Person leaving family violence obtains protection, income and housing

The protection order is nationally recognised — a genuine reform, done in 2017. What is not shared is the evidence. The same violence is proved separately to a court, a payment provider, Centrelink, a housing authority and an employer.

justiceA person leaving an intimate partner relationship because of violence, seeking a protection order and the financial and housing support attached to it draft compare across jurisdictions

180 days elapsed
longest dependent chain

8 discrete steps
across 4 bodies

17% waiting on availability
scheduling or queue, not assessment

96 days saved by concurrency
vs. 276 if run end-to-end

Where the time goes

Critical-path days only. Steps that run alongside others are real work but do not lengthen the process, so counting them here would overstate the prize.

assessment	120d	Someone is genuinely evaluating the merits.
applicant	30d	Waiting on the applicant to supply or fix something.
queue	30d	Waiting behind unrelated work in a backlog.

30 of 180 elapsed days are spent waiting for a person or a meeting rather than for a judgement to be formed. Removing that time changes no assessment standard and lowers no bar -- it is the cost of scheduling alone.

The process, step by step

Applies when: A person leaves, or plans to leave, a violent partner or shared residence.

#	Step	Who	Why it waits	Clock	Typical	Basis
1	Leave, or plan to leave, safely application The decision and the act, which is the period of highest risk.	—	applicant	—	30 estimate	—
2	Apply for and obtain a protection order decision An interim and then a final order under state family violence law. after Leave, or plan to leave, safely 30d slack	Local court (domestic violence orders)	assessment	—	120 estimate	—
3	Assemble evidence for the Leaving Violence Program application Evidence of violence and of financial stress. after Leave, or plan to leave, safely 129d slack	Leaving Violence Program provider	applicant	—	21 published	—
4	Leaving Violence Program assessment and payment decision Up to $5,000 in financial support, with risk assessment, safety planning and referrals. after Assemble evidence for the Leaving Violence Program 99d slack	Leaving Violence Program provider	assessment	—	30 published	—
5	Crisis payment from Centrelink application only if triggered One week's payment for extreme circumstances including family and domestic violence. Triggered when: The person qualifies for an income support payment and claims within the allowed period. after Leave, or plan to leave, safely 136d slack	Services Australia	queue	—	14 estimate	Social Security Act 1991 (Cth)
6	Access paid family and domestic violence leave application only if triggered Ten days paid leave in a 12 month period, available to all employees. Triggered when: The person is employed and chooses to disclose to their employer. after Leave, or plan to leave, safely 143d slack	—	applicant	—	7 reported	Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)
7	Apply for priority housing application Priority status on the housing register requires evidence of urgent need. after Leave, or plan to leave, safely 105d slack	Homes NSW	third party	—	45 estimate	—
8	Protection, income and housing in place registration The point at which the person has an order, financial support and somewhere to live. after Apply for and obtain a protection order, Leaving Violence Program assessment and payment, Apply for priority housing	—	queue	—	30 estimate	—

on the critical path scheduling/queue = delay not caused by the assessment itself

Proposed changes

Prove it once merge ~60d
A protection order made anywhere in Australia has been automatically recognised everywhere since 2017. The evidence behind it is not. The same violence is proved separately to a court, a payment provider, Centrelink, a housing authority and an employer.
A twelve-week window and a twelve-month exclusion, for something that is rarely a single event threshold
The Leaving Violence Program requires that a person left within the previous 12 weeks, or has a plan to leave soon, and has not accessed the payment in the previous 12 months. Leaving is frequently not one event, and the period of highest danger is around separation.

Sources

Attorney-General's Department, National Domestic Violence Order Scheme: orders made on or after 25 November 2017 are automatically recognised and enforceable nationally
Department of Social Services, Leaving Violence Program: permanent from 1 July 2025, $925 million; up to $5,000; applicant must have left within 12 weeks or have a safe, secure plan to leave soon; not accessed in the previous 12 months
Leaving Violence Program evidence: financial stress, plus a referral from a family violence service with risk assessment and safety plan, or an apprehended violence order, court order or police report
Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth): 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave
NSW Government, Social Housing Eligibility and Allocations Policy Supplement: priority housing requires evidence of urgent need

Something wrong here?

This page is wrong in some way -- every page like it is. If you have run this process, the most useful thing you can do is tell us which step took longer than we say and why. Edit data/processes/nsw-family-violence-support.toml and open a pull request, or send us the correction.