Category: news

Funding certainty needed to address family violence

Posted on by Rachel Dale

Funding certainty needed to address family violence

CNV calls for increased and sustained funding of the family violence sector.
15 April 2025

As Central Victoria’s leading family violence prevention, response and recovery service, the Centre for Non-Violence (CNV) faces ongoing funding uncertainty through time-limited funding for some critical programs and services, and without the required investment needed to respond to all people who require support.

We are already at capacity and simply cannot afford uncertainty.

We are not alone.

Family violence organisations right across the nation have been calling on governments to walk the talk and commit to increased and secured funding for the sector. Specialist family violence organisations like CNV work, often outside of the spotlight, with thousands of individuals each and every year to provide programs and services that directly improve and increase safety. The work we do with victim survivors to increase safety and wellbeing and with perpetrators to take responsibility for their use of violence, works.

We are calling on our Commonwealth leaders to support us to do the work it takes to end violence against women and children.

Our specialised workforce deserve fair and secure pay conditions.  The programs and services that we deliver to our community deserve fair and secure funding to be able to operate at full capacity, and our work in preventing the violence before it begins requires dedicated funding.

We are in a national crisis. Last year a woman was murdered as a result of gender-based violence every four days. 2025 is proving yet again, to be another year where women and children are being murdered in entirely preventable circumstances.

It is not ok that as a frontline service we constantly need to make program decisions based on insecure or inadequate budget conditions rather than on the need. And need for our services has never been greater. We are seeing a marked increase in the number of victim survivors and people who use violence accessing our service. In particular we are seeing greater numbers of children requiring specialist family violence support. We cannot operate in a budget vacuum. Especially when we know that in Australia, the cost of violence against women and their children is estimated at $26 billion a year (Commonwealth of Australia, 2022).

Last year, our staff across the Orange Door Loddon (TOD) and CNV offices provided over 50,000 hours of specialist support for victim survivors. The number of victim survivors that our specialist -family violence staff worked with in TOD increased by almost 10 per cent. Similarly, CNV saw a distinct increase in the number of direct referrals to our service with over 2,400 victim survivors accessing much needed support. Not only are we seeing a rise in the number of people seeking support, we are also seeing a rise in the number of complex and high-risk cases requiring intensive management. By way of example, of the 3520 MARAM assessments (how specialist services and police assess family violence risk) we conducted this year, 27 per cent of victim survivors had 10 or more lethality indicators. When someone has five or more, they are considered to be at imminent risk of lethality or serious harm.

We cannot afford to turn people away from much needed specialist family violence support.

While we have wholeheartedly welcomed the Federal Government’s commitment to ending violence against women and children through the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032, the most recent budget hand down has failed to bring the family and sexual violence sector out of crisis mode.

The National Plan identified that one of the key pillars to achieve generational change was to strengthen the capacity of specialist family, domestic and sexual violence services (Commonwealth of Australia, 2022). However, without significant, and ongoing funding to the specialist sector, the National Plan has no way of achieving this objective.

Each and every year, the sector faces extraordinary uncertainty in budget allocation all while each and every year, the demand for our services increases. In the Loddon Region alone, we are seeing a significant spike in the number of family violence incidents.  We know that these figures are reflected right across the states and territories.

It is a confronting message to not only the sector but also to the community, that the lives of women, children and diverse communities – who are at the highest risk of harm from family violence – are further jeopardised by line items on a budget.  We need to be adequately resourced to do our job, because without us, there is no safety net in place for the thousands of victim survivors that walk through our doors every year.

An investment in the family violence sector is an investment towards a future society that is free from gendered violence.

For further information:

Dr Clare Shamier
Head of Business Development and Advocacy
e: [email protected]
m: 0488 281 528

For general media enquiries:

e: [email protected]

International Women’s Day

Posted on by Rachel Dale

International Women’s Day 2025

A year to demand change and reclaim our future.
8 March 2025

Today, right across the world we are gathering to celebrate and acknowledge the incredible achievements, resilience and determination of women and girls for an equal place at the table.

And there is much to celebrate. We see daily, the incredible work, resistance and strength of the women and girls we meet, from our own family members, to friends and strangers in the street.

We see women represented at some of the highest levels of government, business, sport, the arts and the music industry. We see women and girls each and every day bringing to the table innovation, expertise and a determination to push forward and expand the possibilities for all of us.

Representation matters.

And yet, women are still largely underrepresented in leadership, women are still underpaid and undervalued in their jobs.

And women are devastatingly over-represented in gender-based violence. And for women and girls from diverse backgrounds, particular Aboriginal women and girls, their lived experience sees them more than 33 x more likely to be hospitalized as a result of family violence.

And as we gather today, in our thousands, spending time reflecting on the hard-won rights and advancements that the women who have walked before us, alongside us and are following in our footsteps have been fighting for, and continue to fight for, we are seeing, in very real time, the rapid rise of systemic and societal misogyny, the likes of which that we have not seen for many decades.

We are seeing again the normalisation of rigid, outdated gender roles and a rise in the public’s misconception that somehow, the advancement of women is a direct threat to men’s rights. That our right to say no, is a threat. That our right to walk away from a violent relationship a threat, that our right to choose our reproductive futures is a threat, that our right to lead is a threat.

And so it is, that as we advance, all around us the tables are turning, the landscape shifting and with it, the rules of the game. The shadow of far-right social media influencers are entering politics, the billionaires with sexual violence rap sheets are informing national policies and influencing global politics and trade.

Capital punishment for seeking an abortion. Abolition of diversity and inclusion positions and policies. The illegal stoppage of international aid. The forced removal of children to foreign countries, often without their parents. Bills to return to the days before ‘no fault’ divorces.

These changes are not outliers, they are part of sweeping reforms to dismantle the hard-won gains and rights of those most vulnerable to men’s violence. War does not start with a bomb.

It starts with a pen. And right now, we are at war. As women and girls in 2025, we are under attack like never before.

How easily our rights are stripped from us:

  • Our right to self-determination.
  • Our right to reproductive safety and planning.
  • Our right to be decision-makers in our own right.
  • Our right to work.
  • Our right to equal pay.
  • Our right to live in peace and without violence.
  • Our right to be safe at home.

Dismantled.

