‘Completely unacceptable’: Benalla stripped of its Community Services Hub amid family violence crisis

The Allan government has been accused of ripping funds from critically important family violence services and leaving regional communities “extremely vulnerable” amid a statewide violence crisis.

A critically important community hub which provides a safe haven for victims of family violence will close its doors in the midst of the state’s violence epidemic because of funding challenges.

In a move that has alarmed local welfare groups, the Benalla Community Services Hub, which provides entry level access to the Orange Door network, announced during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence that it can no longer operate, prompting fears the community will be left in an “extremely vulnerable and dangerous position”.

The centre, in the state’s north east, has served as a one-stop shop for 12 health and community agencies who operate out of the facility.

The closure of the Benalla Community Services Hub has prompted fears the community will be left in an ‘extremely vulnerable and dangerous position’. Picture: iStock

It has been used as a place of refuge for victims of family violence who regularly use the space to safely call and meet with support workers from the Orange Door network.

Euroa MP Annabelle Cleeland has accused the Allan government of stripping funding from agencies that use the Benalla Community Services Hub.

She slammed the closure of the centre as “completely unacceptable” and said to announce it during the 16 days of activism is “indefensible”.

“This is an area firmly in the throes of a family violence epidemic, with Benalla having rates of family-based violence that are more than 70 per cent higher than the statewide average,” Ms Cleeland said.

Data released this week revealed that between 2023-24 the Benalla local government area experienced 355 reported family violence incidents.

More than 20 of those cases resulted in victims being taken to the emergency department, while one person within the region had requested an intervention order every second day.

Euroa MP Annabelle Cleeland has accused the Allan government of stripping funding from agencies that used the Benalla Community Services Hub. Picture: Supplied

One local volunteer, speaking anonymously, questioned who will help vulnerable community members when the Hub closes to the public.

“When we refer individuals or families, particularly women and children, to the Centre Against Violence or The Orange Door at The Hub, we can be confident they will receive the compassionate and professional support they so desperately need,” they said.

The Herald Sun understands the closure of the Community Services Hub came after four of the agencies who operated out of the service – including the government funded Centre Against Violence — pulled their contracts, leaving a major funding shortfall.

Claire Anderson, interim chief of NESAY which is the lead tenant of the Community Services Hub, said the “difficult decision” to close the centre was made because of funding challenges and a “shift in how services are being provided in the region”.

“We would like to assure you that many options have been explored to maintain the Hub, at this time we have been unsuccessful in our attempts,” she wrote in an email.

Ms Anderson and NESAY did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, which funds the Orange Door, said the Community Services Hub received a one-off funding grant.

A department spokeswoman said the Orange Door wasn’t officially associated with the Community Services Hub, despite branding featuring outside the building, on its website and on local pamphlets.

Support staff from the Orange Door network regularly travelled to the hub to meet with people experiencing domestic violence, she said.

Centre Against Violence acting CEO Robin Gardner said they “remain fully committed to providing specialist family violence and sexual assault support in Benalla” despite the closure.

Originally published as ‘Completely unacceptable’: Benalla stripped of its Community Services Hub amid family violence crisis