Warwick Women’s Advocacy and Action Team lead petition, coordinated effort to attract vital DV service and funding

A critical lack of services across the region for victims of domestic and family violence has driven a passionate group to launch a coordinated initiative calling on state and federal leaders to take urgent action.

A small but mighty team of Warwick women are spearheading a state petition and region-wide movement to secure desperately-needed services for victims of domestic and family violence.

Sue Hamlet, Kathy Payne, and Judy Hefferan of the Southern Downs Women’s Advocacy and Action Team launched the Queensland Parliament petition earlier this month, urgently calling on the State and Federal Governments to recognise and rectify the region’s critical lack of domestic violence services and funding.

The petition says the minimum requirements would be a full-time or timely access to a specialist DV counsellor, a sexual assault social work service and legal support for victims, and funding for accommodation and crisis services.

A widespread awareness campaign and a “no wrong door” approach at any frontline domestic and family violence service were the remaining steps set out in the petition.

Driven by her own lived experiences and the heartbreaking stories of survivors heard both in her work as a counsellor and a member of the Warwick community, Mrs Hamlet said her team knew they would need concrete proof of the region’s urgent need to generate real change.

Women’s Advocacy and Action Team member Sue Hamlet. Photo Contributed

“We knew anecdotally that there was a lot of support, but we had some conversations with the Office of Women and Violence Prevention, and it was plain that all of us wanted to bring more services here and we needed to be really clear there was support for that,” she said.

“I hear (stories) more outside my line of work now, but even before now, I heard so many lived experiences of sexual violence.

“We don’t need for it to be our sister, our mother, our daughter, aunty, or friend who needs this kind of stuff for us to act with compassion.

“People who don’t normally sign petitions are signing this one. We’re tired of the talkfests, and the information we have is not helpful unless we have ways to action it moving forward.”

More than 600 residents from across Warwick and the wider Southern Downs have already signed the online petition in addition to another several hundred on paper, nearing the organisers’ major target of 1000.

“It’s not padded up with people from across the state – it is local people signing this and it’s local people showing that they care about people affected by domestic violence,” Mrs Hamlet said.

“We live in the most conservative electorate and we need to show them this is not a left versus right issue, and this is not bipartisan but needs to be completely depoliticised.

“It’s people dying – why is every single party not saying what they can do?”

It’s not the first time the WAAT has taken the fight against gendered and family violence directly to the region’s politicians, with the team organising a rally outside Member for Maranoa David Littleproud’s Warwick office last year.

Mrs Hamlet said the petition would also call on the State Government to push their federal colleagues to implement the findings of the Jenkins Review into sexual harassment and abuse in Australia’s parliament. 

She said the petition was only one prong in their team’s action-focused approach, with the group also co-ordinating a series of meetings with the Office of Women and Violence Prevention with existing stakeholders within the region.

“We thought there’s no central communication around what people were already doing, and the networks weren’t really working,” Mrs Hamlet said.

“We’re looking at the journey of a person impacted by domestic and family violence and where they would go, what they would need, and then trying to connect those pathways from the perspective of the person who needs those services.

“Our whole focus is different, because it’s on outcomes. How do we stretch what we’ve got to make it really work so there’s no service underused, and if there’s funding, how do we find it?”

Given fresh hope by the overwhelming show of support from both residents and existing services, Mrs Hamlet said she believed this could be the start of real change and a shift in the stigma around domestic and family violence in the Warwick area.

“For me, this is not a meaningless petition. This is the petition that the State Government asks us to utilise so that when it goes to parliament, it’s taken seriously,” she said.

“A lot of people feel like they can’t make any changes that matter here, but this is something we can present to say, ‘Look, people care about this’.

“When government departments are deciding where to place services, it’s definitely a key that there’s a recognised community need and this really feels like we’re getting somewhere.”

If you would like to sign or read more about the petition, click here.