Yes, we have come so far over the last several decades. But let’s be honest: the bar was always set far too low. Yes:

  • She has the right, if she is granted it, equal pay.
  • She has the right, if she can afford it, to access reproductive healthcare.
  • She has the right, if she can access childcare, to go to work.
  • She has the right, if he doesn’t kill her first, to leave her husband.

But what a woman does not have, and has never had, is the right to equality.

Not a single country has achieved gender equality. Not one. Not here, not there, not anywhere.

And we know that the only way to end violence against women, girls and diverse communities, is through equality. Equality is about respect and in its absence, we are left with disrespect. And for women and girls, that’s a dangerous place to be.

Every 10 minutes, a woman is murdered around the world because of gender-based violence.

Every week in Australia a woman is murdered as a result of gender-based violence. More than 80 per cent of the time, by a man she knew.

Every six minutes police in Victoria respond to family violence incidents.

In our own region we are seeing across all LGAs where CNV operates, a rise in reported family violence incidents, a rise in the number of breaches, but concurrently a decrease in the number of convictions.

We also know that these numbers do not reflect the reality facing families in our region, where family violence too often occurs in the home, away from public eyes, still hidden behind closed doors, unreported. Not believed.

She makes it up.

She’s exaggerating.

It was just a joke.

For 100 women last year in Australia murdered as a result of gendered violence, for the thousands of women and children hospitalised last year as a result of family violence, and for the thousands of women and children experiencing homelessness as a result of family violence:

She was not making it up. She was not exaggerating. It’s not a joke.

We know that the experiences of family and gendered violence in Australia is not unique. We know the rise of violence is not isolated. Globally, across every country in every town and city, women and girls are experiencing higher rates of inequality and violence than in previous years. The rise of misogyny is increasingly leading to extremism. We need to pay attention.

We must, as part of our conversations of celebration today, remember that for millions of women and girls around the world today, as it was yesterday and as it will be tomorrow, that inequality is the very definition of our collective lived experience.

We must continue to fight for our voice to be heard.

And we will continue to push forward, to demand change, and reclaim our future. Our lives depend on it.

International Human Rights Day

Posted on by Rachel Dale

International Human Rights Day

A statement by the Loddon Consortium for Gender Equality and Violence Prevention to demand the protection of our human rights.
10 December 2024

76 years ago today, a landmark document – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations. It enshrined the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being - regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Importantly, it set out for the first time, that fundamental human rights must be universally protected.

76 years later, the rights of the billions of people – most predominantly women and children – around the world are under unprecedented threat.

This is why, this International Human Rights Day, the Loddon Consortium for Gender Equality & Violence Prevention has united to stand up and demand that protecting human rights is the only way forward.1 We must protect:

Our right to exist.

Our right to live in safety.

Our right to equality.

Every 10 minutes a woman is killed around the world as a result of intentional violence. In 2023 alone, over 51,000 women had their lives forcibly cut short by acts of violence, mostly by someone known to them.2

Devastatingly, the violence does not stop there.

Globally, 650 million (or 1 in 5) girls and women alive today have been subjected to sexual violence as children.3

State-sanctioned violence is also escalating in unprecedented magnitude.

Globally, tens of thousands of lives have been intentionally, and forcibly ended due to violence, with unprecedented violence escalating over the last 14 months. War and conflict, disproportionately impacts women, children and diverse communities. A 2023 UN Women report stated that in 2023:

[T]he proportion of women killed in armed conflicts doubled compared to 2022. Four out of every ten people who died as a result of conflict in 2023 were

women. UN-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence increased by 50 per cent.4

In Gaza alone, more than 43,000 people have been killed – 70 per cent of whom are women and children.5 We know that this figure is underreported, with conservative estimates as published by numerous agencies, including the United Nations, the Gaza Ministry of Health, and world-renowned medical journal, The Lancet recently estimating that the death toll will eventually fall within the hundreds of thousands.6

We are what we allow.

The hard truth is, that as a community, we allow human rights abuses.

In Australia, we are bearing witness to the intentional killings of women as a result of gender-based violence every three days. During the last week of November, at the height of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, 6 women in 7 days were killed.

This is not an anomaly. Every six minutes Victoria Police respond to a family violence incident. The Victorian Crime statistics to June 2024 paint a sobering picture: police recorded over 98,000 family violence incidents in the previous 12 months. This signalled a

6.1 percent increase from the previous year. Victim survivors of family violence continue to predominantly be women and children, while perpetrators continue to predominantly be men.7

Rates of sexual violence in Australia over the last 12 years, have also increased year on year. Samantha McNally, ABS head of crime and justice statistics, stated that 2023 “[…] is the highest rate of sexual assault victim-survivors recorded in our 31-year dataset.”8

Nationally9:

  • 1 in 5 women experience sexual violence since the age of
  • 1 in 16 men have experienced sexual violence since the age of
  • 98% of reported sexual violence are perpetrated by

And as rates of violence increase, funding models continue to be unsustainable. Core services for sexual violence, family violence, housing, and allied health operate under conditions that are defined by short-term, underfunded budgets that were never going to be able to allow services to meet demand.

Unilateral budget cuts and funding provisions to services are increasingly decided without consultation, without impact assessments and importantly, without future planning in place to safeguard victim survivors from further harm.

Politically, we are witnessing a disturbing trend towards an extremist right that is actively seeking to dismantle the inroads that feminists and human rights activists have fought long and hard for. Marginalised communities who are already experiencing increased rates of harm, particularly those from First Nation, LGBTQIA+, CALD and people with disability are at profound risk of further harm where human rights are not universally protected.

Within a context where gender equality has always been far from reach, the reality is that what was built over decades, has in just a handful of years, been dismantled, and we are again fighting on the frontlines for the most basic of human rights.

The incredible advocacy work of the trailblazing feminists that came before us must serve as an important reminder of why, more than ever, we must not be complacent in our advocacy.

Now is the time for us to make a united stand, to mobilise and take action to create a free and just world for all. Because now – more than ever – those at greatest risk of harm are facing extraordinary threats to safety and wellbeing.

We cannot do this alone. We cannot do this in isolation.

The only way forward is together, connected, with feet on the ground demanding collective action from each other, our peers and allies:

In solidarity for the victim survivors. In solidarity for the peacemakers.

