A coordinated approach to mental health in Albury-Wodonga has been cited as a strong precedent for tackling domestic and family violence.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Gateway Health's Greg Calder said such a committee was in place when he worked for Albury Wodonga Health in the mental health field.
The committee included representatives of emergency services.
"That worked quite well in terms of the agencies working together," he said.
Mr Calder said it was worth the effort in getting such a committee - supported by government and so as such, a step beyond the informal information sharing network of the Albury-Wodonga Family and Domestic Violence Committee - "up and running".
"But I think the first step now that we've got commissioners on both sides of the border is to take it to them and have that conversation. It's really about giving the agencies permission to work together."
Gateway and other Victorian agencies have been sharing information with legislative support since early 2018, this being one of the government's response to the Royal Commission into Family Violence.
NEED HELP?
- Emergency: 000
- DV Hotline: 1800 656 463
- Safe Steps: 1800 015 188
- Betty's Place Women's Refuge: 02 6058 6200 or 1900 885 355
- DV counselling: 1800 737 732
- Kids' Helpine: 1800 789 978
- MensLine: 1300 789 978
Gateway chief executive Leigh Rhode said this concept needed "to get on the agenda".
Mr Calder, Gateway's counselling and support program manager, said police had such permissions, "but there's still limited powers because they've got to have, particularly in NSW, the right sergeant in the right place to activate it".
Mr Calder in on the region's RAMP - the Risk Assessment Management Panel, which strives to keep safe those women and children at the highest risk from family violence.
"We have, in my time of sitting on RAMP, probably half a dozen if not more perpetrators that have found their way into the Junee prison," he said.
"But we cannot get any information about when they will be released."
Ms Rhode said this impacted on a victim's safety and "their planning for the rebuilding of their life".
Mr Calder said RAMP assessed what victim safety provisions were in place in readiness for a perpetrator's release from jail.
- Receive our daily newsletter straight to your inbox each morning from The Border Mail. Sign up here