Community support
Domestic and Family Violence Prevention | Supported Accommodation Assistance Program
Domestic and Family Violence Prevention
The Department of Communities administers the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989. The Act aims to provide safety and protection for people in domestic relationships who are victims of domestic and family violence. These domestic relationships include: spousal relationships, intimate personal relationships, family relationships and informal care relationships.
The Act provides protection by allowing a court to make a Domestic Violence Order to protect a person against further domestic and family violence. A Domestic Violence Order includes conditions that restrain, restrict and prohibit the behaviour of the respondent (the person committing domestic and family violence) in order to prevent further domestic and family violence.
Information in relation to the numbers of applications for Domestic Violence Orders made in Queensland and their outcomes are provided to this Department by the Department of Justice and Attorney-General.
Information has been collected from all courts on a monthly basis since the
commencement of the legislation on 21 August 1989.
Supported Accommodation Assistance Program
The Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) is a joint Commonwealth/State program that provides transitional supported accommodation and a range of related support services in order to help people who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness to achieve the maximum possible degree of self-reliance and independence.
There are approximately 200 SAAP funded agencies across Queensland collecting data. These range from small stand-alone agencies with single outlets to larger auspice bodies with many individual services around the state. They provide accommodation and support services to a range of groups: families, single men, single women, young people, and women and children escaping domestic violence.
The National Data Collection Agency (NDCA), managed by the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare, is responsible for collation and analysis of SAAP data nationally and produces annual reports at national, state and individual SAAP agency levels.
While some basic data is collected for all clients, there is some information that is only recorded if informed consent is given by the client. The data collection relates to those clients with whom agencies have contact for more than one hour and where an ongoing support relationship is entered into.