Six weeks ago, Jade contacted a domestic violence service in Sydney, telling them she wanted to leave her abusive partner and needed somewhere to stay with their three young children.
She claimed she had suffered multiple physical assaults over several years and no longer wanted her children to witness the abuse.
"Sometimes I'd have black eyes … my hand has been stabbed before," she said.
"They don't need to be seeing that and they don't need to have that life."
But Jade, who has been given a pseudonym to protect her identity, said she was told all the shelters were full and there was nowhere for them to go.
She was put on a waiting list and felt she had no choice but to stay in her partner's home.
A few weeks later, things escalated and Jade decided she could no longer stay.
In the days after she left with the children, he allegedly attacked her again, punching her and holding a knife to her throat.
This time, Jade called police and her partner was arrested.
He was denied bail earlier this month after being charged with common assault, stalking and intimidation intending fear of physical harm and breaching an apprehended domestic violence order.
But Jade and her three children, all aged under four, are now homeless.
'There's not much availability for people trying to leave domestic violence'
The family of four cannot stay in his home and multiple crisis accommodation services told her they did not have space for them.
"They said there's not much availability for people trying to leave domestic violence … there's no vacancies in refuges or anything like that because they've got no resources at the moment," she said.
After being told all the local shelters were full, Jade and her children were initially given temporary accommodation in Mount Druitt, but she said an electrician had left exposed wiring in the home and she did not feel safe there.
The family spent a night sleeping in their car before being moved to a hotel room, where they all slept in the same bed and didn't have access to a kitchen.
"It's not even a bedroom just a room in a hotel with a bed in it … not even anywhere to wash my kids bottles," she said.
"Sometimes I would sit there and think should I give up and just go back because I felt like it was hopeless, like there was nothing I could do, like I'm just being given dead ends."
Jade and her children are now staying in another temporary crisis accommodation apartment.
The mother of three young children had been told she was needed to inspect and apply for six private rentals per week, to be allowed to stay in temporary housing.
After being contacted by ABC News, the department removed that requirement, with Housing Minister Rose Jackson saying "a single mother should not have the burden of attending multiple rental viewings with her children during this vulnerable time".
Later the Department of Housing said it had found Jade and her children a home, which they will move to in the coming days.
Jade said she felt let down by the government services that were supposed to support her.
"I feel like there's no support, there hasn't been much support for me from government agencies," she said.
"People that aren't even in the government agencies have done more for me than the government agencies have."
Government urged to look at more options for crisis shelters
Women's Community Shelters CEO Annabelle Daniel said with shelters across the state constantly full, Jade's experience was "incredibly common".
"We know, for example, that in the most recent shelter that we opened, we're turning away nine out of 10 people who approach us for help," Ms Daniel said.
"We know that the housing affordability crisis is having a huge issue for women who are leaving domestic and family violence because if you need to get away from your home for safety reasons, it's incredibly difficult to find somewhere new that you can afford and move into."
Ms Daniel said putting women and children who are fleeing domestic and family violence in hotel rooms was "not the best solution".
"We also know that motels are actually pretty expensive… They don't have proper kitchen facilities, and the woman and her children might all be in the same bed," she said.
"Whereas if you provide support to someone in a refuge, they don't just get that safe bed, they also get all of that incredible wraparound support for a much cheaper price."
Ms Daniel called on the government to "bring new crisis accommodation shelters online" urgently.
"We need to look at innovative options such as making use of things like aged care facilities that aren't being completely utilised… we need to look at decommissioned hotels," she said.
"All of those things can be repurposed to support women and children, while new social housing is built."
Moves to keep victim-survivors in their homes
Ms Jackson said Jade's situation was "not good enough" and "no-one should have to choose between homelessness and staying in a violent relationship".
"Time and time again we see the weight of the responsibility fall onto the victim. It is not OK and we're taking active steps to change this," Ms Jackson said.
Ms Jackson said the government had committed $48 million to a state-wide rollout of the Staying Home Leaving Violence Program, which aims to keep domestic violence victims and their children in the family home to prevent homelessness.
"We are also exploring transforming under-utilised government-owned properties for meanwhile use housing to bring more homes online sooner for people who need it most," she said.
"We know that we have more work to do to ensure we are providing wrap around support for people in distressing and vulnerable situations."
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