Tuesday Apr 07, 2026
#18 The Gap in the Middle Is Homelessness: From Systems Mapping to Safe at Home with Jocelyn Bignold
Family violence is the leading cause of homelessness in Australia. Everything in the system — community expectations, child protection, housing support payments — pushes women to leave. And yet there's nowhere affordable for them to go. The gap in the middle is homelessness.
In this episode, we speak with Jocelyn Bignold, CEO of McAuley Community Services for Women, about the deep intersection between family violence and homelessness, and what happens when we flip the script. Jocelyn walks us through the Safe at Home trial in Geelong and Barwon, which is supporting whole families to stay safe — with zero critical incidents and no homelessness across 23 households so far.
We also dig into how systems mapping became McAuley's "North Star," why early intervention means different things to different parts of the system, and what it takes to turn curiosity into action when the problem feels too big.
Key topics:
- The intersection of family violence and homelessness
- How the Safe at Home trial works — and what it's revealing
- Systems mapping as a tool for seeing the bigger picture
- Redefining early intervention through lived experience
- Scaling from a pilot without losing what makes it work
- The role of curiosity, boldness, and partnerships in systems change
Links & resources:
- Safe at Home
- McAuley Community Services for Women
- AIHW Specialist Homelessness Services Annual Report
- Systems Sandbox Episode: Systems Thinking as Process and Product with Jocelyn Bignold — Apple Podcasts | Spotify
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