Family and domestic violence financial assistance
About the program
The Australian Red Cross Family and Domestic Violence (FDV) Financial Assistance program is available to people:
- on temporary visas, or with uncertain visa status, who are living in Australia, and,
- experiencing family or domestic violence, and,
- experiencing financial hardship, and,
- have not accessed the FDV Financial Assistance program previously.
The program is not open to Australian citizens or permanent visa holders. If you are a citizen or permanent visa holder you may be eligible for support through the Australian Government’s Escaping Violence Payment. Visit the Uniting Care website to check your eligibility.
What sort of help can I get?
The FDV Financial Assistance program can help you with:
- payments up to $5,000*
- referral to a specialist FDV agency or other services
- support coordination for up to 3 months (upon assessment).
(* this is the total amount that you may be eligible for if you lodged your application on or after 3 July 2023. If you lodged your application prior to 3 July 2023, the total amount you are eligible for is $3,000.)
How can I apply?
Applications for FDV Financial Assistance can only be made online.
Do not send applications or documents via email.
Before you apply
You will need to provide evidence of:
Visa status: such as a copy of your passport or Immi card. Please ensure your date of birth, travel document number and nationality are included in your application.
- If you are uncertain or don’t currently hold a visa, you are still able to apply, and Red Cross will call you to discuss.
Financial hardship: such as a bank statement or transaction summary. This must be dated within 3 months of your application, and include your name and account number.
- If you do not have a bank account, you are still able to apply, and Red Cross will call you to discuss.
To start, we'll check you are eligible for Family and Domestic Violence financial assistance.
If you are eligible, you will be able to apply.
Help with your application
Information for service providers
Service providers can help a client to apply via the online portal. Red Cross will not accept applications or referrals via email.
If you are supporting a client to apply, do not use your work email address; applications must be made using the client’s personal email. If it is unsafe for the client to use their current email address, please support them to open a new one.
The application process also requires the Red Cross Referral Form to be completed by the referring agent/service provider. This form includes a Privacy Collection Notice and declaration by you as an agency that the client understands and consents to how you are sharing their information. More information on Privacy and Confidentiality is available below.
For more information on family and domestic violence services in your state and territory:
- Australian Capital Territory
- New South Wales
- Northern Territory
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Tasmania
- Victoria
- Western Australia
Support services for men who are experiencing family violence, and information regarding behaviour change programs, is available here.
Downloadable and shareable flyers about Family and Domestic Violence Financial Assistance Program are available in these languages:
Arabic | Bengali | Chinese (simplified) | English | Farsi | Hazaragi | Hindi | Kinyarwanda | Malay | Nepali | Punjabi | Spanish | Sinhala | Swahili | Tamil | Tagalog | Urdu | Vietnamese
Privacy and confidentiality
To ensure the highest level of privacy and confidentiality do not send any documents via email.
The Red Cross privacy and consent notice is available in these languages:
Arabic | Bengali | Chinese (simplified) | English | Farsi | Hazaragi | Hindi | Malay | Nepali | Punjabi | Spanish | Tagalog | Urdu
Red Cross welcomes the federal government’s $6.5 million investment through the Department of Social Services to provide financial assistance to people on temporary visas who are experiencing domestic and family violence.
We know from our work across Australia that people on temporary visas, or those with uncertain visa status, face specific challenges in reporting and accessing support services for family and domestic violence. The government’s investment will allow us to provide immediate and short-term support to alleviate the impacts of family and domestic violence for people on temporary visas.
Under the year-long pilot, working alongside family and domestic violence agencies, Red Cross will provide up to $5,000 in financial assistance to those eligible, to help cover expenses such as accommodation, food, and medical care. The pilot will also support referrals and, where specialist agencies are unable to help, provide short-term casework support.
In addition to providing direct financial support to people on temporary visas, the pilot will build an evidence base to help shape future support for temporary visa holders experiencing violence.
Red Cross will continue to work closely with local and nationwide family and domestic violence agencies and other services to ensure that support reaches to those most in need, no matter where they are, as quickly as possible, and that we ensure people are linked and referred to relevant local services, wherever possible.
Domestic and Family Violence and your visa
The Department of Home Affairs has a dedicated Domestic and Family Violence Support team to support temporary visa holders experiencing FDV in Australia.
They have information about FDV and your visa and a checklist to help navigate the visa application process:
With your permission, the dedicated support officers can work with Red Cross and other services to obtain information about your visa status and, where appropriate, escalate a visa application or liaise with relevant teams in the department.