Responses to family violence in the region are set to shift from reactive to proactive as Ballarat becomes one of the next locations to operate a support and safety hub.
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Special Minister of State Gavin Jennings was in Ballarat on Thursday to announce Ballarat, Bendigo and Shepparton as the next three locations for the hubs known as Orange Door.
The new model provides a single contact point for those experiencing family violence and follows a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Family Violence to keep women and children safe in the community.
Mr Jennings said it would take the best part of 10 months to bring together the local service providers and protocols, but expected Ballarat’s hub to be functioning in the early part of 2019.
Rather than a one-size-fits-all mentality, Mr Jennings said every region would be different.
The hubs would cater for the specific needs of the local community, while maximising the strengths and filling in the gaps in services.
“In the past, they (the victims) are usually coming through a very formal way, we’re wanting informal connections so women, if they identify they’re at risk, can take the opportunity to get some advice early to prevent that risk escalating,” Mr Jennings said.
“That’s the reason why it should be appropriately designed, easy to access and a comforting and supportive environment.”
Nicole Lee from the state government’s Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council said being able to self-refer before the violence escalated to extreme levels or a crisis point would make a difference.
“The Orange Door is an integral piece in the reforms that are happening at the moment, the way the services worked before were very broken and fragmented,” she said.
“People would usually intervene once it was at a crisis point and police were involved and by that stage this violence has been going on for a very long time.
“I can’t get back the 10 years I’ve lost to family violence… I hope that we can stop somebody else from losing 10 years of their life.”
From her own experience of family violence, Ms Lee said it had been “incredibly confusing and confronting” to find appropriate support.
“The victim shouldn’t be the one hunting around the services, the services should be the ones surrounding themselves around the victims,” Ms Lee said.
Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative chief executive officer Karen Heap said women and children of family violence had not been supported by current systems and there should be no wrong door for people seeking help. This change would be an improvement.
More than 15,000 people across the state have been referred to Orange Door since operations commenced.