In solidarity for the humanitarian workers. In solidarity for the specialist services.

In solidarity for the advocates.

In solidarity for the women, children and those from diverse communities of whom each and every life matters.

It’s back to the grassroots.

 

Signed:

Julie Oberin, Annie North Women’s Refuge

Kate Wright, Centre Against Sexual Assault Central Victoria

Margaret Augerinos, Centre for Non-Violence

Jeremy Hearne, Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health

Kellie Dunn, Women’s Health Loddon Mallee

 

 

1 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1. Available from: https://www.un.org/en/about- us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights [Accessed: 3 December 2024]

2 United Nations 2024. ‘One woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes by their intimate partner or family member’, Press Release, 25 November. Available from: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news- stories/press-release/2024/11/one-woman-or-girl-is-killed-every-10-minutes-by-their-intimate- partner-or-family-member [Accessed: 3 December 2024]

3 United Nations Children’s Fund, 2023. International Classification of Violence against Children, New York, 2023.

4 UN Women 2023. ‘War on women – Proportion of women killed in armed conflicts doubles in 2023’, press release, 22 October 2024. Available from: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news- stories/press-release/2024/10/war-on-women-women-killed-in-armed-conflicts-double-in- 2023#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20the%20proportion%20of,increased%20by%2050%20per%20ce  nt. [Accessed: 9 December 2024]

5 Khatib R, McKee M and Yusuf S 2024. ‘Counting the Dead in Gaza: difficult but essential’, Vol.404(10499), p. 237.

6 Ibid.

7 Victorian Crime Statistics 2024. ‘Family Incidents’. Available from: https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/crime-statistics/latest-victorian-crime-data/family-incidents-2     [accessed: 28 November 2024]

8 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2024. ‘Recorded sexual assaults reach 31-year high”, media release, ABS, Canberra. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/recorded- sexual-assaults-reach-31-year-high [Accessed 9 December 2024]

9 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2023. ‘Personal Safety Survey’, available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/personal-safety-australia/latest-release and Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021. ‘Sexual Violence – Victimisation’, 24 August. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/sexual-violence-victimisation [Accessed: 9 December 2024]

Rates of Reported Family Violence Incidents on the Rise in Regional Victoria

Posted on by Rachel Dale

Rates of Reported Family Violence Incidents on the Rise in Regional Victoria

Rural and Regional Victorian communities are experiencing increased rates of family violence incidents.
5 December 2024

The recent Victorian Crime Statistics for the year ending 2023-2024 paint a clear, yet sobering picture: our communities are in crisis.

Statewide, a significant increase in reported incidents has been recorded with a 6.1 per cent jump from the previous year.

Police have also reported significant increases in incidences of children experiencing family violence.

Locally, our communities are not immune from this crisis, with regional Victorian families are twice as likely to experience family violence than those living in metropolitan area.

Working with both victim survivors and adults using violence, CNV received over 2500 referrals for support in 2023-2024.

Of these referrals, 2029 victim survivors were provided with intensive case management, including 1005 children.

Our response and recovery teams are experiencing an upward trend in the need for specialised, complex case management for both victim survivors and adults using violence – this necessarily requires providers to offer longer and more intensive case management support than in previous years. We are not only witnessing a rise in the reported number of family violence incidences, but concerningly also a rise in the severity of violence.

Victim survivors are presenting to our service with an escalated risk of harm by the perpetrator. Anyone who presents with more than five lethality indicators is considered to be at imminent risk of lethality or serious harm.

Of the 3513 risk assessments conducted 27 per cent of victim survivors had 10 or more lethality indicators.

The top 5 presenting lethality indicators to CNV this last financial year included:

  • Coercive control
  • Stalking
  • Jealousy/obsession
  • Risk of Serious Harm
  • Drug and Alcohol misuse

Executive Manager of Programs and Services, Yvette Jaczina highlights:

“[o]ur staff are reporting to us that not only is the severity of the violence escalating, that the complexity of the support needs continues to grow.”

The ongoing housing and cost of living crisis severely impacts a victim survivors ability to seek safety.

“…[f]inding suitable housing is particularly challenging and can leave women and children in desperate circumstances” states Jaczina.

Over 40 per cent of the victim survivors that CNV supported over the last 12 months spoke to their concerns around housing instability. We know that a lack of safe, affordable housing is forcing victim survivors to make the decision to either risk homelessness or stay in the home with the perpetrator.

We also know that the ongoing cost of living crisis is a significant concern for victim survivors who are already often at financial disadvantage due to financial abuse. Financial abuse is a common control tactic used by perpetrators and can include preventing victim survivors from accessing money, incurring debts in someone’s name, making financial decisions without including someone, stealing money or forcing the household to live on inadequate resources. 65 per cent of victim survivors supported by CNV listed financial stress as a contributing factor to their decision-making when seeking a life free from family violence.

CNV provided over $1.5million in brokerage support for victim survivors across the 2023-2024 financial year. These support packages are a critical component of our case management support for victim survivors. Brokerage support includes providing short-term emergency accommodation, fuel and food vouchers as well as short term tenancy support.

Victim survivors in smaller regional towns experience particular and unique challenges: they often face isolation because of distance, lack of transport and lack of police response. Many smaller towns in regional Victoria do not offer around-the-clock police response and this further compounds the complexity of how we need to adapt approaches to ending family violence.

To help combat the social isolation experienced by many who have experienced family violence and support recovery, CNV recently began to offer victim survivors, the opportunity to come together and be part of the Strong Voices Choir – with no experience necessary and children welcome, it is an opportunity for people to gather and experience the joy of singing in a friendly, informal setting led by two experienced choir leaders and supported by staff from our Safe, Thriving and Connected therapeutics program.

Importantly, while family violence is predominantly perpetrated by men against women, the evidence is clear: family violence does not discriminate. It impacts all families, from all backgrounds. CNV supported families from a diverse range of backgrounds, including working with people LGBTQIA+ community, First Nation community and CALD community. We are seeing right across the board, increases in the escalation of family violence, and we know that for many in our community, seeking safety will require specialised, tailored responses that organisations like CNV can provide.

If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, please reach out today, we’re here to help.

If you, or someone you know is concerned about their behaviour, please get in touch, we’re here to help.

