Victoria’s only specialist women’s family violence legal service and helpline will have a $200,000 federal funding cut from July 1, which will force the organisation to stop vital family violence services used by many regional women.

Women’s Legal Service Victoria’s (WLSV) state-wide advice line, which was used by 900 women across the state last year, is among some of the services expected to be impacted by the cuts.

WLSV principal lawyer Helen Matthews said the advice line would not be the only service used by regional and rural women to be affected.

“We will also have to wind back a number of our other services including our Link Virtual Outreach service that provides legal assistance to women experiencing family violence via Skype throughout Victoria,” she said. 

“The reduction of Link will specifically effect women living in regional and rural Victoria as the model works to connect women who are utilising regional community health centres and family violence shelters across Victoria with our lawyers in the court district in CBD Melbourne.”

With Victoria Police statistics revealing family violence incidents in the Ballarat region had increased by 83 per cent over the last five years, Ms Matthews said the cuts to services had the potential to widen the gap of supports between women living in regional and metropolitan areas.

“It is distressing to see important services like the advice line and Link cut when we know from a number of studies that women in regional Victoria face higher numbers of family violence but have fewer services available to them,” she said.

“These cuts are also happening at a time when more women than ever before are asking for assistance to leave violent relationships. 

“As a community we are saying “family violence is not okay” but at the same time we are cutting funding to the services that would assist women experiencing family violence.”

The organisation has spent the last week in Canberra lobbying to reverse the upcoming funding cuts.

WLSV CEO Joanna Fletcher spent the time in Canberra talking about how the cuts would have bigger costs to both Victorian women and the government.

“Family violence legal assistance saves the government money by providing clients with services that can prevent them utilising more costly services such as homelessness services, health services and refuge housing,” she said. “Family violence is the single largest driver of homelessness in Australia and cutting services that allow women and children to be safe in their own home through the justice system will only increase these numbers.

“We hope that the Turnball Government will reverse the funding cuts to our services and others like it as it will save lives and money in the long run.”