Women's Community Shelters

Since 2020, Goodman Foundation has partnered with Women’s Community Shelters (WCS) to respond to Australia’s domestic violence and homelessness crisis. Through multi-year support and capacity-building investment, Goodman has supported WCS to expand into new communities, further innovate its housing models, and continue its life-saving work.

Key highlights

• More than half the women across Australia who seek a bed in a crisis shelter are turned away every night
• WCS provides 66,000+ safe nights of crisis and transitional accommodation for women and children every year
• Goodman’s support allows direct, immediate support for women with no income and also enables WCS to expand and innovate.

Domestic and family violence is the single largest cause of homelessness for women in Australia, and the numbers continue to rise. Every night, more than 54,000 women are without a safe place to sleep.  If they reach out for help, more than half will be turned away – there simply aren’t enough beds. 

Women’s Community Shelters (WCS) was founded to change that reality. Working with local communities, it opens crisis and transitional housing (safe havens) for women and children. Its model is philanthropy-funded, community-driven, and designed to fill critical gaps in the system at the same time as working to change it.

When Goodman began its partnership with WCS, we asked: “Who are the most vulnerable women you deal with?”  

The answer led to a program of support for women on temporary visas, ineligible for any government safety nets even when facing family or domestic violence. This means leaving an unsafe home environment knowing there’s no Medicare or no Centrelink – and no opportunity to access other life-saving supports. 

Through a multi-year partnership with Goodman WCS has been able to provide sustainable housing solutions for these women as they traverse the long, complex process of resolving both immigration and policing matters while trying to rebuild their lives. 

A partnership built on trust

Certainty of multi-year funding from Goodman, and flexibility in how this funding could be used, has helped WCS to think bigger about its role in reform.