Funding to tackle violence at home

By BRIDGET COOK
THE City of Casey has received a grant to help tackle the rising issue of family violence in the area.
Last week, the Minister for Crime Prevention Andrew McIntosh announced the
recipients of the Reducing Violence Against Women and their Children (RVAWC) grants.
The City of Casey was one of nine recipients from across the state to share in a total of
$4.8 million, each receiving a grant of up to $600,000 over three years to fund prevention and early intervention programs.
The funding is part of the State Government’s recently released action plan on violence against women and children.
The City of Casey has the highest rate of domestic violence in the state. The most recent Victoria Police crime statistics show a 14 per cent increase in assaults in Casey – solely due to family violence.
After introducing and attending Regional Reference Group meetings across the state, Mr McIntosh said it became clear to him that family violence was the standout crime of concern to communities in every region.
Mr McIntosh said the community and the government were sending a clear message that violence of any kind against women and children was never acceptable, under any
circumstances.
“While much of the government’s action plan is understandably focused on dealing with the effects of family violence, the projects that have been announced today will play a crucial role in helping to address the causes of that violence,” he said.
The RVAWC grants support a range of partnership programs between community-based organisations and local councils including projects working across local government, workplaces and sporting settings to co-ordinate a region-wide approach to preventing violence against women.
Cranbourne MP Jude Perera said while the family violence strategy was a welcome first step, it didn’t go far enough.
Mr Perera said the strategy was two years too late, in which time the number of reported incidents of family violence has risen sharply.
“We have been waiting a long time for Mr Baillieu to outline a whole-of-government strategy to tackling violence in the home and his recent package with less than $2 million of new money per year is simply not good enough,” he said.
“Police have reported a 14 per cent spike in report incidents of family violence – by this measure the government has allocated a paltry $40 for each situation each year.”