Christie Hayes is no stranger to adversity; the straight-shooting former soap star turned Tassie-based radio host knows better than most what it means to be up against a wall with seemingly no way out.<\/p>\n
The young mother spends most of her days close to nature in New Norfolk, enjoying time with her husband Justin and her 11-year-old son Hendrix, but her intimate relationships \u2013 through no fault of her own \u2013 weren\u2019t always as healthy and loving as they are today.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Escaping a relationship founded on threatening behaviour, coercion, and financial abuse wasn\u2019t easy for Hayes, but she still refers to herself as \u201cone of the lucky people\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had access to money. I could take out credit cards, and I incurred a lot of debt \u2026 I spent thousands and thousands of dollars to protect myself, and I was just one of the lucky people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had access to loans, credit cards and a good credit rating because I had a long working history, but without all of that, I wouldn\u2019t have been able to protect myself at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, just hours after Anglicare released the Cost of Leaving Report, which found the cost of escaping domestic violence had risen 71 per cent in the last decade, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said women under threat of intimate partner violence should \u201cnot put up with it\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just feel that if you\u2019re not in a house where you feel safe, you feel you don\u2019t want to be there, then you shouldn\u2019t put up with it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson later sought to clarify she felt domestic violence was \u201ca scourge,\u201d but the comment was widely interpreted by advocates as a suggestion that women shouldn\u2019t find it too difficult to leave an abusive situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat an ignorant comment. When I heard her say women shouldn\u2019t put up with it, I thought \u2018My God, what a privileged position to be in\u2019. What a ridiculous thing to say,\u201d Hayes said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was so gross and the worst part was, she doubled down on it. Is she forgetting that it\u2019s not as easy to just up and leave or even get a man who is violent kicked out of the house?\u201d<\/p>\n
Senator Hanon\u2019s comments on the Broken Fathers Podcast late last year suggesting family courts were a \u201ccash cow\u201d for women receiving child support payments have also since resurfaced.<\/p>\n
Hayes, who has now spent several years in the domestic violence advocacy space, said she had spoken to \u201cthousands of women\u201d during her time as a radio host.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey reach out to me and share their experiences of being trapped, being too scared, losing their kids, all the drama with family law, not being able to afford a lawyer and not being able to get out of the house,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when you see a leader speaking like that, it completely minimises what a woman actually has to go through to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Cost of Leaving Report, the average cost for a woman to escape domestic violence and resettle her life is just more than $7000; more than $2000 higher than it was 10 years ago.<\/p>\n
Anglicare general manager of relationships and wellbeing Clare Dunlop said the focus of support for victims of domestic violence often centred on the physical, emotional and social challenges they endured, but rarely was there space left for financial discussions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that financial abuse is a common feature of domestic and family violence, and it actually can continue to affect victim survivors even long after the separation,\u201d Ms Dunlop said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes people ask, \u2018Why doesn\u2019t she just leave?\u2019 but that\u2019s the wrong question. The question is why is it not possible for somebody to leave? What is causing them to stay in that situation?<\/p>\n
\u201cOutside of rent, there are costs associated with leaving that we don\u2019t even tend to think about. You might have somewhere to live, but what about whitegoods? Is there a kettle, a toaster, a bed, or linen? What about pets, can the dog come? What about the kids? The list goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hayes said women in financially abusive relationships were unlikely to be able to spontaneously generate $7000 in the current economic climate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho can just come up with $7000 quickly? No one can unless you are on a six-figure salary and even that is a stretch nowadays \u2026 I can\u2019t even imagine how stressful it is,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The report makes three key policy recommendations centred around improved financial support, expanded housing and accommodation reform and heightened economic and employment protections.<\/p>\n
The Leaving Violence Program is capped at $5000 for domestic violence victims attempting to restart their lives, and Anglicare has urged the federal government to raise the grant cap to $7000.<\/p>\n
The organisation has also called for expansions for purpose-built transitional and long-term housing options, which exist in limited numbers.<\/p>\n
As of May 2026, there are more than 70,000 households waiting to be allocated into social housing in NSW.<\/p>\n
Hayes believes the system has created an environment where victims are forced to jump through more hoops than perpetrators and has advocated for clearer tenancy rights and greater government support.<\/p>\n
\u201cI lived in Woolloomooloo, right next door to Kings Cross when those really tragic coward punches happened. I welcomed the lockout laws, it was great, but it was also two men,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been 38 women killed this year alone, 79 women the year before and 106 women the year before that. This is a serious crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read related topics:One Nation<\/a>Pauline Hanson<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christie Hayes is no stranger to adversity; the straight-shooting former soap star turned Tassie-based radio host knows 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