Wednesday, 29 May 2024

Family violence

Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (17:26): (918) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence. The action I seek from the minister is to provide more specific funding and support for preventative and protective programs for women, children and men experiencing family violence in regional Victoria. Victims and survivors are crying out for help, and the need is particularly urgent in regional Victoria. Recent figures from the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency show exactly how horrendous the situation is. The current situation has been described as a perfect storm for family and gendered violence, where serious assaults occur at double or even triple the rate of Melbourne. Three of the top five local government areas for serious family violence assaults in Victoria are in my electorate of Northern Victoria. These are Shepparton, Swan Hill and Benalla. Greater Shepparton is the worst LGA in the state, with a rate of 379.3 incidents per 100,000 people. This is nearly three times the rate of Wyndham, the worst Melbourne LGA. The top 17 LGAs and 28 of the top 30 with the highest rates of family violence were all in regional Victoria. Four of the six women killed in Victoria so far in 2024 are from regional Victoria. In Bendigo police have responded to 4500 family violence incidents in the past 12 months.

A campaign currently being run by the BendigoAdvertiser and Australian Community Media, Breaking the Silence in Regional Violence, highlights the particular difficulties that people in regional areas have in surviving and/or leaving an abusive relationship. While the government have talked about spending more money on family violence prevention, they have not done anything to target the regions specifically. There is an urgent need for emergency housing and support services. The availability of emergency housing in regional Victoria is sparse, to say the least. We have had incidents of people escaping domestic violence being offered tents to sleep in. We also need more adequate resources for the frontline services dealing with assault, sexual assault and other forms of violence in our community. Our local services do extraordinary work, but they are always busy and at times overwhelmed by the demand. These include the Centre Against Sexual Assault, the Centre for Non-Violence, the Orange Door and Anglicare. There are also other frontline workers, including police, paramedics and health workers, who see the effects of this family violence every day.

The figures from the Crime Statistics Agency show we are certainly in the midst of a family violence crisis. It is worth noting that these figures only include incidents that involve police. No doubt there are many incidents of family violence that go unreported. The need for increased and continued funding that is specific to regional Victoria is clear. It is needed. I ask the minister to act on this as a matter of urgency.