Content note: this episode discusses domestic and family violence, homelessness and serious illness.

Leaving is only the first step. In our first episode, Mandy Richards and Heidi Albertiri talk with Diana, a lived experience advocate who fled a violent marriage with her kids and only the clothes they were wearing. With no access to government support, they slept in a car while her son finished Year 12.

Diana shares what came next: debt, years of court, crisis accommodation that wasn't there, and a rental market that kept pushing her out. She also talks about what real accountability could look like, and what owning a home through Global Sisters' Little Green Houses pilot would mean to her.

Mentioned: Little Green Houses | Global Sisters Grace campaign

Need support? In immediate danger, call 000. National domestic, family and sexual violence line, 1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732 (24/7). Safe Steps (Vic): 1800 015 188 (24/7). Lifeline: 13 11 14 (24/7).

• (00:00:00) - Content warning and podcast introduction
• (00:01:59) - Introducing Diana and her story
• (00:03:05) - Growing up in New Zealand and meeting her husband
• (00:04:35) - Abuse begins and forced move to Australia
• (00:06:27) - Understanding why she couldn't fight the move
• (00:08:51) - Isolation as a non-citizen and the 18-year plan
• (00:10:33) - Living day to day under coercive control
• (00:14:11) - Warning signs of abuse for others to recognize
• (00:16:28) - The night they fled - son's life threatened
• (00:21:18) - Fleeing with nothing and reaching the police
• (00:24:13) - Homelessness, debt, and navigating broken systems
• (00:29:23) - What a trauma-informed pathway should look like
• (00:33:36) - Holding perpetrators accountable
• (00:36:46) - Representing herself in court for $80,000
• (00:39:03) - The scale of financial inequity in the settlement
• (00:42:33) - Why women stay, and the housing crisis backdrop
• (00:45:25) - Gender inequality and rising homelessness over 55
• (00:47:28) - Reconciling the past and Diana's advocacy work today
• (00:50:21) - Global Sisters, Sister Chats, and finding community
• (00:54:35) - The reality of crisis accommodation in Australia
• (00:57:54) - Why crisis accommodation shouldn't exist at all
• (00:59:10) - Little Greenhouses: a home ownership pilot for women
• (01:01:14) - A perpetrator register and accountability solutions
• (01:07:09) - What owning a home would mean to Diana
• (01:10:18) - Years of rental instability for Diana and her daughter
• (01:14:28) - Losing her pottery business to housing instability
• (01:15:51) - Advice for women listening who feel trapped
• (01:18:11) - Closing thoughts and message of hope