Safe and Equal calls for continued investment, collaboration and action for the specialist family violence services and primary prevention sectors in the 2023 State Budget.
The foundations have been laid for a system where every person experiencing or at risk of family violence can access the support they need when they need it. But women are still waiting too long for the help they urgently need, families are still sleeping in unsafe motels, the specialist workforce is burning out, and the system is continuing to fail people and communities.
Victoria has led the way in redesigning responses to family violence, and we need continued investment to keep building a system that works, together.
It is only through continued investment that the Victorian Government can realise the ambitious vision set by the Royal Commission into Family Violence. In particular, we are calling for a focus in this year’s State Budget on:
- Increasing sustainable funding for the specialist family violence sector to meet demand
- Growing, developing, and retaining specialist workforces
- Eliminating the impossible ‘choice’ between violence and homelessness
- Addressing key gaps and barriers in the expanding family violence system
- Investing meaningfully into primary prevention.
We all want to see Victoria continue to create a family violence system which gives victim survivors a voice, a home, and a timely and clear pathway to recovery.
Our work together is not done. We call on the Victorian Government to invest in the areas we have highlighted throughout this submission. Through continued investment, collaboration and action, we can create a world where family and gender-based violence does not exist.
Page last updated Monday, February 20 2023