Women will be given the money they need to escape family violence, through Victorian state government grants of up to $7000 to be made available immediately.
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These "flexible support packages" can be used to pay for rent or relocation costs, furnishings clothing or school supplies when women need to start new lives in a hurry, or the money can be used to improve security and safety measures in the family home. Recipients could also use the money to pay off bills, cover medical costs or enroll in training courses.
The grants, underpinned by $12 million in state government funding over four years, is available immediately, and will be administered by 15 family violence support services across the state.
Victims testified at the Royal Commission into Family Violence earlier this year that a lack of money, or access to family money, often kept them trapped in dangerous relationships.
Calls for the Victorian government to adopt the NSW "safe in the home" model, which sees the perpetrator removed and the mortgage or rent subsidised, have not yet been taken up by the Victorian government, which is waiting for recommendations to be handed down by the commission in the new year.
Tomorrow, Australian of the Year Rosie Batty and other victims of family violence will address state parliament.
