The Victorian government is rolling out support and safety hubs across Victoria as part of its response to the Royal Commission into Family Violence, branded as The Orange Door.

The Orange Door will be a place for women, children and young people who are experiencing family violence to go for help and will coordinate services in the community, which the government has said will address the problem of victims not knowing where to go for help.

A year ago, Centre Against Violence told The Border Mail of worries about women’s willingness to attend the hubs in person, but five of the hubs have been launched across Melbourne, Mildura, Geelong and Gippsland in recent months.

The service will launch in three more Department of Health and Human Services areas in mid-2019, but the next locations have not been announced.

The government has said the order of the rollout will be based on client need, “with a focus on areas of particularly high need, e.g. areas that have a high proportion of social disadvantage and high rates of family violence and child and family services needs”.

But priority may also be given to areas already with other initiatives such as specialist family courts, which are not located in the North East as yet.

The hubs will be split across city and country locations.

They will not replace community organisations such as Centre Against Violence, with the government committing to work with those already offering support in communities.