What to pack in your Grab Bag

If you are experiencing domestic and family violence, we recommend you consider preparing a Grab Bag. Depending on your circumstances, you may keep your Grab Bag in your family home or leave it with a friend, neighbour or family member. 

Part of your safety planning is deciding what to take and what to leave behind. This can be a confronting exercise. This feeling is very normal, and if you are feeling overwhelmed or anxious, you might want to speak with someone.

A Grab Bag or Escape Bag is a bag that contains all of your essential items. Having a packed bag will allow you to easily take with you everything you need if you and your children (if you have any) need to leave your home quickly.

The list below may help you to decide what to pack:

Identification

Originals if possible, but copies are better than nothing

• Driver’s license
• Pension or healthcare card
• Medicare card and Centrelink card
• Birth certificates – yourself and your children’s
• Passports – yourself and your children’s
• Immunisation documents for children
• Immigration papers
• A document that contains proof of address (such as a rates notice or telephone bill)
• Bank statements

If you are taking photos of documents, store them in a separate area of your mobile phone from the main photo album (such as the PDF section in the Books app on an iPhone).

Legal documents

• Marriage certificate
• Court Orders
• Car registration papers
• Insurance papers
• Medical records for you and your children
• School records for your children
• Share/ other securities documents
• Last Will and Testament

Financial items

• Bank account numbers or copies of statements
• Credit cards in your name, and some cash
• Lease agreement or mortgage papers
• Tax, employment or income documents
• Certificate of title of any land or house you own

Extra items

• Spare house keys
• Medication & Prescriptions
• Spare mobile phone (with prepaid SIM card that cannot be traced to you) and charger
• List of important phone numbers (in case you cannot take your mobile phone with you)
  • Family
  • Friends
  • Insurance
  • Work
  • School
  • Doctor
  • Lawyer
• Change of clothes for you and your children, and one pair of shoes
• Nappies, baby formula, bottles, baby food, dummy
• Recent photo of the person using violence (for identification)
• Personal care items such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, hairbrush, etc.
• A favourite toy for each child
• Diary of abuse, if you have kept one

When you start collecting things for your Grab Bag, do so gradually. Start with small things that are unlikely to be noticed, such as passports, photos, and ID.