Support
Leaving an abusive relationship
If you are leaving domestic violence and need to move, we can help with that. If you need someone right now, 1800RESPECT is on 1800 737 732, 24 hours a day — and if you are in immediate danger, call 000.
Why we started doing this
In 2017 we took a call from a woman with $40 in her bank account who needed to leave an abusive relationship urgently. It changed how we saw the job.
It started in the summer of 2017, when we still had one van. At the end of a long day, we got a call for help from a woman who had $40 in her bank account and needed to leave an abusive relationship urgently. She was clearly in distress, and she had been through a lot.
We knew straight away what had to happen, and that it was going to be a lot harder than moving furniture. As a removalist you end up on the front line — you are part of the escape, and part of the rollercoaster of emotions that comes with it.
That was the moment our eyes opened. Since then we have helped at least one family a month. Through COVID-19 it was more.
We live in a beautiful country, with great beaches, gyms and healthcare. But behind the walls there are families who need help from all of us.
We have a fleet of trucks. We would rather put them to good use.
As a company, we want men to open their eyes. We are calling on every grandfather, father, uncle, cousin and workmate: stand against this behaviour, and help teach the next generation of men what is okay and what is not.
— Jose
How we help
We work alongside the organisations that support people leaving domestic violence. They assess the case and arrange the funding; we work with them on the cost of the move itself.
There are two ways this reaches us, and neither one is the wrong door. A support service already working with someone contacts us to coordinate the move. Or somebody calls us first, because they do not yet know who to ring — in which case we talk through what happens next and put them on to the right organisation.
The financial side sits with the support service rather than with us. They are the ones who assess the situation and arrange the funding, and once a move is coordinated we work with them on what it costs. There is nothing to apply for on this page, and calling us is not how that support is obtained — it is how you find out who to ask.
The practical side matters as much as the cost. These moves happen at short notice, often in a narrow window, and they are the part a removalist can genuinely take off someone's plate — the truck, the lifting, the loading, and knowing where everything is going.
We have been doing it since 2017, and it is usually at least one family a month.
If you need help right now
These services take calls directly. You do not need to go through us first, and you do not need to have spoken to us at all.
If you are in immediate danger, call 000.
1800RESPECT
The national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling and support line, funded by the Australian Government. 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Mary's House Services
Specialist domestic and family violence support on the North Shore, on Cammeraygal Country.
WAGEC — Women's & Girls' Emergency Centre
Crisis accommodation and support for women, children and families, based in Redfern.
Or talk to us, and we will connect you
If you would rather start with a phone call to us, that is how this has often worked in practice. We will put you in touch with the right service and talk through the move itself.