a support agency or professional, you will be able to support your client through the Leaving Violence Program. You have the option to apply on behalf of your client or refer them. For more information on how to support and what to expect throughout the application process, click the button below.

The Leaving Violence Program has resources available including easy read factsheets, translated materials, discussion guides and other materials for individuals, communities and services. Find out more about Intimate Partner Violence, eligibility and how the program can support you. You can also find information about the Leaving Violence Program in 10 different languages.

We understand everyone’s situation is different. You can contact any of the support services available. Some services are open 24/7.

View other support services Being in financial stress means that the client is experiencing issues with their money or finances. For example finding: it hard to pay your bills you can’t access your own money you are unable to afford to leave your violent relationship.

Intimate Partner Relationship An intimate partner refers to a person with whom one shares or shared a close personal relationship, characterised by emotional and physical intimacy, and where their lives are or were intertwined or dependent (financially, physically, emotionally). This can be current or former spouses or de facto partners. Intimate partners can be the same or opposite sex.

Intimate Partner Violence Intimate partner violence is any behaviour within an intimate relationship that causes physical, sexual, spiritual, or psychological harm. Intimate partner violence can be: physically, verbally or sexually abusive emotionally, spiritually or psychologically abusive financially abusive, and/or threatening, coercive, or seeking to control or dominate the other person.

Changing living arrangements could include: moving home, staying with a friend/family, staying at a refuge, remaining in the home when your partner has left or being made homeless. If you need to exit this page quickly, you can use the button at the top of the screen , or press the Esc key. If you think someone's monitoring your devices, visit this website from a computer, tablet or smartphone that isn't being monitored.

Exit from this website and delete it from your browser history. For more information, visit this page . Online abuse includes threats, harassment, image-based abuse, terrorism, or extreme violence.

If you’ve experienced or come across any of this, it’s important to know support and reporting options are available. For more information, visit this page . Risk and Needs Assessment A risk assessment involves talking with a support worker to identify the ways the person using violence has hurt or harmed you in the past and how likely you think they will try and hurt or harm you in the future.

The support worker uses this information to work out what the person using violence may do in the future and how likely it is, and what supports you need to stay safe. Safety planning is naming things you can do to be safer when living with violence or abuse. If you need to exit this page quickly, you can use the button at the top of the screen , or press the Esc key.

If you think someone's monitoring your devices, visit this website from a computer, tablet or smartphone that isn't being monitored. Exit from this website and delete it from your browser history. For more information, visit this page .

Online abuse includes threats, harassment, image-based abuse, terrorism, or extreme violence. If you’ve experienced or come across any of this, it’s important to know support and reporting options are available. For more information, visit this page .

An intimate partner refers to a person with whom one shares or shared a close personal relationship, characterised by emotional and physical intimacy, and where their lives are or were intertwined or dependent (financially, physically, emotionally). This can be current or former spouses or de facto partners. Intimate partners can be the same or opposite sex.

Coercive control involves perpetrators using patterns of abusive behaviours over time in a way that creates fear and denies liberty and autonomy. Intimate Partner Violence Intimate partner violence refers to any behaviour within an intimate relationship (current or previous) that causes physical, sexual or psychological harm.

It also encompasses family, domestic and sexual violence which refers to: a) violence between two people who are, or were, in an intimate relationship; and/or b) violence between family members, family-like relationships or kinship relationships; and/or c) sexual actions without consent. These forms of violence include, but are not limited to physical, sexual, emotional, psychological and financial abuse, and coercive control.

For example: Finding it hard to pay your bills, can't access your own money, you are unable to afford to leave your violent relationship. Changing living arrangements could include: moving home, staying with a friend/family, staying at a refuge, remaining in the home when your partner has left or being made homeless. Speak to a Leaving Violence Program support worker You can reach us Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 5:30pm.

The Leaving Violence Program is closed on public holidays. Help us improve the Leaving Violence Program Please use our feedback form to share your experience with the Leaving Violence Program. This form will allow you to submit a complaint, compliment, general feedback or if you disagree with the outcome of an application.

Alternatively, you may also call the helpline to speak to one of our support workers who will be able to assist you.