Phoebe Rook, played by Aisha Dee, is in her twenties and has just started her job as a communications specialist at the Family Violence Legal Service, a statewide community center offering free legal help to those fleeing domestic and family violence in Victoria. Her role is to boost the center’s profile while dealing with rumors of funding cuts. On her first day, while observing the sharp lawyer Jenny, portrayed by Mabel Li, in magistrate’s court, Phoebe examines a list of intervention orders. She reacts by saying those individuals should be imprisoned, to which Jenny sarcastically replies about the ineffectiveness of jail in preventing violent behavior. The center plays a critical role in advocating for vulnerable individuals trapped in abuse cycles. As Phoebe adapts to her new position, her past begins to trouble her. Her complex personal relationships start to test her ethics amidst gripping events that highlight how violence is deeply rooted in systemic power structures.
Safe Home, a new series from SBS, is engaging, sometimes heartbreaking, but consistently powerful in its sensitive portrayal of domestic and family violence. The show critiques the assumptions and expectations that shape public perceptions of these issues. In Australia, such abuses are widespread, with statistics showing that on average, a woman is killed by an intimate partner every ten days. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in three women has experienced physical violence since the age of 15, with even higher rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and women from marginalized communities. Although the Australian government recently introduced a National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children, experts stress the need for significant long-term funding to achieve the plan’s goal of ending violence within a generation.
Safe Home adds to the expanding collection of TV programs addressing socio-political crises through candid storytelling. Similar to how the BBC’s adaptation of NHS doctor Adam Kay’s memoir This Is Going to Hurt explores the challenges faced by junior doctors, and Netflix’s series Maid, inspired by Stephanie Land’s memoir, critiques the class and economic barriers affecting a young mother escaping an abusive relationship, Safe Home draws from creator Anna Barnes’ experience working in Melbourne’s community legal centers. It approaches domestic and family violence with sensitivity and authenticity, particularly in its depiction of victim-survivors navigating a complex and overloaded system. Jenny explains to Phoebe that potential federal funding cuts could reduce the Family Violence Legal Service’s budget by a fifth, the equivalent of four lawyers, limiting their ability to handle cases. Within these fragile conditions, Safe Home skillfully interweaves victim-survivors’ narratives to expose the sector’s blind spots, inequities, and failures in providing adequate intervention.
The show presents various stories: Diana, played by Janet Andrewartha, struggles to leave her controlling husband Jon, a respected retired teacher; Ry, portrayed by Tegan Stimson, enters an unstable relationship after escaping her abusive home; and Cherry, played by Katlyn Wong, risks losing her children due to a language barrier after reporting her husband’s violence.
These narratives depict the cultural, linguistic, and economic diversity of victim-survivors seeking assistance, revealing the strategies used against them such as physical, economic, and emotional abuse, control, and coercion. The show challenges stereotypes of perpetrators, presenting them as seemingly likable and sympathetic. It also highlights how victim-survivors’ situations are intensified by crises of housing, homelessness, and the cost of living, leading them to stay in harmful environments. Contrary to its title, Safe Home shows that home is not a safe space for many facing domestic violence, but it is often seen as preferable to homelessness or losing access to their children.
Storytelling is crucial in creating empathy and raising awareness about issues often kept silent. As Phoebe asserts, stories are told to change perceptions, laws, and behaviors. In Safe Home, personal experiences become political and reflect the current domestic violence crisis. These are familiar stories for victim-survivors and their advocates but remain difficult for the broader Australian public to grasp. Safe Home is available on SBS and SBS On Demand starting today.