Independent Member and candidate for Braddon, Craig Garland, has today announced his support for an urgent upgrade to the Warrawee Women’s Shelter crisis accommodation service in Ulverstone, following a visit to the facility earlier this week.
“After learning that the North West has the highest rate of domestic and family violence in Tasmania – and the fewest crisis beds – I visited Warrawee to see the situation firsthand,” Mr Garland said. “What I saw was deeply concerning.”
Warrawee is the only specialist crisis accommodation facility specifically for women and children in the North West. The service supports families in the region who are experiencing family and sexual violence or homelessness and the site, built in the 1970s, is no longer fit for purpose.
“There are only four bedrooms in a single building – barely large enough for one woman, let alone children who have experienced significant trauma,” Mr Garland said. “Families must share bathrooms and communal spaces, and the cramped conditions mean the service can’t support women and children with more complex needs. It’s not even properly equipped for children at all.” “While the staff are dedicated and doing everything they can, the building itself is simply not set up to be the trauma-informed, safe space victim survivors need to begin rebuilding their lives.”
By comparison, Launceston has a modern, purpose-built core and cluster site with a total of 58 bedrooms across a range of self-contained units for different family sizes. Purpose built facilities are available onsite and families have access to service providers and child specific programs including playgroups and dedicated spaces for children. Hobart has two facilities, with a combined capacity that will be approaching 100 total bedrooms, following the completion of additional units at Hobart Women’s Shelter over the next 12 months.
Over the past year, Warrawee has been forced to turn away more women and children than it has been unable to support – a total of 150 women and 147 children – due to chronic lack of capacity. Many of these families without suitable accommodation are left to couch surf, sleep in cars, or remain in unsafe situations. “This is not a new issue,” Mr Garland said. “Almost a year ago Anglicare highlighted the urgent need for more crisis accommodation, transitional housing and social homes in the North West. Their March 2025 report reiterated these calls with even greater urgency.”
“I understand that both major parties have received a proposal from Warrawee to build a new trauma-informed ‘core and cluster’ shelter for women and their children on the North-West coast. I urge them to provide cross-party support for this critical proposal.”
“Domestic violence has been declared a national emergency. It’s time our state government treated it like one.”