How will the funds be used?

The Emergency Financial Relief Fund is a practical response to assist women and their children dealing with their immediate crisis situation in a way that maintains the dignity of the individual and encourages self reliance.

The fund will be used to offer emergency financial support to women and children escaping violence, especially those with limited or no income. Assistance can include food vouchers, cash assistance, assistance with rental payments, healthcare costs, public transport fares, food parcels, clothing and household goods.

Client needs are identified through case management and interview assessments conducted by crisis support workers and counsellor/advocates. These funds are exhausted quickly and, therefore, replenishment of this resource is crucial to IWSS' work with women and children from NESB who are escaping violence.

More about IWSS

IWSS regularly assists women with limited or no regular income. In the majority of cases women have no access to income support while their applications for permanent residency is being determined by either the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC, The Migration Review Tribunal (MRT), the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) and /or the Minister of DIAC. Women may wait months or years to have their applications finalised without eligibility to work. This also often limits women's access to basic services such as housing, education, and healthcare.

Violence against women and women in poverty often need to be considered as parallel issues. The gendered perspective of domestic violence and sexual violence acknowledges that poverty is an outcome for many escaping their violent reality. Women's homelessness (and for children/youth) can often be linked to escaping a violent situation.

The Australian Council of Social Services (2003) further identified the fact that people from CALD backgrounds share the same disadvantages as other Australians, particularly if they are sole parents, on low incomes, have high housing costs and /or experience difficulties with health, education and childcare. However, there are additional factors which can cause and compound this disadvantage, such as:

• Difficulty accessing adequate income support. Many recently arrived migrants to Australia must serve a two year preclusion period during which they are unable to receive any income support via Centrelink - obviously this can contribute to demand for emergency relief.
• Isolation, limited or no family and friends living in Australia
• Lack of English language and literacy skills
• Lack of training opportunities. Many have to do extra training at TAFE or Universities to upgrade their qualifications which takes money and time
• Lack of recognition of overseas qualifications
• Refugees may also suffer the effects of torture and trauma experienced prior to departure and/or on arrival in Australia and the anxiety that accompanies forced migration. This is quite different and apart from migrants who choose to go forward into a new life in another country. This can contribute to heightened challenges associated with resettlement, for example learning English as a second language can be more difficult for refugees than for other migrants.
• Fear of institutions and organisations that represent power/authority, because of the previous experiences of abuse such as state sanctioned torture or corruption in their country of origin
• Pre immigration stresses and the high cost of resettlement (which has been costed at approximately $30,000 to $40,000 for a couple wishing to migrate)
• Cultural differences (culture shock)
• Stereotyping or racism either intentional or unintentional from the genera l community, media etc.

Key Areas of Expenditure