SOS – Save our Safe Night Space

Peak community housing and homelessness body Shelter WA has urged the WA Government and City of Perth to step in and keep the doors open at the Safe Night Space for Women.

“We understand funding and access to the Safe Space venue will end on Thursday, 30 November,” Shelter WA CEO Kath Snell said.

“We are calling on the WA Government for an emergency lifeline of funding to keep this service operating.

“We are also calling on the City of Perth and newly re-elected Lord Mayor, Basil Zempilas, to let the service operate in the same premises for another two years (or until a suitable alternate location can be found).

“After recently visiting the Safe Night Space I personally felt very moved, and the only thing more devastating than the fact we need this service at all, is that this service could be closed.

“Given the current crises in homelessness and housing, and the rising incidence of family and domestic violence here in WA, it is highly inappropriate for us to see the closure of this service.

“A service that literally provides refuge and saves lives”

“We are distressed by the prospect of imminent closure of this service and the impact this will have on the women who use this resource, who have literally no other option for anywhere to go at night. We are also concerned at the impact this will have on the many services that refer women and families to this service who aren’t in a position to assist themselves,” Ms Snell said.

“It’s frankly unconscionable that we could even consider allowing the doors to close on a service that literally provides refuge and saves lives and for women who are otherwise on the streets. The Safe Night Space is a place for women who have nowhere else to go. If this isn’t worth fighting for, what is?

“We are supportive of working together with the City of Perth and the WA government, as well as our member, Ruah, to ensure this service can remain open.”

The imminent closure of the Safe Night Space comes amid an already overstretched homelessness sector turning away record numbers of people, and a huge surge in family and domestic violence in WA, with, in 2022 the highest number of offences recorded in 30 years.

“Given the worsening figures around women experiencing family and domestic violence it’s imperative we keep services like this open,” said Ms Snell.

“There isn’t time to wait for alternatives”

“Refuges across our metropolitan and regional areas are overflowing and having to turn women and children away. The WA Government has committed to end rough sleeping by 2025 under its All Paths Lead to a Home: Western Australia’s 10-Year Strategy on Homelessness 2020–2030, and we are supporting this every way we can, but how can we reach this goal when we can’t keep the doors open to one of the most important services in the city?” Ms Snell said.

“Safe Night Space closes its doors within weeks – we are calling for a lifeline. There isn’t time to wait for alternatives. Our community expects better than this.”

BACKGROUND

• Ruah has operated the Safe Night Space service in partnership with the City of Perth at the Rod Evans Community Centre site since May 2021. It also relies on donations from organisations including the Salvos, Red Cross and Ruah’s own network of donors.
• The City of Perth supported the service as an interim measure through until November 2023 (which represents a six-month extension on the original two years). However, the funding and access to the venue will stop in November and – despite a huge effort to find another location, with a supportive local government authority and appropriate planning approvals – Ruah has not been able to secure anywhere for the service.
• In its two years of operations, Safe Night Space has provided a safe place for rest, recuperation and connection to other services for an average of about 30 women a night. It is one of only a few “low barrier” services.

The service takes referrals from other agencies that aren’t in a position to assist including:

City of Perth Rangers	Salvation Army Street Team
City Watch	St Pat’s
Fiona Stanley Hospital (Maternity) Social Work	Street Chaplain
Indigo Junction	Tranby, Uniting WA
Nyoongar Outreach Service	Services working together at RPH inc Homeless Healthcare
Perth Inner City Youth Service (PICYS)	WA Police

• It also helps first responders and emergency services by dedicating at least two places for emergency placements and provides an important and accessible point of discharge for emergency departments and police, taking huge pressure off our health and justice systems.

FAST FACTS

• 520 women were sleeping rough or temporarily sheltered in Perth at September 2023, according to the By-Name List.
• Compared with men, women sleeping rough on the whole were younger, experienced more violence on the street, and significantly more mental and physical health problems. 64 per cent of women reported being a victim of an attack since becoming homeless.
• There are 47 refuges in WA (23 in the metro area) struggling with overwhelming demand.
• This year 58 women have died as a result of male violence, including the death of a woman at Crown Towers this week, the fifth who has died across Australia in just the last ten days.
• 4,389 women experience homelessness every night in WA – an increase of 16 per cent between the 2016 and 2021 census.
• 15,486 women were supported by specialist homelessness services in WA – an increase of 23 per cent in the decade to 2020-21.
• Family and domestic violence (FDV) is the leading cause of homelessness for women and children in WA. 51.5 per cent of women and 37 per cent of young people accessing homelessness services sought assistance because of experiences of domestic violence.
• WA’s rate of FDV incidences increased by 20 per cent between 2018 to 2021, and WA also has the highest rate of reported FDV-related assault offences across Australia.