The prospect of being without a home is frightening – especially when children are involved.

Like thousands of people in and around Melbourne, Sarah* lived in private rental with her husband and child. They were on a single income and after the death of her mum, Sarah was diagnosed with severe depression. The couple were struggling to cope and had fallen behind in their rent. By the time Sarah found us at Homeless Law, there was an eviction order and police were going to remove the family from their home in seven days. They were behind in the rent by about $400 and the landlord wanted to move back into the property – he’d issued another notice requiring her to vacate within 60 days.

Over the four years I’ve been at Justice Connect Homeless Law we’ve worked with hundreds of women like Sarah. The prospect of being without a home is frightening – especially when children are involved.

But the figures should frighten all of us – women make up nearly 50% of homeless Australians. It doesn’t fit the stereotype (often people sleeping rough around the CBD) or what we think we know about homelessness.

Alarmingly, family violence is now the single biggest cause of homelessness in Australia. When I started at Homeless Law, I didn’t understand the extent of the problem or the many different factors that can push people into homelessness in our community.

Day in, day out, we see people stuck in a cycle of homelessness. When someone loses their home, they are forced into crisis mode and all their energy goes into getting through each day.

For one woman this meant sleeping in a car with her kids, showering at the local swimming pool and doing homework each night in the park. Parenting kids is a tough enough job when you have a roof over your head. It’s hard to imagine how these mothers cope.

When people become homeless, there is little time or energy left over to address the personal, health or financial issues that contributed to their homelessness and when they look for stable housing, there are 34,000 people in front of them waiting for public housing in Victoria. Community housing is in short supply and the private rental market is increasingly unaffordable for people on low incomes. As a result, people are often forced into crisis accommodation or dilapidated and unsafe rooming houses.

Women are particularly vulnerable. Women experiencing homelessness are less visible than men because they generally don’t ‘sleep rough’ and are more likely to find shelter in their cars, refuges or by couch surfing with friends and family.

As well as making up nearly half of all homeless Australians, women make up 67% of those at risk of falling into homelessness. In addition to family violence, the  circumstances that can leave women vulnerable to homelessness include falling behind in rent because of job loss, illness or caring for sick children and complaints by landlords or neighbours (often because of noise from children or aggravated partners).

We want to stop this trend in its tracks. Which is why we came up with the Women’s Homelessness Prevention Project – a weekly clinic that starts in April. It will be at a central Melbourne location close to services and public transport. The clinic has been made possible with the support of the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Fund and the City of Melbourne.

We know evictions and homelessness can be avoided with the right legal advice and representation – but we also know that by itself, legal help is not a long term solution. That’s why we’ve included intensive social work support so women have the help they need to address the problems that put them at risk of homelessness in the first place.

By focussing on prevention, the project aims to increase the opportunities of women and their children by keeping them in their homes. Where tenancies can’t be saved we will work hard so we understand the impact of eviction and can push for changes to the systems that force far too many women and children into homelessness

Our hope is that this collaborative response will keep more women and children in safe and secure housing and reduce homelessness. In linking Sarah and women like her with financial, psychological, educational or health services, the project hopes to assist women to address the underlying causes of their housing instability, supporting them to break the cycle of homelessness before it begins.

To finish Sarah’s story – we were able to help her and her family. Homeless Law represented her at a rehearing at the tenancy tribunal and the eviction order for rent was set aside. Sarah’s landlord also ended up agreeing to allow Sarah to pay the remaining rent in instalments and to stay in the property for three more months while our social worker assisted Sarah and her family to access supports to find another rental property where Sarah is still living today. We also referred Sarah to a financial counsellor to help her manage her limited money and avoid falling behind in rent again.

Through our new clinic, we’re tackling homelessness one woman at a time – before it happens. You can help us by passing on information about our service to a friend or family member who might need it.

Lucy Adams is the Manager and Principal Lawyer of Justice Connect Homeless Law.  Homeless Law has been offering free legal advice and assistance to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness since 2001.

The Women’s Homelessness Prevention Project offers legal and support services to women at risk of homelessness in Melbourne. Freecall 1800 606 313 for information or to make an appointment.

* Name has been changed.

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