Geelong records second highest number of domestic violence incidents across the state

Greater Geelong recorded the second highest number of family violence incidents across the state in the last financial year.

Victoria Police reported 4,346 incidents of family violence in the Greater Geelong region, data shows. Picture: AAP Image/Dave Hunt

Greater Geelong reported the second highest number of family violence incidents across the state in the last financial year, data reveals.

Data from the Crime Statistics Agency showed that, in the 2021-22 financial year, Victoria Police reported 4346 incidents of family violence in the Greater Geelong region.

This was second to 5004 incidents reported in Casey.

The number of incidents in Great Geelong was a slight increase from 4315 reported in 2020-21.

In the Surf Coast area, recorded incidents of domestic violence also increased from 295 in 2020-21 to 304 in the last financial year.

Geelong Family Violence Investigation Unit’s Senior Sergeant Nick Uebergang told the Geelong Advertiser earlier in 2022 that police continue to work daily to protect vulnerable families.

“Teams of family violence detectives and uniform officers are knocking on the doors of known family violence offenders daily, putting them on notice,” he said.

“If they are caught offending or breaching a family violence order, police will have absolutely no hesitation in bringing them before a court.”

The data also showed that, in the 2021-22 financial year, Ambulance Victoria dispatched paramedics to 74 family violence incidents in the Greater Geelong region and three on the Surf Coast.

The Sexual Assault and Family Violence (SAVF) Centre, a local organisation providing support services to adults and children, revealed in its latest annual report they had assisted 3712 clients across the Barwon and Wimmera region in 2022.

This was a decrease in the number of clients supported in 2020 and 2021 when the pandemic was at its peak.

“Following a significant increase in client support in the last two financial years due the immediate impact of the global pandemic, our impact this year is lower,” the report said.

“With the prevalence of sexual and family violence in our community, we remain steadfast to our vision of a community free from sexual assault and family violence.”

The report also revealed more than 6000 family violence cases where supported by The Orange Door in 2022, a safety hub helping woman and children in the Barwon area who are experiencing domestic violence.

Originally published as Geelong records second highest number of domestic violence incidents across the state