Centre for Non-Violence (Monday- Friday, Business Hours): 1800 884 292

The Orange Door (Monday-Friday, Business Hours): 1800 512 359

Safe Steps (24/7 statewide crisis response service): 1800 015 188

Djirra (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Specialist FV Service): 1800 105 303

Rainbow Door (LGBTQIA+ Specialist FV Service, 10am-5pm/7 days a week):  1800 729 367

Contact us

Call for Greater Investment in Specialist Front-Line Services

Posted on by Eliane Hockey

Call for Greater Investment in Specialist Front-Line Services

The Federal Budget has failed to address the urgent need for increased and ongoing investment in the family violence services sector.
15 May 2024

Last night’s Federal Budget announcement has failed to address the urgent need for increased and ongoing investment in the family violence prevention and response services sector.

While we welcome continued funding, we know that there is increasing demand for our services; and that we are at crisis point.

Right across the sector we are working at, or beyond capacity. Our dedicated, specialist staff are working tirelessly to support families in our region to live a life free from family violence.

Yet more needs to be done. And we cannot do this without greater investment into frontline specialist services, and a commitment from Federal Government to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of victim survivors of family violence.

With more than one woman a week murdered as a result of gender-based and family violence, it’s time for those with the power to make the changes we seek to see, to listen and to act.

CNV, like many other specialist family violence prevention and support services right across the country, know that family violence is 100% preventable. We have decades of experience, research and specialist knowledge of the drivers of violence against women, children, First Nation Peoples and diverse communities.

And yet, when decision-making around funding, and investment into prevention and support is made, too often our voices and expertise is left out of the conversation.

We are tired of hearing that the work we do isn’t enough. We are tired of hearing that what we do isn’t working.

We know the work we do matters. We know it has an impact. We know our work saves lives. Over the last 34 years, the Centre for Non-Violence alone has supported tens of thousands of women and children escaping family violence.

We have, as an organisation provided millions of hours of prevention, crisis and therapeutic support for victim survivors who have experienced family violence across the Loddon area.

Our work with men who use violence has been instrumental in improving the lives and outcomes for victim survivors. It has also supported men to take responsibility for the choice to use violence and to change values and beliefs that drive the choice to use violence.

Our prevention work has seen thousands of hours of specialist training and workshops delivered to schools, local government and business within the region.

And while we work, the phones keep ringing and we keep answering.

But in order for us to continue to meet the increasing demand for our services we must not only be heard, but provided the capacity and resources to meet demand.

We are calling on not only an increase in funding to the sector, but an ongoing commitment by the Federal Government to deliver dedicated, long-term investment into programs and services, both in prevention and crucial front-line intervention.

Contact us

The Time to End Men’s Violence Against Women is Now

Posted on by Rachel Dale

The Time to End Men’s Violence Against Women is Now

A Joint Statement by the Centre for Non-Violence and ARC Justice.
A Joint Statement by the Centre for Non-Violence and ARC Justice

2024 is proving to be another deadly year for women in Australia. With the recent murders of Samantha Clarke, Rebecca Young and Hannah McGuire in the Ballarat region, as well as Emma Bates in Cobram last week, we as a community are reminded that men’s violence against women happens anywhere, to anyone, at any time. Our own region is no exception.

The Centre for Non-Violence and ARC Justice are calling for an end to men’s violence against women, children and diverse communities. We stand united in asking community to reach out and seek support where they may be experiencing or using family violence. We’re here to help.

Our thoughts are with the many families, friends and communities as they navigate the grief and loss of their loved ones. We know that they are not alone in this grief.

More than one woman a week and one child a fortnight dies as a result of family violence in our country. As we write this statement, and during the month of April, one woman has been killed every 4 days. It has driven thousands of Australians to rally across the country to say “no more”.

This is not a tragedy – this is a national crisis. This is especially difficult when we know that family and gendered violence is 100 per cent preventable.

So far this year 33 women have lost their lives to family and gendered violence in Australia (@sherelemoodyfemicidewatch). We also know that at the time of publication, this number will mostly likely have risen again.

It is important as a community navigating our own grief and disbelief surrounding these deaths, that we recognise that to use violence is a choice. We must as a community, challenge myths surrounding behaviours and attitudes that lead to men’s violence against women and children and diverse communities.

This includes understanding that the person using violence did not ‘snap’ or ‘lose control’ or faced too many pressures at home or work or financially.

To use violence is always a choice.

As two of the leading support services for those experiencing family violence in Central Victoria, ARC Justice and the Centre for Non-Violence know that in every instance where family violence has been experienced, a choice was made by the person using violence to gain power and control over the other person.

Family violence exists in every suburb of every town or city and across all socio-economic and cultural communities. It does not discriminate.

In more than 95 per cent of all cases of family violence, the person using violence is known to the victim. It is someone they knew. It is someone their families knew, their football club knew, they do not hide in the shadows, because they do not need to.

The statistics paint a sobering picture:

  • 1 in 2 women and girls since the age of 15 have experienced sexual harassment
  • 1 in 5 women and girls since the age of 15 have experienced sexual violence
  • 1 in 3 women and girls since the age of 15 have experienced violence
  • 1 in 4 women have experienced intimate partner violence since the age of 15

And for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls, and women and girls living with disability, the impacts are far more devastating.

To support our community in seeking a life free from family violence, the Centre for Non-Violence and ARC Justice are working together to offer a range of support services for victim survivors and men who use violence. Now, more than ever, we encourage anyone who may be experiencing or who may be concerned about their behaviours towards their loved ones to reach out and seek help.

The Centre for Non-Violence is a fully integrated family violence support service. Working with both victim survivors and men who use violence, we offer a range of support for victim survivors including:

  • crisis accommodation
  • safety planning
  • case management
  • therapeutic recovery programs

Through a range of specialist programs, CNV supports men to make different choices and recognise how their behaviours and attitudes may be impacting the safety of their loved ones.

CNV offers a suite of programs for men who use family violence including:

  • Men’s Behaviour Change
  • Supported accommodation programs
  • One to one case management

There is a service available for anyone seeking support to make a better change for themselves, their children and their families.

ARC Justice – a rights-based, for-purpose organisation incorporating the Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre and Housing Justice based in Bendigo and the Goulburn Valley Community Legal Centre based in Shepparton – provides free legal advice and representation and housing support and advocacy for those experiencing family violence.

