Family violence in Ballarat spikes over Christmas period

They share statistics of cars stopped, breath tests performed, and arrests made each year - in Ballarat, 223 offences were recorded.

At the same time, there's a similar Christmas spike in family violence incidents, which do not receive the same amount of attention from the public.

READ MORE: Ballarat Highway Patrol concerns over Christmas blitz numbers

Between December 23 and 27 2021, there were 32 family violence incidents reported to police in the Ballarat and Moorabool service areas - that's including Golden Plains, Hepburn, and Pyrenees shires.

It's the same number as 2020, and that's a concern, according to the officer leading the Central Highlands Family Violence Investigation unit, Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Adam Tink.

The callouts were for a range of incidents, he said, some of them serious.

"The vast majority is what we'd normally expect - it's still concerning," he said.

READ MORE: Family violence unit Ballarat: meet the officers addressing the issue across the region

"That usually coincides with the holiday period and the stresses of families spending more time together."

Senior Sergeant Tink said the past two years had intensified conditions in some households - working from home, for example, meant more tension in families, while also making it harder to stay in contact with people who can provide support like colleagues.

"(For victims), they lose some of those connections with families, friends, workmates, and sometimes these are the people that support our victims and provide that reassurance, and sometimes a reporting method as well," he said.

The pandemic also changed how courts respond to incidents - as well as the new specialist family violence court in Ballarat, the shift to online court hearings meant affected families were spared having to attend court in person.

"We haven't noticed a lack of engagement with perpetrators as a result of the online environment," Senior Sergeant Tink added.

For 2022, the unit will remain focused on supporting affected family members and "holding perpetrators to account", he added, and it's hoped it will be reinforced in the next round of police force allocations.

"We've got a particular interest in engaging with parties involved in those relationships to deter future serious family violence occurring, and also putting supports in place for our affected family members and ensure they've got the assistance they require - it might be financial, housing, counselling, to make sure those things are in place for them," he said.

IN THE NEWS

"Beyond that, our general core function here is to continue targeting recidivist offenders, holding them to account, making sure our victims and AFMs are appropriately supported through the process."

One area that has improved dramatically is the coordination between police and support agencies, including the new Orange Door facility which opened in Ballarat in 2020.

"Particularly as a result of the (2015 Royal Commission into Family Violence), one recommendation was to broaden the supports available for family violence victims, and we've seen a big shift in the last couple of years with the inter-agency involvement - a lot of that is really beneficial to keep engaged with victims, ro make sure they're supported, but also targeting perpetrators as well," he said.

"(With) The Orange Door, Cafs, Berry Street, a wide variety of stakeholders locally continually in contact with each other and making sure there's visibility in these dynamic situations."

If you or someone you know is in need of crisis support, phone Lifeline 13 11 14.

In emergencies, phone police on 000.

Help is also available, but not limited, via the following organisations. The key message is you are not alone.

Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.