The Victorian government’s first detailed concept for family violence “support and safety hubs” has raised serious concerns for the chief executive of Centre Against Violence.
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The government committed to establishing the hubs in 17 local government areas including Ovens and Murray following the Royal Commission into Family Violence.
While a more detailed concept is set to be developed for the North East, CAV’s Kerry Burns said her initial impressions of the statewide framework were not positive.
“The depth of the consultation was questionable … I think there’s ambiguity in the design,” she said.
“The intention of the government to make a visible entry point for vulnerable women and children, men and families is a good one and I’m glad a goal is to have the perpetrator ‘in view’.
“I think it will cause women to think twice about entering (the hub) when they know it’s the entry point for men; it doesn’t matter whether they’re doing that outside the hub.”
While there will be a physical “hub” established somewhere in the North East, there will be a range of access points including via telephone and online.
It is via these external channels or out-reach workers, travelling to courts or a location determined as safe, that perpetrators will interact with the hubs.
Perpetrators can “self-refer” to the hub but will also be picked up through police referrals (L17s).
Ms Burns said her concern with this, and many of the elements of the plan, was a lumping together of a range of targeted, specialist responses.
“I think this system simplifies things for police in they only have to send their L17s to one location,” she said.
“That’s a simplification, not to be confused with an improvement.
“I’m concerned that the plan has some resemblance to the services connect model, which didn’t work.”
Ms Burns said she would be following the development of hubs closely.
“When reforming the sexual assault system, the government set up multi-disciplinary centres,” she said.
“They haven’t even talked about the relationship between a MDC and a support and safety hub, and the goal was to roll out MDCs across the state.”
Consultation for five areas begins this year with all hubs to be functional by 2021.
A government spokesman said the hubs would provide a “new system of protection and support that will prevent family violence, protect victim survivors and make perpetrators accountable.”
"Ensuring the hubs are safe places for women is of the highest priority, and as we roll out the initial launch sites, we'll work with victim survivors and local agencies to do just this,” he said.
