A new life free of violence and constant fear is all family violence victim-survivors are searching for and deserve.

Now there's hope, with new specialised crisis accommodation being built later this year.

But they can only open the doors if the government allocates the funding to run them.

The additional apartments will help people like Steph*, who fled her violent ex-partner twice to motels.

It was only when she moved into 'Sanctuary' that she was able to break the insidious cycle.

The mum, who has been out of the relationship for four months, felt "instant relief".

"Nobody can really know that it's here, where this place is," she said.

"So the safety aspect of it was massive for me."

Suzanne Paynter is Acting CEO for Safe Steps, Victoria's only 24/7 crisis support service for family violence, which has now opened 'Sanctuary'.

"For those that need protective hiding, they can come to the Sanctuary model," Paynter said.

"They will stay with us and receive all those intensive support to stabilise."

There are currently seven apartments at the Melbourne location taking in victim-survivors who would otherwise stay in motels, making them far more vulnerable.

"From motels, we will see 30 per cent of exits being unsafe, and by that I mean the person is leaving the system and or maybe returning to the person using violence," Paynter said.

This is compared to the Sanctuary model, which has 90-plus per cent of safe exits, according to Sanctuary's residential manager Nicole.

"We have a nurse on site, access to a lawyer, a Centrelink worker, a children's education teacher," she said.

The units have beds for Mums and their children along with lounge rooms and small kitchens.

But it's the communal spaces that take away their isolation.

There is a warmth about the place that Nicole said has transformed traumatised children.

"They often don't talk a lot, they're attached to Mum, understandably but within 24 to 48 hours when they're feeling relaxed and engaging with safe people, safe environments, we see such a difference," she said

The federal government has coughed up $7.8 million to build another 28 of these apartments at the same secret location later this year.

However, until the state government allocates funding to run the housing and associated costs, the homes for victims and their children are effectively useless.

Protective Group CEO Stephen Wilson is a former Detective Sergeant for Victoria Police who now specialises in security for family violence victims.

"I've seen dozens of refuges and helped set up security in refuges, but the wraparound services they've got are second to none," Wilson said.

Wilson's business does 'tech sweeps', checking victims' phones and looking for trackers like these used by perpetrators to follow their partners.

"I would say 75-80 per cent, there is something there," he said.

"It's a bit of an instant intervention to make sure before they go to a place like Sanctuary that there's nothing on the car."

Tech abuse and tracking and stalking is on the increase unfortunately, so our relationship with the Protective group is really important in that process.

According to SafeSteps, plans for construction of the new units start in October.

"We would obviously like to see the state government support for the expanded site here," Paynter said.

"We're not giving up."

And from someone whose life was turned around at the hands of Sanctuary, this message: "I wish they would come see it firsthand and see the support that Sanctuary provides and the reason we need to have more housing."

A Victorian Government spokesperson said the government has invested "more than any state or territory to prevent and respond to family violence".

"We continue to fund our important work changing laws, changing culture and delivering more support for victim-survivors of family violence," the spokesperson said.

"We've invested over $250 million to deliver safer refuge and crisis accommodation options across Victoria, including building 22 new core and cluster refuges and purchasing six crisis properties, so when a victim survivor needs to flee they have a safe place to go."