ARC Justice has expertly trained staff to help people understand their legal rights and specialise in:

  • Family violence
  • Family law
  • Child protection
  • Renting
  • General civil and criminal law

Family violence raises many complex issues. ARC Justice can help with both the legal issues, especially relating to the care of children and security of housing both rented and owned and support to access related services which can help with the other issues.

We want people who are experiencing family violence to know that they are not alone, and that advice, support and help is available.

If you, or someone you know is experiencing or has experienced family violence to reach out. We’re here to help.

And equally, if you, or someone you know is using family violence, we’re here to help.

Give us a call today:

The Centre for Non-Violence (Monday- Friday / 9-5pm): 1800 884 292

ARC Justice (Monday-Friday / 9-5pm): 1800 450 909

For Media Enquiries please contact:

Centre for Non-Violence: Clare Shamier, Head of Business Development and Advocacy, 0488 281 528

ARC Justice: Erin Delahunty, Communications Lead, 0460 778 751

A Call for an Immediate Humanitarian Ceasefire in Gaza

Posted on by orasy

A Call for an Immediate Humanitarian Ceasefire in Gaza

A Statement from the Centre for Non-Violence.
As a not-for-profit organisation working in family violence prevention and crisis support, we hold grave concerns for the safety and wellbeing of all Palestinians in Gaza, and especially for the women and children and diverse communities.

The rules of war and International Humanitarian laws must be observed no matter what – even in the absence of reciprocity.

The Australian Government must not support any nation that breaks International Humanitarian laws.

The people of Gaza have been witnessing and experiencing endless violence since the 7 October.

No child in Gaza is safe.

Since this onslaught has begun a new unique acronym has been created to describe what is occurring in the hospitals of Gaza: WCNSF – wounded child, no surviving family. This is an acronym that should never have come into existence. The number of children without any remaining family, some with life changing horrific injuries is in the thousands.

There must be an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

We are deeply concerned of reports from humanitarian organisations like the International Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières of deliberate and concerted attacks on sites of safe haven such as schools, hospitals and mosques. We are also deeply concerned of the reports from Gaza of the Israeli military deliberately targeting clearly marked MSF vehicles.

We also unequivocally condemn the direct targeting on Al Awda Hospital on the 21 November – the last remaining functional hospital in Northern Gaza – one day after the cease-fire ended.

These sites have become the only refuge available for thousands of displaced people, including women and children.

This deliberate targeting of a medical facility is in serious violation of International Humanitarian law.

Nowhere in Gaza is safe.

Our hearts and minds are with the humanitarian workers: the doctors, the nurses, the support staff, working to save the lives of the wounded, while under siege and under fire. It is a losing battle and one they shouldn’t have to fight.

The need for medical and essential supplies are urgently needed now.

MSF have reported they are now down to Panadol, ibuprofen and bandages. These do little against injuries sustained by bombs, rockets and bullets. Victims, the vast majority of whom are children, are left with open wounds and have no access to clean water or pain relief.

For the millions of people of Gaza facing these horrors, we see you, we believe you.

We call on the Australian government and the United Nations Security Council to unequivocally condemn these crimes against humanity.

We ask that the Australian government immediately stop supporting Israeli government actions in Gaza by:

  • Calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire
  • No longer supplying weapons to Israel.
  • Support and provide safe passage for humanitarian organisations such as MSF and the International Red Cross to deliver essential humanitarian relief.

It is our determination that one day when a child in Gaza will look to the skies at night, and it will no longer be filled with air-strikes, but instead scattered with the lights of a thousand stars.

For Media Enquires please contact

Centre for Non-Violence: Clare Shamier, Head of Business Development and Advocacy, 0488 281 528

Community Vigil to Honour all Victims of Family and Gender-based Violence

Posted on by Rachel Dale

Community Vigil to Honour all Victims of Family and Gender-based Violence

A joint statement from the Centre for Non-Violence, Centre Against Sexual Assault Central Victoria, Women’s Health Loddon Mallee and Annie North Women’s Refuge.
As not-for-profit organisations working in the Greater Bendigo area, we are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic passing of one of our community members, Logee (Analyn) Osias.

Our heartfelt thoughts and condolences are with her children, family, friends, local community and all who knew and loved her.

Working across the women’s health, family and sexual violence sector we also acknowledge the deeply felt impacts that such a tragic loss has on individuals and the community.

We also understand the need for the community during times like this, to be able to gather, reflect and support each other as we process the layered feelings of grief and disbelief that another life has been taken under entirely preventable circumstances.

In light of this, we are asking the Bendigo community to join us for a community vigil to honour Logee Osias and all women and children who have lost their lives this year as a result of gendered violence.

So far this year 43 women have lost their lives to violence. On average in Australia more than one woman a week and one child a fortnight dies as a result of family and gendered violence.

These statistics are even more sobering because we know these deaths are preventable. To use violence is a choice. Family and gendered violence is prevalent in our community. It does not discriminate: it exists in every community, in every suburb, in every town or city.

As a community, we have an opportunity to come together and ask for real social change that will see women, children and diverse communities live in safety.

As specialised support services working in the Loddon region, we are striving through our work to achieve gender and social equality in a violence free world, and we are asking our community to join us in this journey.

The community vigil will take place on the Rosalind Park Conservatory Lawns (opposite Grill’d), Pall Mall, Bendigo this coming Thursday, 2 November from 5.15pm to 6.30pm. All are welcome to attend.

The community vigil is supported by the following organisations:

  • Centre for Non-Violence
  • Centre Against Sexual Assault, Central Victoria
  • Women’s Health Loddon Mallee
  • Annie North Women’s Refuge

Guest speakers from these organisations will provide an informed and reflective space for attendees.

Specialised on the ground support staff will also be available to help guide any members of the public who are seeking further support to access our services.

Finally, we wish to acknowledge the strength and resilience of survivors of family violence. Family violence is a structural and social issue that significantly impacts women and children, families and communities. We recognise the courage of individuals who have experienced family violence, along with the dedicated workers responding to family violence.

If you, or someone you know is experiencing family violence, or you are concerned about your behaviour towards your family, please reach out, we’re here to help.

