Rates of Reported Family Incidents on the Rise in Regional Victoria

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