Thursday, 10 March 2022

Family violence services

Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (17:49): (1810) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence in the other place, and the action I seek is the provision of ongoing funding and support to address provisional gaps, especially in growth areas. This is vital in addressing family violence and must include physical and mental health services, prevention and behaviour change programs, crisis and long-term accommodation assistance and funding for legal access centres. Family violence is against the law. There is no excuse for abusing a loved one.

Unfortunately within Hume city in the 12 months ending on 31 March 2021 there were over 4100 incidents of family violence reported to Victoria Police. Family violence tears lives apart. One in three women experience physical or sexual violence, or both, caused by someone known to them. It affects men, women, children, families and the community, and it has big personal, social and economic effects. Now, while no woman or man will experience family violence in the same way, there are common effects of living with violence and living in fear. The obvious physical effects of family violence on women, children and men are physical injuries and death, yet there are also other effects on men’s, women’s and children’s physical health, such as insomnia, chronic pain, physical exhaustion and other health problems. They are not necessarily always the result of physical injuries but are normally psychological.

Family violence has short- and long-term physical, emotional, psychological, financial and other effects on the family. Every man, woman and child is different, and the impact of each act of violence depends on many complex factors. Everyone should feel safe in their own home. As Melbourne has been subject to lockdowns—the longest in the world—the protections that can be offered for families through connections with their friends were broken, as were other family supports. We know that there was an increase in family violence during those lockdowns. We need additional funding to the agencies required to offer these supports for families so that all in our community can feel protected and know that they can be safe, especially in the one place that they should feel safe—their homes.