In any emergency call: 000

Centre for Non-Violence: (Free Call) 1800 884 292

The Orange Door Loddon: (Free Call) 1800 512 359

Safe Steps: (24/7 Statewide Service) 1800 015 188

Centre Against Sexual Assault Central Victoria: (03) 5441 0431

End of Statement.

Submission to National Plan to End Homelessness

Posted on by orasy

Submission to the National Plan to End Homelessness

Submission by the Centre for Non-Violence.
A safe, affordable, and decent home for our clients is the foundation for a safe, nourished life free from family violence.

‘The most effective and important change we can make to end homelessness is preventing people from becoming homeless in the first place.’[1]

The Centre for Non-Violence (herein ‘CNV’) is Central Victoria’s leading family violence prevention and crisis and support service. With offices located on Dja Dja Wurrung, Yorta Yorta and Taungurung Country in Bendigo, Echuca, Kyneton and Maryborough, the organisation provides a range of programs and services that respond to and work to prevent family violence and homelessness across the Loddon region. With more than 30 years of operation, the organisation has helped thousands of women and children to escape family violence, and has worked with men who use violence to address behaviours and attitudes that have led to acts of family violence in the home.

Key Recommendations:

  1. Every person has the right to a safe place to call home.
  2. The most effective and important change we can make to end homelessness is preventing people from becoming homeless in the first place.
  3. The National Housing and Homelessness Plan needs to include policy areas in scope that can achieve:
    • universal prevention to reduce the overall number of people at risk of homelessness
    • targeted prevention to reduce risk of homelessness for people who are more vulnerable to becoming homeless
    • crisis prevention to prevent homelessness for people at imminent risk of homelessness
    • Support the important work of homelessness, housing and family violence services in providing emergency responses and support for people to gain and sustain housing.
  4. The National Plan must address major drivers of homelessness across the population, including racism and discrimination, the adequacy and security of income support, people’s access to affordable housing and importantly safety and wellbeing.
  5. Prevention requires the Federal Government to address gaps in other human service systems that cause homelessness, such as provision of family violence prevention and support services, adolescent mental health supports, and tenancy and legal advice.
  6. Homelessness services simply do not have the capacity to provide support for everyone in need:
    • this has devastating consequences for people who are turned away.
    • has system consequences including missed opportunities for prevention of homelessness and for prevention of re-entry to homelessness, and,
    • creates significant costs and pressures on other service systems, such as family violence, acute health, child protection and justice services

Introduction:

There is a significant need for greater investment and long-term policies that see more families in safe and secure homes.

Australia is facing an unprecedented tightening of the rental market and a serious shortfall of social and affordable housing. This, coupled with a cost-of-living crisis and an increase in mortgage defaults, also means re-homing people who have lost their home is extremely difficult.

This challenge is exacerbated by the fact that many more people are becoming homeless than ever before. These are individuals and families, who, if they had access to affordable housing, would not need to engage in support services that are already at critical capacity.[2]

We know, from working in and alongside housing services, that the only way forward is to reduce the number of people seeking homelessness and housing support.

While the Federal Government does recognise that communities in regional settings are at most risk of insecure and unaffordable housing, what we need is more than recognition. We need place-based action that has long term investment and support at the federal level. And importantly, recognises that factors contributing to homelessness is not simply a housing issue’. The National Plan therefore must not simply be about investment in housing services, but take into account and devise policies that seek to stop homelessness from occurring in the first place. This will require extensive engagement in other social support services, such as health, disability and family violence services.

Homelessness, Housing Security and the Intersect with Family Violence:

Family violence is the leading cause of homelessness in Australia. Of all adults seeking housing support as a result of family violence in 2018-2019, 90% were women[3]; and with soaring rents, low vacancy rates, interest rate rises and housing affordability at an all-time low, we know the situation is only getting harder for women and children seeking safety, wellbeing and a life free from violence.

1. Every Person has the Right to a Safe Place to Call Home

A safe, affordable, and decent home for our clients is the foundation for a safe, nourished life free from family violence.

  • An absence of affordable housing options increases the likelihood of victim survivors remaining with a violent perpetrator.
  • The risk of homelessness when considering whether or not to leave abusive partners or family members is paramount:
    • 100% of victim survivors at CNV have had to make an assessment of whether to stay in the abusive relationship, or risk housing insecurity and/or homelessness (short term decision making on when or possible to leave)
    • Between 70-90% of victim survivor clients have had to consider housing affordability (rental prices, mortgage repayments) as part of their journey from family violence (short to medium term decision-making)
  • On average, more than 65 per cent of CNV victim survivor clients face a lack of safe and affordable housing
  • A significant number of victim survivor clients either have to remain in relationship or are forced to return to the abusive relationship in order to avoid homelessness/housing insecurity and the flow on effects of unaffordable/unavailable housing (ie. associated rising cost of living, loss of community (where a move from the region to a more affordable/available housing market)
  • Our staff are increasingly finding it difficult to provide quality support to victim survivors and their children if they do not have a safe or reliable place to call home.

Across the family violence sector, and CNV is no exception, staff face significant pressure as a direct result of the housing crisis. Finding affordable, safe and secure housing has become a primary focus for many of our Specialist Family Violence Practitioners shifting focus from family violence and safety. Significant time is spent providing necessary support to women and children victim survivors, and, men who use violence to find housing (including both short term emergency housing, and longer-term private rentals) in order to reduce the risk in escalation of family violence.[4]

  • The current lack of affordable housing options, inclusive of rental properties, inhibits victim survivors’ safety and recovery as they continue to face uncertainty. A choice between facing homelessness or risking a return to the home of the perpetrator is no choice at all.

2. The most effective and important change we can make to end homelessness is preventing people from becoming homeless in the first place.

As stated, family violence is the leading factor for homelessness in Australia. As a family violence prevention and support service we see daily the impacts that a housing sector in crisis is having on women, children and diverse communities experiencing family violence. Women and children are overrepresented in homelessness data as a result of family violence.

Within this context, we must address the gendered drivers of violence against women and girls, children and diverse communities through effective policy and project development. This will require significant systems change in addressing racism and discrimination. We know that our legal and government systems are not always working towards equality, and in order to reduce the number of people experiencing or at risk of homelessness we must begin to dismantle barriers to equality and justice through targeted legislative reform.

