Rachel asked if the government would establish a taskforce dedicated to addressing family violence. As several south-eastern suburbs have some of the highest rates of family violence in the metropolitan area, Rachel continues to seek government action on this epidemic.
Wednesday the 19th of March 2025
Victorian Legislative Council
RACHEL PAYNE — To ask the Minister for Children (for the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence):
My adjournment is for the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, and the action I seek is the establishment of community taskforces to address the family violence epidemic in the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region.
We recently celebrated International Women’s Day. This year’s theme was ‘Accelerate action’, emphasising the importance of taking swift and decisive action to achieve gender equality. One of the many issues that would benefit from this kind of urgency is the issue of family violence. I have pushed for the Victorian government to introduce coercive control laws, address staffing shortages and provide greater protections for victim-survivors dealing with those who repeatedly breach family violence intervention orders.
Family violence in the south-east
Unfortunately, family violence is an issue that is alarmingly prominent in parts of the South-Eastern Region I represent. The Casey area was recently the highest ranked local government area for the number of family violence incidents, with a total of 5564 reports in the year ending March 2024. Frankston and Greater Dandenong were also in the top 10. Statewide there is a family violence offender arrested every 90 minutes. Last year we saw Victoria Police undertake a five-month-long family violence blitz in the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region that led to 2700 arrests.
Pro-active approach needed
While it was promising to see family violence being taken so seriously, a law-and-order response often means an act of violence has already occurred, and it does little to proactively address the drivers of family violence. For this reason, I encourage this government to invest in lived experience family violence taskforces that are embedded within local communities and directly assist government decision-making.
Taskforces like these help break cycles of abuse and foster inclusive and supportive communities that reject family violence. For a future free of family violence these things are essential. We have already seen the gender equality taskforce in Casey do great work on the prevention of violence towards women. However, dedicated taskforces must have a direct relationship with government decision-making to ensure that local lived experience meaningfully informs government decision-making.
So I ask: will the minister commit to establishing community taskforces to address the family violence epidemic in the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region?
Response Received, Tuesday the 20th of May:
I thank the member for her question regarding the establishment of lived experience community taskforces to address family violence in the South-Eastern Metropolitan region.
The Victorian Government is committed to preventing and responding to family and sexual violence across the state and recognises the value of community level and placed-based approaches.
The Family Violence Regional Integration Committees (FVRIC) were established to improve the integration of the family violence system. These committees bring together the organisations and leaders working to respond to and prevent family violence in a local area. Their focus is to work together to implement Victorian Government family violence reforms and strengthen the coordination of local services. Membership includes representation of government and non-government agencies, family violence services, children and family services, Victoria Police, justice and legal services, housing, community, and health services.
A number of these committees, including Bayside Peninsula and Southern Melbourne, include or aim to include community members with lived experience of family violence. They also work closely with our network of The Orange Door hubs across Victoria and lived experience projects are run across FVRICs regularly to ensure lived experience informs their work.
Through this infrastructure, the Victorian Government is supporting placed-based approaches to preventing and responding to family violence and implementing key reforms. It is also able to receive advice which is informed by and responsive to local community needs and demographics.
In addition, the Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council (VSAC) is a group of 15 individuals with diverse lived experience of family violence, including sexual violence. VSAC members come from across the state. The Council provides formal advice to me as the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence and other decision-makers on service design, policy development and law reform to prevent and respond to family violence in Victoria. It provides an important platform for people with lived experience to guide and shape the design and implementation of programs, policies and services for family violence, at a statewide level.
I thank the Member for her ongoing interest in, and commitment to, preventing and responding to family violence in her community.
The Hon. Natalie Hutchins MP
Minister for Prevention of Family Violence
Related:
> Rise in family violence intervention order breaches – Rachel Payne
> Family Violence Intervention Order Breaches – Rachel Payne
> Gendered Violence Accountability – Rachel Payne
> Gendered Violence staffing in Victoria – Rachel Payne
> Violence against women is preventable – Rachel Payne
> Family and Intimate Partner Violence – Rachel Payne
