By Laura Wakely
THE State Government is spending $50 million over the next financial year on the fight against family violence.
A spokeswoman for Crime Prevention Minister Andrew McIntosh told Star the money will be spent on a range of initiatives to increase the safety of victims and perpetrators of the crime.
The spokeswoman said there had been a steady rise in the reporting of family violence incidents but evidence showed that the crime is still largely under-reported.
Victoria Police has recorded 7394 incidents of domestic violence in the year to June across the northwest, with Hume Police Service Area (PSA) topping the list with 2037 incidents.
Brimbank PSA had 1696 incidents, Whittlesea had 1377, Wyndham 1331, Hobsons Bay 550 and Maribrynong had 403 incidents.
“There is a need to improve responses and increase reporting,” the spokeswoman said.
“Improvements in police response to family violence and increased confidence to report to police have contributed to increased reporting rates across Victoria.”
Welfare services across these areas have been calling for more funding to deal with domestic violence, while some Labor MPs have slammed Mr McIntosh for referring the issue to the Women’s Affairs Minister during a session of Parliament (Funding call, 20 September, Sunshine Star).
But Mr McIntosh’s spokeswoman defended his decision, telling Star that 40,000 reports of family violence were made to Victoria Police last year and evidence had shown the majority of victims were women and children.
“Family violence is a multifaceted and complex issue that needs to focus on education, prevention, response and recovery,” she said.
“It is an issue that also sits across a number of ministerial portfolios including women’s affairs, housing, health, police, attorney-general, education, crime prevention and local government.
“To respond effectively to family violence it is important to have programs that address both the victim and also hold the perpetrator to account and make them accountable for their behaviour.”
She said the $50 million would be invested in supporting Preventing Violence Against Women projects across Maribrynong, Brimbank and Wyndham councils and the Strengthening Risk Management Project in Hume, which will test the delivery of multi-agency approaches to family violence, along with directly funding welfare services.
