Cash to curb domestic violence

By Rebecca Fraser
THE City of Casey is set to get more than $5 million from the State Government to tackle domestic violence.
From July, families dealing with the incidence of domestic violence will have access to Victoria’s first fully fledged system of family violence support and service.
The incoming system will provide better immediate support and will provide a choice of housing options, longer-term advice for victims and stronger police response and behaviour-change programs for the perpetrators of family violence.
The funding, announced this week by Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan, is part of a $40.6 million package that will be distributed around 70 community service organisations across Victoria.
The $5.41 million will be allocated over the next three years and equates to one-eighth of all the total funding for domestic violence.
The local organisations receiving funds to assist families in crisis are WAYSS, Good Shepherd Youth and Family Services, Southern Health-Casey, Windermere Child and Family Services, Springvale Indo-Chinese Mutual Association Inc., Peninsula Community Health Service, Relationships Australia (Vic) Inc. and Hanover South East Crisis Accommodation.
Windermere’s manager Child and Community Care, Linda Hansen, said it currently offered counselling and support for women and children in Casey who were victims of family violence.
Ms Hansen said the City of Casey had one of the highest rates of domestic violence in Victoria and the funding would help those families in most need.
She said in the first stage of the program they had expected to target 53 people, but instead had offered assistance to 77 and been forced to close their books due to high demand.
Following the funding announcement she said they hoped to serve 80 people in the first year and 160 by the third.
“Domestic violence is very wide spread throughout the city. Funds will never meet the demand, but this will help us serve our higher-end clients,” she said.
“We will be targeting women and children facing long-term family violence or whose situation is at critical stage.”
Casey District Inspector Robert Hill said a whole government approach was the preferred option when dealing with domestic violence issues within the broader community.
“With the demographic of the area as such, there is a burden associated with domestic violence and addressing that type of incident is time consuming and does place significant pressure on our overall effectiveness to service the community as a whole,” he said.
Mr Donnellan said extending specialised family violence services across the City of Casey meant that no matter where people lived they could ascertain consistent, high-quality assistance from family violence experts in the community sector.
“This is the final piece of our three-staged approach to provide more assistance to families experiencing violence, in particular, children who can carry long-term emotional damage from domestic violence,” he said.
“There are now specialised courts to deal with family violence and now the community sector will be better equipped to get people back on track with their lives.”