Regional Victorian family violence on rise amid fears government funding ‘isn’t enough’

As violence against women continues to rise across regional Victoria, advocates say nothing will change if conversations and attitudes remain the same.

As violence against women continues to rise across regional Victoria, agencies says government funding falls short and “nothing will change” if conversations and attitudes remain the same.

Latest crime statistics show an alarming trend across rural areas with reports of family violence in Campaspe Shire surging by 23.2 per cent and 7 per cent in East Gippsland.

Regions including Bendigo, Shepparton and Warrnambool are also on the rise, while offending in Wodonga and Ballarat have dropped.

Safe and Equal CEO Tania Farha said police reports were only one part of the story.

“For people experiencing family violence in rural and regional areas, there are fewer services to access … for example, the closest service in a rural area may be hours away, creating a significant barrier to victim survivors accessing support,” she said.

Ms Augerinos said until there was a change in attitudes that condone or excuse family violence, the appalling rates of abuse and tragic death would continue.

The Centre for Non-Violence said these statistics start to tell the prevalence of family violence in regional communities.

CEO Margaret Augerinos said recent crime statistics reflect a high demand for family violence services in regional communities.

She said increased reporting could reflect greater confidence from communities in police to “follow up reports of family violence and breaches of orders”.

Advocates say family violence needs to be addressed by changing conversations and attitudes towards those who hurt women, and those who suffer at their hands. Picture: File

This year’s federal budget allocated $1.3 billion in women’s safety, up from $238 million in 2020.

That funding will then be quartered by four pillars; prevention, early intervention, response and recovery.

The $771 million left for women and children to escape family violence will be stretched across 2.2 million victims nationally, according to an ABS survey.

Miss Farha says it’s not enough with violence against women costing Australia $21.7 billion per year when considering the number of services and people that it impacts.

She said state and federal governments needed to invest in the specialist family workforce with a focus on getting more specialist practitioners out to rural and regional areas.

Miss Farha also said the budget lacked any clear strategy to achieve real systemic change and worried it might not reach the women and children who need it.

Women’s Safety Minister Anne Ruston said federal funding would ensure men across the country at risk of perpetrating violence have access to behaviour change programs.

“This support is critical to change attitudes – not only for the men in the program but for the next generation of boys and young men learning what acceptable behaviour is,” she said.

But Ms Farha maintains a federal budget needs to help address the drivers of family violence and until systemic barriers that prevent victims from accessing support changes, “nothing will change”.

Family Violence commissioner Lauren Callaway said family violence accounts for most of police frontline work.

“We remain absolutely committed to reducing the prevalence of this crime in our community and the harm it causes,” she said.

Ms Callaway said victims of family violence living in regional areas of Victoria experience challenges compared with those living in metropolitan Victoria.

“These can include increased isolation and diminished access to services for both victims and perpetrators,” she said.

Ms Callaway added Victorian police focus on protecting the safety of victims and children, actively holding perpetrators to account for their behaviour.