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The Centre for Non-Violence is being looked at as a best practice model that could be rolled out across the state.
Minister for Women and the Prevention of Family Violence, Fiona Richardson, said the centre was regarded as a leader and offered "a model that could be easily replicated in other communities around Victoria'' following recommendations to come out of the Royal Commission into Family Violence.
One of the key recommendations was to establish highly-visible "support and safety" hubs throughout the state to ensure victims could access information and find services in their local area.
Such hubs would be the point of contact for police referrals, link victims with specialist support, provide risk assessments and book victims into crisis accommodation. Ms Richardson said the CNV’s innovative approach was the only one of its kind throughout Victoria.
"I'm particularly excited by their approach and particularly the good outcomes they deliver for women and children,’’ she said. "So, how we can learn from that and learn from their innovation in particular and the take that model and road test it in other parts of the state is a critical part of the work we’re doing.
“Most hub services will separate out the perpetrator from the victim or they won’t have perpetrator responses at all, whereas the centre takes an holistic view and never loses sight of the child in that work. As a consequence of that rather sophisticated approach, it gets better outcomes for families and women and children in particular.
“Whether that model and framework every community across the state wants to embrace, that needs to be tested and it needs to be worked through, but it’s certainly a very good starting point.’’
Ms Richardson recently met with local service providers, to determine the needs of the central Victorian community and better understand the region’s priorities. Among the issues identified by local providers was the uncertainty surrounding ongoing funding for family violence specialist services.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732