Extend family violence prevention program to northern Victoria, Lovell says

By Shepparton News

Jun 5, 2024

**Wendy Lovell has argued for support to be extended to areas with the highest rates, and the greatest needs. Photo:** Megan Fisher Photo by Megan Fisher

The recently announced four-year ‘saturation mode’ program aimed at preventing family violence in Ballarat needs to be extended to northern Victoria, Wendy Lovell says.

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The program’s launch in Ballarat follows the tragic deaths of three women in the area.

It will leverage world-leading social research to enhance referral pathways, bolster support services, combat toxic attitudes, and test new prevention approaches.

According to data from the Crime Statistics Agency, in 2023, rural and regional areas see the highest rates of serious assault offences in family violence incidents.

Out of the 26 LGAs with the highest rates, Greater Shepparton leads with 379 serious assaults per 100,000 people.

State Member for northern Victoria Wendy Lovell pointed out that Shepparton and 13 other northern Victoria LGAS have higher serious assault rates than Ballarat, which stands at 111 per 100,000.

She argued that extending the program to these high-incidence areas would allow the world-leading prevention initiatives to target regions with the most severe violence and greatest need for assistance.

Regional cities and towns face unique challenges such as tight-knit communities, geographical isolation, limited support services and fewer police officers, some of whom are not available 24/7.

Ms Lovell emphasised that victims of family violence in these areas cannot wait four years for the program to run in Ballarat and need to be included in the program immediately.

“The tragic loss of women’s lives this year is a painful reminder of the urgent need for Victoria to do more to address family violence,” she said.

“I call on Premier Allan to invest in extending the new ‘saturation model’ program being rolled out in Ballarat to include towns and cities in northern Victoria where the rates of serious assault are the worst, demand for help is the highest, and there are fewer support services available.”