The Courier revealed on Saturday the region’s domestic violence statistics had spiked in the past five years, rising from 925 reported incidents to 1697 since mid-2009.

Authorities can’t put a finger on why there has been such a substantial rise but, clearly, increased reporting confidence is making an impact.

WRISC Family Violence Support for Women executive officer Libby Jewson also said a funding and support shortage was straining services. And this is where the state government package will need to be targeted.

The package’s highlights, released by Premier Denis Napthine on Saturday, showed there will be expanded crisis accommodation support for women and children and improved post-crisis support.

This is a crucial element of the plan. According to WRISC, violence is one of the leading causes of homelessness for women and children in this region, due to both housing affordability and availability. And anecdotally, all too often this is one of the reasons people stay in violent situations rather than face an uncertain life on the streets.

Ms Jewson called for a localised, co-ordinated multi-sector approach to family violence between health providers, including mental health services, police and family violence outreach services. 

She said the focus needed to build on early intervention programs, perpetrator accountability and changing societal attitudes to family violence.

Women’s Health Grampians chief executive officer Patty Kinnersly also made a valid point, that while the funding was welcome, it failed to target leading causes of violence towards women, including community attitudes, sexism and discrimination. 

Ms Kinnersly called for at least $15 million to be invested in funding initiatives focused solely on changing community attitudes toward women.

Clearly, something needs to change. In the past financial year, WRISC helped almost 400 women  experiencing family violence.

The figures were 32 per cent higher than the previous year.

A further 51 families were only given short-term help and another 11 families were turned away because the organisation simply did not have the services. 

However, there is hope on the horizon. With the state opposition already committed to a royal commission into family violence if elected next month,  at least both major parties are making a clear statement family violence is at the top of their agendas, as it should be.