Housing Crisis Contributes to Aboriginal Parents having Children Removed

Kellyanne Andy (CEO, Elizabeth Morgan House and NIFVS Committee member) has highlighted the issue of housing shortages for Aboriginal women and children in this article from Domain in The Age.

A dramatic shortage of social housing in Victoria is contributing to the high rate of Aboriginal children being taken from their families, often in cases of family violence.

Kellyanne Andy, was quoted as saying that the lack of available ‘social housing has made it virtually impossible for mothers fleeing domestic violence to provide a stable home, one of the criteria on which Child Protection can apply to have children removed.’

Organisations such as Elizabeth Morgan House are calling on the government to increase social housing to prevent children being removed.

Kellyanne Andy also pointed out that in the wake of the bushfires, as housing disaster victims take precedence over all other cases, this situation could be particularly acute.

Take action on the homelessness crisis by joining the Council to Homeless Person’s Everybody’s Home Campaign.