THE PUSH to find a bigger home for WRISC Family Violence Support is continuing to gain momentum following the release of the findings from the Royal Commission into Family Violence.
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Without the physical expansion, WRISC will struggle to deal with the huge level of support and requests for support already existing in the region.
WRISC deputy president Julie McMahon said given the findings from the Royal Commission the service would need to expand.
The commission provided 227 recommendations with the government to adopt every one.
“We envisage that we will need to employ new support staff, we will need a fit for purpose space that would accommodate staff and our clients,” she said. “We are not foolish enough to think a space defines the service that we provide, firstly it is the way we treat our clients, the quality of the staff and processes and how we do it. But this space is just inadequate for our needs and the demand that has escalated.”
The sector is expected to see a boost in funding, as well as a boost in awareness of the issue which will in turn most likely see a rise in the number of people seeking to access services.
“The demand for our service doesn't allow us to respond how we would like to in terms of intake, short term response and medium term response in terms of case management,” WRISC executive officer Libby Jewson said. “We have been thinking about trying to be proactive in that space for 12-months and we have been hampered financially in terms of finding the right building. Because we are a standalone specialist family violence service we connect with the whole community. We work collaboratively with many other organisations, particularly promoting working together, that is why we are exploring opportunities to co-locate and have those collaborative partnerships.”
Meetings have already been held discussing the problems with both sides of politics, and with the Victorian budget only weeks away, WRISC is hopeful that it may include some funding to help them deal with the growth in the sector. Buninyong MP Geoff Howard said in the lead up to the budget he would expect more to be revealed about where funding would be directed in response to the commission’s findings.
“It is recognised that a range of spending will need to be put forward to support people in the region.”