AGENCIES providing family violence support in Ballarat will share in $484,019 from the State government, to assist their services throughout the coronavirus crisis.<\/p>\n
WRISC Family Violence Support is receiving almost 68 per cent of the city\u2019s allocated funds, and executive officer, Libby Jewson said most of this boost will support women to stay or become safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt provides opportunities to empower women in the circumstances in which they find themselves, as a result of the pandemic,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA number of partners in the Central Highlands region have access to the program to support women and children in their agencies who have been affected by family violence. Some funding will be going towards our agency becoming COVID safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very welcomed and will be used to help keep women and children safe during this time, as well as support WRISC to adjust to the changed working conditions, so that we can all work together to continue to respond to family violence…\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Jewson said there was a high demand for services just before the pandemic, but the risk for women and children has escalated with home self-isolation, although that\u2019s not yet evident in referral numbers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s because women and children don\u2019t have freedoms in the pandemic lockdown, but we\u2019ve noticed there\u2019s a lot of complexity, and high risk, about the referrals that we have had.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are still getting used to just talking on the phone, and requiring support to navigate new initiatives like JobSeeker and JobKeeper,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re expecting to have a much greater demand once we move into the next phase of the [COVID-19 restriction] exit plan. There will be much less limitation on peoples\u2019 movements and that\u2019s when every agency\u2019s expecting high demand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Member for Wendouree, Juliana Addison said family violence is a \u201cnational emergency,\u201d with the State government also allocating $46,165 to Child & Family Services, $45,825 to the Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative, $40,478 to Ballarat Health Services, and $22,501 to Ballarat Community Health.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne woman [is] killed at the hands of a current or former partner every week. It is the leading cause of death, disability and illness in Victorian women aged 15 to 44 years,\u201d Ms Addison said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are supporting local services to protect families and prevent violence in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
One hundred per cent of WRISC\u2019s service delivery to clients is being managed by staff working from home, and this will continue for the coming weeks.<\/p>\n