Fatima Halloum
The western suburbs’ family violence sector is in urgent need of funding reform, experts have warned.
Heightened pressure on leading prevention and response services has left victims in desperate need of aid, with some waiting more than three months for help.
GenWest provides family violence support and physical health and mental wellbeing services for women in the western suburbs.
Interim CEO Kate Philips said rapid population growth and the global pandemic had increased the demand for family violence assistance.
Data from the Crime Statistics Agency shows that in Maribyrnong, family violence incidents rose from 912 in 2020 to 984 in 2021, an increase of 9per cent. Incidents in Hobsons Bay also increased, from 1052 in 2020 to 1088 in 2021, a 3.4 per cent jump.
Ms Philips said the number of referrals in the west had quintupled in the past ten years.
“In 2011 we received 2419 family violence referrals from Victoria Police for the entire year. Ten years later, in 2021, we received over 13,000,” she said.
“What we received for the entirety of 2011 we’re now receiving every eight weeks.”
The pandemic has futher exacerbated the situation.
“The pandemic has resulted in double the number of victims survivors needing mental health support.
“Given that we’ve not ever received a real increase in funding for health promotion, this means our capacity to do this work has effectively halved.”
However Ms Philips believes a straight increase in funding may not necessarily be the best solution.
“We need a funding model that allows us to navigate challenges, collaborate with other services and provide the support we can to survivors need when they need it,” she said.
Ms Philips said greater flexibility in how services are resourced would ensure funding could be allocated where it is most needed.
“We have been delivering support services to victim-survivors for nearly 30 years. Our staff are highly skilled, committed and know what they need to do to make victim-survivors safe. Restrictive funding arrangements don’t enable them to their jobs in the best way possible.”
