New emergency accommodation platform supporting safer placements for women and children
McAuley Community Services for Women (McAuley) has launched the new Emergency Accommodation Management System (EAMS), a purpose-built platform transforming how emergency accommodation is coordinated in Victoria.
Every night in Victoria, around 100 women and children escaping family violence find themselves in motels due to a lack of other available options.
Motels are also used for emergency accommodation by a range of other community service organisations, including those that work with perpetrators of violence.
EAMS addresses the critical need for a unified digital platform to coordinate and track emergency placements for victim survivors across Victoria, strengthening safety for women and children.
Funded by the Department of Fairness, Families and Housing, EAMS provides safer, faster and more reliable tools for workers across the state. Key features of the system include:
- Fast, simple access to property shortlists
- Comprehensive search, filtering, safety flags and cohort suitability
- Robust security and compliance controls
- Accessibility features to include access for users with a disability
- Prompts to ensure accurate recording in sector databases
- Better selection features to support safer placements
Previously, the process for booking emergency accommodation involved manually checking websites or calling motels to find basic information. Over the past 18 months, McAuley has been transitioning the existing Motel Database to EAMS.
The platform is now live statewide, providing a centralised list of all private, external emergency accommodation used across the community services sector.
McAuley CEO, Jocelyn Bignold OAM, said the launch of EAMS marks a major step forward in the safety of emergency accommodation across Victoria.
“Women and children fleeing violence account for a large proportion of the people placed in crisis accommodation in Victoria.
“EAMS provides a clearer view of motel usage across the sector so frontline workers have the information they need to place clients in the safest and most suitable accommodation.
“It gives women and children a safer start on their first night away from violence.”
McAuley Head of Innovation and Business Development, Helen Whitehead, said the upgrade is already delivering benefits across Victoria’s community services sector.
“As of February 2026, we have 1168 people from 109 organisations accessing EAMS. These frontline workers can now rely on a single system, rather than searching multiple databases and manually verifying information.
“Additional information stored in EAMS about the motel’s security, amenities and other factors that determine suitability mean decisions can be made faster, helping women and children to move into safe spaces sooner.”
Media contact
Gabrielle Prabhu
Communications Manager
McAuley Community Services for Women
0457 624 904
gabriellep@mcauley.org.au