Since the release of the Victorian Government’s 2024-25 budget earlier this month, we have been eagerly awaiting further announcements to comprehensively address family and gender-based violence in our state. 

With today’s ‘Women’s Safety Package’ announcement from Premier Jacinta Allan, we now have a clearer picture of what’s on the table. 

Broadly, the package includes announcements categorised into three areas: family violence prevention, response, and perpetrator accountability. 

We are pleased to see several announcements to support the immediate safety of victim survivors, including support for the Safe at Home pilot and the Personal Safety Initiative, as well as more support for core and cluster refuge models. 

Encouragingly, the package also includes support for a Justice Navigator pilot for victim survivors of sexual assault, who can also be victims of family violence. We are also pleased to see the needs of at-risk communities kept in view, with the inclusion of therapeutic interventions for children and young people, and a boost for legal services providing support victim survivors from First Nations communities and multicultural communities.  

We are also heartened to see the government support further interventions to keep perpetrators accountable for their behaviour, with a boost to perpetrator case management and men’s behaviour change programs, and improvements to the Central Information Point. 

The package also includes several announcements that aim to address the effectiveness of Family Violence Safety Notices (FVSNs) and Family Violence Intervention Orders (FVIOs), including increased police powers to issue longer FVSNs and increased minimum lengths for FVIOs. 

While both FVSNs and FVIOs can play a significant part in keeping victim survivors safe, we firmly believe any changes in this space should be in consultation with and, prioritise the agency of, victim survivors, who are best placed to make decisions about what will keep them safe.  

While we recognise these small wins for the overall sector, there is little investment and support for the specialist family violence services who work on the front line every day to keep victim survivors safe, and who are experiencing higher levels of demand than ever before. We’ll continue to advocate for adequate and enduring funding for these services, so they can continue their critical work. 

We know there is no quick fix to family and gender–based violence, but we must remember it is preventable. Meaningful change will take time, but we must stay the course. This is a national crisis that requires increased investment and ongoing commitment from all levels of government, and support from all parts of the community. 

We look forward to working with the Victorian Government to better understand the amount of funding that will be allocated to each of the announcements made today.  

 

Update: Safe and Equal’s response to the Victorian Government’s investment in Ballarat

Published Friday 31 May 2024

We were pleased to hear the Victorian Government’s announcement today of ongoing investment and commitment to primary prevention for the Ballarat region.

Investment in primary prevention means we can work to change the attitudes and behaviours that drive the type of violence that has led to 31* murders of women in Australia so far this year, including three from the Ballarat region.

Safe and Equal CEO Tania Farha says that while this week’s announcements are welcome, we are yet to see additional funding for specialist family violence services, including in Ballarat.

“It’s great to see a focus on delivering stronger referral pathways between prevention programs and specialist response services, but we need to ensure that those services are adequately funded so that people experiencing violence can access the support they need when they need it,” said Ms Farha.

“If we are to end family violence, primary prevention initiatives need to work in concert with response and recovery services, to support people experiencing family violence on their journey to safety”.

Safe and Equal welcome the investment in primary prevention initiatives for Ballarat and continue to advocate to ensure that we can effectively work across the continuum of prevention, early intervention, response and recovery services for a well-supported system that can holistically and effectively drive down violence against women.

* Many deaths go unacknowledged as family violence or gender-based violence, including missing people or deaths that are still being investigated – so the number of women killed this year is likely much higher than 31, which is the figure currently published by Destroy the Joint.

Family violence is a national crisis – and we all have a role to play in ending it. 

This is the goal of Are You Safe At Home? Day 2024 – held on 10 May each year, the national awareness-raising day aims to break down the fear and stigma associated with talking about family violence by providing clear information about what to look out for, what supports are available, and how to start a conversation if you’re concerned someone you care about is experiencing abuse. 

This year alone, a woman is being killed by a man every four days, in what are entirely preventable acts of violence. 

Safe and Equal CEO Tania Farha says that while ongoing commitment, investment and action from government is essential to addressing this crisis, we cannot disregard the crucial role people in the community play in recognising and responding to abuse.

“We know that many people experiencing family violence – including some of the women who have been tragically murdered this year – never had contact with police or the service system more broadly,” said Ms Farha. 

“It’s often the people in our community – our family, friends, neighbours, and even work colleagues – who will be the first to notice something is wrong, and who are in a unique position to help. It’s so important we know what to do if we’re worried about someone.” 

Are You Safe At Home? Day provides a chance for people in the community to get comfortable with starting what can be a difficult and confronting conversation. 

“Many people have been asking what they can do to help end family violence – and this is something they can tangibly do right now,” said Ms Farha. 

“By learning to recognise the signs of family violence and start conversations – both with people who might be experiencing abuse, and people who might be using violence – we can remove some of that stigma and fear, and help victim survivors find safety, support and recovery.” 

The main message of this year’s Are You Safe At Home? Day is ‘Ask. Listen. Believe’. By asking someone if they are safe, listening without judgement, and believing someone when they disclose abuse, we can make an enormous impact. 

“Old stereotypes around what family violence looks like are a very outdated, dangerous and narrow perception of what abuse is,” says Survivor Advocate Kym Valentine. 

