After escaping domestic violence with her children, Diana Connell was forced to live in her car for three weeks — all while battling cancer. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.
Lung cancer patient Diana Connell and her son lived in a car after fleeing their regional Victorian home due to domestic violence.
Despite more than 100 rental applications, Ms Connell and her son, then aged 17 and studying Year 12, spent three weeks sleeping in the Audi while parked at a McDonalds’ car park in Shepparton.
It was a tight squeeze for the mother-of-two, who is just under 6 feet tall while her son is even taller.
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“McDonald’s had lights which was really good and also toilets that we used,” she said.
Back then, Ms Connell was unable to work due to her illness which required her to be on a feeding tube for 12 hours a day, so she had barely any money after leaving her violent former husband.
Being from New Zealand meant she was not eligible for most government support through Centrelink either.
Ms Connell’s daughter, who was at university in Melbourne at the time, ended up leaving to join her mother and brother as they searched for somewhere to live.
As they looked for a residence, they completed 125 rental applications, reached out to community members who might know of places to stay and worked various jobs to help make ends meet.
Diana Connell says her own experiences drive her to advocate for women. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.
“We stayed wherever we could and what we really all wanted to be together,” Ms Connell said.
“Many women that I’ve met since are very much similar to me, a lot have who have had cancer and been through years of violence.
“That stress, no matter how you see it or how you deal with it, does get you later on in life as well.”
Ms Connell, who now lives in a rental property with her daughter and she is still receiving treatment for lung cancer, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2025.
Surgeons also found a sarcoma in her leg which required a section of bone to be removed and replaced with bone from a donor.
According to the Australian government’s Status of Women Report Card 2025, women are more likely to use health care services than men and are more likely to face higher healthcare costs over time.
Despite everything she has been through, the brave mum and ceramic artist is now using her experiences to advocate for other women.
She works at McAuley Community Services for Women and is involved with a host of projects such as the Geelong-based Safe at Home program trial, which helps domestic violence survivors stay at home while the perpetrator is removed and given support to change their behaviour.
Another initiative is Little Green Houses for Her, through not-for-profit organisation Global Sisters, which aims to offer women energy-efficient modular homes with low-interest mortgages.
Ms Connell also speaks at schools, public events and in parliament, such as at the 2023 Royal Commission for Family Violence, to raise awareness.
“I really have to make a difference – it absolutely drives me,” she said.
The Grattan Institute’s ‘Not so universal’ report of 2022 found that nearly 8 per cent of Australian women skip specialist care because of cost, compared to 4 per cent of men. More women also skip mental health services because of cost, compared to men.
Gender Equity Victoria chief executive Micaela Drieberg said it was alarming to see healthcare becoming “a luxury that many women simply can’t afford”.
She attributed this to soaring mortgage and rents combined with the gender pay gap, stagnant wages and missing years of work for motherhood. among other factors.
“Women across the state are making impossible decisions every day due to the cost of living crisis – skipping a GP visit, delaying a specialist referral, putting off a mammogram or going without medication,” Ms Drieberg said.
“This is a mental toll, not just a physical one. When women are stretched or unwell, the impact ripples through the entire family and their wider lives – children, partners, workplaces and communities.
“And for women experiencing family and domestic violence, the stakes are even higher – healthcare access is often their only point of contact with support services.”
Gender Equity Victoria chief executive Micaela Drieberg says women sometimes put off a mammogram or go without medication due to the soaring costs of both housing and healthcare.
Ms Drieberg added that Australian women were disproportionately affected by housing insecurity – older women are the fastest growing group, often as a result of a relationship breakdown, lower lifetime earnings or not enough superannuation.
The Australian government could make a difference by expanding Medicare bulk-billing incentives for services women often used such as GP visits, mental health care, reproductive health and allied health, Ms Drieberg noted.
Mortgage Stress Victoria caseworkers are seeing clients skip medication, delay GP visits for chronic conditions and unable to access mental health support.
Fast-tracking investments in social and affordable housing, plus rental measures to help vulnerable women get a roof over their heads, would also assist.
“Until we address the root causes of gender inequity – the pay gap, the unpaid work imbalance, the motherhood penalty – we will keep managing the symptoms of a society that has been built around gender inequity,” she said.
For assistance contact the Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre on 1800 015 188 or see https://safesteps.org.au/
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