The New South Wales government was warned about flaws in a program designed to keep women escaping violence safe in their own homes two years before Molly Ticehurst died with what her parents said was “false hope” waiting for promised upgrades.
On Thursday, the Minns government announced it had ordered a review of interactions between the Forbes mother and government agencies and service providers after her parents told Guardian Australia she was promised upgrades to “intruder-proof” her home two weeks before she was allegedly murdered.
Ticehurst’s parents, Tony and Kate, say their daughter was let down by the Staying Home Leaving Violence (SHLV) scheme and the local provider that promised to install lights, cameras and tough window screens at her home after she reported her ex-boyfriend to police in April.
Announcing the Cabinet Office review, the prevention of domestic violence minister, Jodie Harrison, said she stood by comments she made in May, shortly after Ticehurst died, that the SHLV program had been “evaluated in 2022 as being successful in achieving housing stability and enhanced wellbeing for women and children affected by domestic and family violence”.
But the review conducted by UNSW researchers under the previous government also found security upgrades were often expensive and it was “difficult to find suitable contractors and trades”.
“In some circumstances, this may mean case workers are doing the upgrades themselves to ensure a quick turnaround,” the review found.
It also outlined the challenges in providing safe homes for clients while they waited for upgrades due to the housing crisis.
“Service providers described clients being unable to move on from crisis or transitional accommodation because there are no rental or government housing properties available due to the ongoing housing crisis in NSW,” the review said.
“Investment in housing, including long-term government housing properties, along with short-term modular or mobile housing, would provide more options to SHLV clients.”
Greens gendered violence and abuse spokesperson, Abigail Boyd, said that while the reports about Ticehurst were shocking, there was nothing “unanticipated” about them.
“The government has known about the shortfalls in delivery of this program for years, and have failed to take action,” she said.
“The 2022 evaluation … identified insufficient and ad hoc funding, with services having to make impossible decisions.”
On 6 May, the NSW government announced a $230m emergency package to tackle domestic violence including money to expand the SHLV program statewide.
Boyd said the program was still “chronically under-resourced”.
SHLV was established in 2006 to enable victim-survivors to stay in their homes after reporting violence by improving security. The program has gradually expanded to 91 local government areas and is supporting 2,600 clients.
The Full Stop Australia clinical and client services director, Tara Hunter, said programs like SHLV needed to enable “routine implementation of risk assessments” to keep women and children safe.
“We can leave no room for people to fall through the gaps,” she said.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 988 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org