3. The National Housing and Homelessness Plan needs to include policy areas in scope that can achieve:

  • Universal prevention to reduce the overall number of people at risk of homelessness

This includes long term commitment to building more social and affordable housing, and a nationalisation of policies that support diversity, inclusion and culturally safe policies and frameworks to better inform the real estate sector, especially within the private rental market.

  • Targeted prevention to reduce risk of homelessness for people who are more vulnerable to becoming homeless

The National Plan needs policy development that takes into consideration the oftentimes complex and intersectional needs of people facing homelessness. Within the family violence sector we understand that those at most risk of harm due to a lack of safe, accessible and affordable housing are women and children experiencing family violence. This is exacerbated for First Nation women and those from diverse communities, as well as for women living with disability.

  • Crisis prevention to prevent homelessness for people at imminent risk of homelessness

The family violence sector requires a better, and more targeted response to crisis, emergency and transitional housing for victim survivors and their children. The use of hotels and motels is not a viable, safe or financially sustainable option – and the sectors over-reliance on the private hotel and motel industry to provide emergency accommodation to some of our most vulnerable community members is simply not appropriate. The sector is calling for specialised crisis, emergency and transitional housing options that are able to provide trauma informed support and management.

  • Support the important work of homelessness, housing and family violence services in providing emergency responses and support for people to gain and sustain housing.

The crisis of housing affordability increases demand on specialist family violence services and is ultimately costly for the service system and those who use it.

The demand on services is significant. For example, the Centre for Non-Violence provided over 14,000 nights of crisis accommodation support for victim survivors of family violence during 2022-2023.[5]

  • Short Term Emergency accommodation is not meeting the needs of the community.

It is failing to appropriately address victim survivor safety and wellbeing during the most high-risk post separation time period.

Our staff have unanimously reported on the difficult and time-consuming effort required to find emergency accommodation. This is further impacted by the following factors:

  • Reliance on private market (ie motel accommodation) poses significant risk considerations for women and children fleeing family violence as these spaces are not fit for purpose (ie secure locks, visibility of vehicles from street etc)
  • Due to competing emergency accommodation demand with other support services there are instances where both perpetrators of family violence have been housed in the same motel as victim survivors of family violence – this poses significant risk to safety and sense of safety and wellbeing for victim survivors
  • Motels are not appropriate spaces for women with children to live in (ie. space for privacy, ability to cook etc is not available)
  • Women with more than 2 children require family suites in motels which are often not available.
  • Accessibility to emergency accommodation for women and children who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is significantly reduced.
  • Time that would be better spent addressing the support and service needs for clients by our specialist trained family violence practitioners is instead spent searching for suitable accommodation. Staff reported this takes on average in excess of 2-3 hours per case. And due to the short-term nature and lack of availability for longer term housing, it is an issue that often arises several times during a single client case management. 

4. The National Plan must address major drivers of homelessness across the population, including racism and discrimination, the adequacy and security of income support, people’s access to affordable housing and family wellbeing.

Access to safe, secure housing is a gendered issue. Women and children are significantly discriminated against and have reduced access to safe and secure housing both in the private rental market and in home ownership. This is not simply an issue of housing availability, but significantly an issue of housing that is not available for women and diverse communities.

The private rental market has been of particular concern for our staff who have identified that real estate agencies have significant oversight of application processes including:

  • Requirements for previous rental history (often women have not entered the rental market before or have not rented in their own name)
  • Access to financial arrangements (notably income sources). There is significant discrimination against women receiving support and disability payments.
  • Single women with no children and women with more than 2 children are most significantly impacted. This includes women who have secure employment.
  • Accessibility to the private rental market is further reduced for women who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and women from migrant and refugee communities. Prevailing discriminatory attitudes and larger family sizes place significant strain on women seeking safe and secure housing.
  • Men who use violence (including clients and/or former partners of victim survivor clients) are often able to secure a private rental in a shorter time-frame – often within a few weeks/2-3 rental applications.
  • Men who use violence have access to accommodation programs such as ‘A Place for Change’ (CNV and Haven Home Safe partnership) which provides the opportunity for longer term housing to be purchased for perpetrators.  In this program the partnership is able to purchase long term housing – ie., serviced apartments for up to 6 months to house perpetrators. It is imperative to extend this type of funding for victim survivors. Our statistics are telling us that it is women, not men, adversely affected by the housing crisis and therefore are in greater need of dedicated housing investment.
  • There must also be an urgent review into the adequacy of income support payments and social support services including health and disability services. When working with our clients, a significant number of women who face homelessness have complex needs that can include reliance on income support streams. This is then further exacerbated for First Nation women, women from diverse communities as well as women with disability who are experiencing family violence (inclusive of direct family members as well as carers), who are at even greater risk of harm, compounded by a lack of accessible and affordable housing.[6]

5. Prevention requires the Federal Government to address gaps in the provision of family violence prevention and support services.

It is imperative that the lived experience of victim survivors is acknowledged through more sustainable policies that better address structural social and gender inequalities to address secure housing and risks to homelessness for women and children. Lives depend on it.

Our staff hold knowledge through expertise in the family violence sector of the structural inequalities and oppressions faced by women, children and diverse communities. This, coupled with a housing landscape that is largely inaccessible, presents challenging and often complex situations that can lead to workforce burnout, vicarious trauma and feelings of hopelessness and frustration[7].

These are conditions that no worker should have to face on a daily basis. Our service is already seeing a rise in the number of people seeking housing help because they cannot afford private rental prices[8] and after decades of failed housing policy, including a shortfall of 640,000 social and affordable homes[9], we are leaving women and children, during one of their most vulnerable times, exposed to serious risk of harm and death.[10] A greater commitment to investment in social, community and public housing is needed and requires strategic national and state government engagement: purpose-built housing that can offer stability and dignity for those most vulnerable in our community should never of been left to the private market to solve. Equally, the responsibility for the housing crisis should not fall on the shoulders of our staff, and yet they are holding themselves responsible for the safety and wellbeing of their clients.