“Abusers now utilise more covert methods of abuse as a tactic to remain under the radar. That’s why it’s important for us to be able understand that family violence comes in many forms, recognise the different types of abuse and be able to respond safely.” 

 The Are You Safe At Home? website features a suite of accessible tools and resources to help people feel more comfortable and confident to recognise signs of family violence and offer support, including a one-page guide to starting a conversation and links to support services in each state.  

“Learn how to be a safe person for someone to disclose to. Look at the Are You Safe at Home? website to learn how to do that. You can not only change a life, but save a life,” says Ms Valentine. 

Meaningful change won’t happen overnight, says Ms Farha, it will only come with time, investment and deep engagement from all. 

“There’s no one quick solution to ending family violence – it’s an extremely complex issue that requires a fully-funded and comprehensive response, from all levels of government and the broader community,” she said.  

“It’s a collective responsibility that we all have, to ensure every person in this country can be safe, respected and valued – and able to live free from violence.” 

 

CONTACT INFORMATION  

Louise Simms
Executive Director Policy, Communications and Engagement 
Safe and Equal
+61 450 081 547
louisesimms@safeandequal.org.au 

In an incredibly tight budget environment, the Victorian Government is continuing to stay the course on strengthening systemic approaches to addressing family and gender-based violence.     

We were pleased today’s release of the 2024-25 Victorian Budget did not include cuts anticipated by the specialist family violence sector, with $72 million of lapsing funding uplifts continued for a further two years. 

While this extension is indeed a welcome relief, short-term, piecemeal funding does not provide the security needed for frontline family violence services, which are experiencing higher levels of demand than ever before.  

Family and gender-based violence is a national emergency. People experiencing abuse and the specialists working to support them are distraught, outraged, and exhausted – and while funding extensions are far better news than cuts, they do little to respond to the escalating crisis.  

Beyond funding for victim survivor services, the continuation of support for primary prevention initiatives is heartening to see, particularly when we know this is long-term work requiring sustained investment. 

We welcome the commitment of $39 million over four years for the continued delivery of Respectful Relationships Education in schools. This includes a partnership with Safe and Equal to support ongoing primary prevention workforce development. 

Today’s announcements also included a continuation of $18 million in uplift funding over two years to women’s health services providing preventative health promotion and education, and $42 million over three years towards further research into prevention initiatives, and continued delivery of perpetrator case management programs.  

What we need now is bold, enduring action. We keenly await further announcements from the Victorian Government off the back of recent National Cabinet discussions and meetings between the Premier and specialist service sectors. We remain hopeful for an enduring, comprehensive approach to addressing family violence that includes continued investment into primary prevention, enhanced focused on early intervention, permanent uplift for crisis services and long-term recovery support for adult and child victim survivors. 

There is no quick fix to end family and gender-based violence; we know meaningful change will take time. This is a national crisis that requires a sustained commitment from all levels of government – because without it, we will continue to see more tragic and preventable deaths. 

People experiencing family and gender-based violence, and those working to address it, are distraught, outraged and exhausted. 

As the peak body for this sector in Victoria, we are heartened that men’s violence has finally made it onto the National Cabinet’s agenda, yet remain devastated at what it has taken to get there.  

We welcome the priorities agreed yesterday by National Cabinet, including the need to strengthen perpetrator accountability, build prevention efforts and focus on the impact of family violence on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.  

We also welcome the actions the Albanese Government has announced, including exploring responses to serial perpetrators; strengthening perpetrator information sharing; limiting children and young people’s exposure to online pornography; and exploring opportunities to strengthen national consistency and drive best practice approaches across jurisdictions.   

Family and gender-based violence is complex – and addressing it requires a robust, thoughtful, and sustained response. While the actions announced yesterday are welcome, they are simply not enough to create the positive change needed to protect victim survivors and prevent further harm.  

The justice system is not the only mechanism for perpetrator accountability. More research and evaluation is required to build on existing practice and show us what really works to make people accountable for their choice to use violence, and to stop them making these choices again and again. Equally, primary prevention work cannot just be limited to the online space – sustained prevention initiatives are needed across the entire system.  

We are disappointed yesterday’s announcements did not include more funding for frontline services supporting victim survivors. While the Leaving Violence Program (previously piloted as the Escaping Violence Payment) provides a maximum payment of $5,000 during crisis to escape violence, this is a limited intervention and will not be effective without longer-term assistance. Women and all victim survivors deserve sustained frontline family violence service support, affordable and safe housing, and a consistent livable income – including in the form of social security – to find safety and security, and to recover. Additionally, we are concerned that the current eligibility requirements for the Leaving Violence Program exclude people experiencing types of family violence beyond intimate partner violence, leaving many people without support.  

Finally, while we welcome the necessary focus on family violence and the longer-term exploratory work set out by National Cabinet, we know that more needs to be done, right now. Specialist family violence services are facing unprecedented and unsustainable levels of demand. We need an immediate commitment to funding which allows our sector to attract and retain the skilled workforce we need to do this complex work, and to provide the necessary support to keep victim survivors safe.  

We also call on the government to provide women and all victim survivors with their basic needs: safe and affordable housing, and social security payments that reflect a liveable income. Without this, there will be more tragic – and preventable – deaths.