Orange Door improves family violence responses in Central Highlands

The Orange Door opened in Ballarat in October 2020 and was described as a 'game changer' at the time, creating one point of contact for family violence services, perpetrator services and child and family services.

Leaders of key Orange Door partner agencies have told The Courier 18 months on the model was working 'really well' in Ballarat and it would continue to be the best response in future years.

"We know anecdotally clients have found centralising the referral process can meet their immediate and medium term needs in a more efficient way," Cafs chief executive Wendy Sturgess said.

"That is really important for people who are often in a time of real trauma."

The Orange Door Network in Central Highlands has helped more than 11,000 people, including more than 5,000 children since it opened, a Victorian government spokesperson said.

The latest crime statistics show there were 2,354 family violence incidents recorded in the City of Ballarat last year, with the vast majority of victim survivors women.

The statistics also reveal family violence intervention order breaches "are still extremely high", including in Ballarat.

The Orange Door is a central contact point for all people seeking family violence support, enabling a more timely, holistic and less disjointed response.

People who present to the service go through an initial screening and triage process, are given priority based on the complexity of their situation and are then allocated to a staff member.

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Staff members work with clients on crisis interventions, safety planning and targeted referrals to the broader sector.

Staff from key partner agencies Berry Street, Cafs, Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative (BADAC) and Family Safety Victoria work together from the Armstrong Street North site.

Berry Street provides specialist family violence response for victim survivors, Cafs responds to the needs of children and people who use violence and BADAC provides a response for the Aboriginal community.

Referrals can be made to other services in the region like WRISC Family Violence Support.

"We really value the partnerships with the orange door and a coordinated approach to family violence in the central highlands region," WRISC chief executive Libby Jewson said.

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Berry Street western senior manager family violence team Denise O'Dowd said clients had provided feedback saying Orange Door was a safe, warm and welcoming place.

"It is working really well here," she said.

"It was set out to create that coordinated entry point and it really has."

Ms O'Dowd said the centralised service also made it easier for other organisations like schools and hospitals to know who to contact if they needed to seek support for students or clients.

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Ms O'Dowd said services experienced a 'huge spike' in demand for family violence support at the beginning of the pandemic.

She said numbers had dropped slightly from that peak, but remained consistent this year.

The Victorian Government began rolling out the Orange Door Network across the state in 2018 as a response to the Royal Commission into Family Violence recommendations.

The network rollout will serve all 17 regions across the state by the end of 2022, a state government spokesperson said.

The statewide network has so far assisted more than 200,000 people.

The Central Highlands Orange Door's primary site is in Ballarat, with an access point in Bacchus Marsh.

Outposts are opening in Ararat Shire, Hepburn Shire and Golden Plains Shire this year, broadening service accessibility.

A state government spokesperson said 19 per cent of the total referrals to the Orange Door in Central Highlands accounted for people directly seeking help.

They said this indicated increasing awareness in the community of the help and support available.

Ms Sturgess said there were more people identifying as first-time users of family violence services throughout the coronavirus pandemic and the Orange Door provided an easy access point.

"That speaks to the Orange Door being visible and accessible," she said.

Looking forward, Ms Sturgess said she would like to see increased investment in prevention to create culture change and work more with men in early stages to prevent violence.

"There is community awareness and community intolerance of family violence. We know more than ever it is completely unacceptable," she said.

"I wish we can further develop a response that have more extensive programs for more men to really embed those changes in.

"The other thing is working with children right down to the preschool level to build awareness of how we need to treat women and the respect programs are really important in changing behaviour."

Prevention of Family Violence Minister Gabrielle Williams announced on Friday $2.2 million for the opening of the Family Violence Research Program Grants.

The grants will address evidence gaps in prevention, early intervention and responses to family violence and sexual assault.

Research topics include supporting recovery from violence for children, addressing barriers to accessing support for Aboriginal people and enhancing strategies for engaging perpetrators.

"Funding a robust evidence base is critical to delivering effective and sustainable family violence system reform - it tells us what is working, what needs to be adjusted, and where to focus our efforts," Ms Williams said.

Ms O'Dowd said preventing family violence was everyone's responsibility.

"We need to look at culture and gender inequalities. COVID has worsened that to some degree as well," she said.

"There was further isolation for victim and survivor and many women had to give up their jobs to care for children.

"Everybody's responsible, we all need to work together to end family violence."

The Orange Door in Central Highlands can be contacted Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm via phone on 1800 219 819 or email cha@orangedoor.vic.gov.au, with face-to-face arrangements made if needed.

Contact Berry Street on 5331 3558 for an after hours response or Safe Steps on 1800 015 188.

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