6. Homelessness services simply do not have the capacity to provide support for everyone in need:

    • this has devastating consequences for victim survivors who are turned away, with many forced to choose between homelessness or a return to the home of violence.
    • has system consequences including missed opportunities for prevention of homelessness and for prevention of re-entry to homelessness, and,
    • creates significant costs and pressures on other service systems, such as family violence, acute health, child protection and justice services

Concluding Notes:

CNV as a leading family violence prevention and support service has been advocating for greater and sustained investment in safe and affordable housing that considers the client journey from to emergency and transitional housing, to long term housing: a safe place to call home.

We are, as an organisation deeply concerned with the ongoing, and far-reaching impacts that a lack of affordable and safe housing is having on communities, including the impacts on our staff when trying to support families seeking a life free from violence.

As it stands, the housing sector, as the Federal Government is all too aware, is failing to meet the most basic of needs to those most vulnerable in our communities. The National Plan to end Homelessness must provide a comprehensive and coordinated approach to policy and legislative reform that considers the drivers of homelessness, and invests in and refers to the support systems and expertise of those working within the sector and with individuals and families at risk or experiencing homelessness.

In closing, CNV is seeking to encourage all levels of government and relevant sector representatives to work together in addressing the systemic issues facing communities at risk of homelessness.

References:

[1] Homelessness Australia 2023. ‘The 10 Year Housing and Homelessness Plan: Key Messaging and Submission Guide’, August: available from: Submission GuideHomelessness Plan (homelessnessaustralia.org.au) [accessed: 11 October 2023]

[2] Pedlar C 2022. ‘Bendigo’s rental affordability worse than rest of regional Victoria’, Bendigo Advertiser, 1 December. Available from: https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/8000397/regions-rental-market-deemed-unaffordable-in-new-report/ [accessed: 25 July 2023]

[3] Safe and Equal 2021. ‘Fast Facts’, produced in conjunction with Respect Victoria. Available from: https://safeandequal.org.au/resources/fast-facts-2022/ [accessed: 5 July 2023]

[4] In Australia, an estimated 3 per cent of women (275,000) experienced violence by a current partner whereas 15 per cent of women (1.4 million) experienced violence by a previous partner https://safeandequal.org.au/understanding-family-violence/statistics/# Sourced from: ABS (2016) Personal Safety Survey [accessed 11 July 2023]

[5] Refer to Appendix One:  Housing Needs in Response to Family Violence 2022-2023– A CNV Snapshot.

[6] Refer to: Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with a Disability: Final Report, p.18. Available from: https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2023-09/Final%20Report%20-%20Volume%203%2C%20Nature%20and%20Extent%20of%20Violence%2C%20abuse%2C%20neglect%20and%20exploitation.pdf [Accessed: 18 October 2023]

[7] CNV 2023. collated data from staff discussions and feedback workshop: ‘Have Your Say – ‘Housing Crisis and Impacts on Work’.

[8] A Safe Place to Call Home – Mission Australia’s Homelessness and Stable Housing Impact Report (2023) https://www.missionaustralia.com.au/media-centre/media-releases/mission-australia-s-homelessness-impact-report-reveals-rising

-demand-for-services [accessed 11 July 2023]

[9] Quantifying Australia’s unmet housing need: a national snapshot (2022) Community Housing Industry Association https://apo.org.au/node/320820 [accessed 11 July 2023]

[10] One woman a week and one child every two weeks is killed as a result of family violence. Leaving the relationship is one of the most dangerous times for women and children, and this is compounded when there is nowhere for them to leave to. For further information https://www.safesteps.org.au/victoria-lights-up-in-purple-2023/  [accessed 11 July 2023] and https://safeandequal.org.au/understanding-family-violence/statistics/# [accessed: 11 July 2023]

Appendix One:

Housing needs in response to family violence 2022-23 – a CNV snapshot. Click here to view.

Open letter in support of Equality and Justice

Posted on by orasy

Open letter in support of Equality and Justice

A Joint Statement by the CEOs of six Central Victorian organisations.
Australia is on the cusp of a historic decision in the advancement of First Nations equality and justice. As not-for-profit organisations living and working on Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung, Yorta Yorta and Wurundjeri country, we are committed to walking in solidarity with First Nation communities in the pursuit for equality, justice and truth-telling.

Australia is on the cusp of a historic decision in the advancement of First Nations equality and justice. As not-for-profit organisations living and working on Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung, Yorta Yorta and Wurundjeri country, we are committed to walking in solidarity with First Nation communities in the pursuit for equality, justice and truth-telling.

We write this open letter as First Nations communities face backlash against what is a simple ask: the opportunity for them to be able to have a voice on issues that directly affect and impact their lives, children, and kin.

We are concerned not only in the amplification of misinformation over the upcoming referendum, but also about the harmful narratives taking place across our communities.

Our organisations acknowledge our privilege and will use that to amplify the continuing impacts and

oppression of colonisation and systemic racism on First Nations people.

At a time where we are about to turn the page on one of our most important chapters, we must ask those of us who do not identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander to acknowledge and accept our role in the living history of colonisation, and ongoing oppression of First Nation families and communities.

We have a responsibility to recognise and acknowledge the enduring trauma inflicted on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as a result of colonisation and systemic racism.

We also recognise the strength and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in their fight for equality, justice and truth-telling. We recognise and deeply respect the diversity of lived experience and voice within First Nation communities and regard a Voice to Parliament as an important step towards equality and justice.

We have been given an invitation as a nation, to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Nations people of these lands and waterways and, to acknowledge their sovereignty and sacred connection to them. We also have an invitation to uphold the unique human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as outlined by the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; to seek a future where they have power of their voice, rights, destiny, and that their children flourish. This invitation is to have a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament.

On October 14, we have a chance to re-write history and undo the lie of terra nullius, to undo the constitutional mistake of the past where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were not recognised as the First Nation peoples of these lands – over 60,000 years of continuous living history and culture – older than any other culture in the world – exists today on the very lands we are privileged to call home.

We have an opportunity to begin as a nation, a journey of healing.

It’s time for equality. It’s time for justice. It’s time to say Yes.

Media Enquiries

Margaret Augerinos – CEO, Centre for Non-Violence

Tricia Currie – CEO, Women’s Health Loddon Mallee

Julie Oberin – CEO, Annie North

Trudi Ray – CEO, Haven Home Safe

Damian Stock – CEO, ARC Justice

Kate Wright – CEO, Centre Against Sexual Assault Central Victoria