The lack of affordable housing stock has exacerbated problems for residents trying to leave their homes to escape domestic violence.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The median cost of weekly rent in some regional areas around the country has blown out by more than 20 per cent in the past year and on the border of NSW and Victoria rental vacancies have remained close to zero over the past two years.
Property experts and analysts are blaming the COVID-19 pandemic for the sudden demand for private and rental housing options.
Centre Against Violence chief executive Jaime Chubb said affordable housing was a right for everyone, but was of high importance for people who were unsafe in their homes.
"For people who are unsafe in their home due to violence or abuse their ability to leave is strongly linked to their ability to find housing," she said.
"And at the moment housing is near impossible for anybody, let alone those that are maybe impacted financially or maybe struggling with unemployment or a complexity of issues that are all linked to a family violence situation."
Ms Chubb said the housing and rental shortage was putting more people fleeing domestic violence at risk and limiting their options to get away from the perpetrator.
"It's an issue in every geographic area of the Ovens and Murray region, so it's not just the main central areas, housing is a huge issue in our rural areas and unfortunately victim survivors are being forced to leave their communities."
READ MORE:
Upper Murray Family Care service manager of child and family services Kath Kerin said temporary accommodation could sometimes be found for people leaving family violence.
"But temporary is the key word there," she said.
"And there's always the question about what's going to happen for them after that in terms of what are their accommodation options when there isn't any in the market.
"Unfortunately, it can result in family members returning to unsafe situations, so going back to their home."
Ms Kerin said it was a huge problem, made worse by the pandemic.
"Sometimes they (people leaving family violence) have to go out of area to get coordination and that's really destructive and impacts further on the affected family members."
Ms Chubb said a multi-pronged approach was needed to find solutions.
"It involves housing providers and local councils and governments working collaboratively to find solutions to best fit individual communities," she said.