People escaping family and domestic violence, are able to access a one-off assistance payment within six business days of filing an application.
Key points:
- The EVP is a $5,000 support package to help survivors establish a new violence-free home
- The federal budget extended the EVP program to January 2025
- A 4,000 case-backlog shrunk to over 700 in the 12 months leading up to April this year
The new wait time to receive the Escaping Violence Payment (EVP) is a 27-day improvement on the previous average of 33 business days victims were expected to wait for their applications to be processed.
The changes to the wait time period were implemented in April.
The payment is meant to support victim-survivors escape violent relationships, by removing financial barriers.
The government said the improvement is the result of a $38.6 million investment in last October’s budget to boost processing times.
Through additional hiring and extra staff hours and investment in IT, a 4,000 case-backlog shrunk to just over 700 in the 12 months leading up to April this year.
The EVP is a $5,000 support package, which consists of a $1,500 cash payment in addition to other goods and services to help survivors establish a new violence free home.
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the previous wait times were “unacceptable.”
“Women and children experiencing violence should not be forced to remain in unsafe situations due to financial barriers.”
The federal budget released in May, extended the EVP program to January 2025, with an additional $38.2 million to increase the number of packages of support available.
“This means not only are victims-survivors getting more timely support but more people will be supported.”
The minister said demand for the payments is increasing.
“An increase in reporting of family and domestic violence over some period of time and more and more organisations are becoming aware that this payment is available.”
“Having that time sped up from when you can get some work done on your case, is vitally important to ensure that women and children leaving violent situations have the confidence that they will be able to restart their lives.”