McAuley is a leader in policy discussions about homelessness and family violence.

We use our knowledge of the issues facing women and children, their experiences and gaps in services and systems, to advocate for change.

We have a particular interest in a ‘Safe at Home’ approach, which seeks to address the problem of women and children becoming homeless because of family violence.

Submissions

2026 submissions

Second Action Plan under Australia’s National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032

The National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 is the overarching national policy framework that will guide actions towards ending violence against women and children in one generation. The Second Action Plan will build on the work of the First Action Plan and help guide national efforts from 2027. McAuley made two submissions to the Department of Social Services to inform the Second Action Plan:

• A submission to build a national integrated response to family violence
• A joint submission with the University of Melbourne, based on learnings from the Safe at Home trial

Shaping the future of employment services

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) released the Shaping the future of employment services Discussion Paper, setting out the government’s vision for a reformed employment services system to better meet the needs of individuals, employers, communities and the economy. The DEWR sought feedback on the Discussion Paper and invited stakeholders to contribute to the design settings for the future service.

McAuley’s submission recommends that the future employment services system move beyond a narrow focus on job placement and recognise employment support as part of a broader safety, housing and recovery response for victim-survivors of family violence.

2022 submissions

2021 submissions

Inquiry into Victoria’s criminal justice system

2020 submissions

Family violence

In July 2020 we made a submission to the work of the Victorian Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor.

We also made a submission to the Australian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Social and Legal Affairs’ Inquiry into Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence

Homelessness

In February 2020, we made a submission to the Victorian Parliament’s Inquiry into Homelessness. Read more about how women contributed their words and stories to our submission. In July 2020, our CEO Jocelyn Bignold OAM and one of our clients, ‘Megan’ gave evidence before this Inquiry.

In June 2020, we made a submission to the Australian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Social and Legal Affairs’ Inquiry into Homelessness.

2019 submissions

In 2019, we made submissions to:

•  The Victorian Royal Commission into Mental Health Services, where we explained that a focus on mental health is central to all our work, and advocated for further investment in vital community health services
• A Victorian Government Parliamentary Inquiry into Disadvantaged Jobseekers, where we used our insight into the challenges that women who’ve experienced family violence and homelessness can face in getting work. Our CEO Jocelyn Bignold AOM also gave evidence before the Inquiry.

Articles

McAuley also writes and contributes to articles about the interconnected issues of homelessness and family violence, often to Australia’s homelessness publication, Parity. Some of the articles we have contributed include:

• The change could happen in my lifetime: Trialling a new Safe at Home response – Parity magazine, July 2025
• The scars we carry – Parity magazine, July 2025
• Knowing what works: McAuley’s model for addressing women’s homelessness – Parity magazine, August 2023
• ‘Losing a little bit of yourself each time you move’ – Parity magazine, August 2023
• ‘The time is right’: re-imagining Safe at Home – Parity magazine, April 2023
• ‘It’s in our DNA’: Opinion piece by McAuley CEO Jocelyn Bignold OAM – Parity magazine, April 2023
• Listening to those with lived experience – Parity magazine, April 2023