Wishing all of our supporters a safe and happy festive period!
I’m extremely proud to have led the organisation through its first year as GenWest. And what a year it’s been. The growth of the organisation and the pace of change in our sector have been enormous.
The Orange Door Hubs have now opened in Melbourne’s west, and referrals to our family violence support services are now received through them. Working to meet recruitment targets, transition our staff to multiple locations and adapt the way we manage referrals has been an immense task.
This year we also oversaw the build of a new family violence refuge property, and we held an official opening a couple of weeks ago. This amazing property is modern, comfortable and safe. It means families who have experienced family violence will now have their own units without needing to share bathrooms and kitchens at a time of trauma and recovery. It will also greatly increase the number of victim survivors and their families that we can support with emergency accommodation.
This year, we’ve supported over 5000 victim survivors through our family violence support services. This is nearly double the number we supported only five years ago.
Our primary prevention and early intervention teams received a much needed funding increase this year, too – the first above inflation in nearly 30 years. Our work in this area went from strength to strength, and I’m really proud of the work the team have done to deliver vital health and wellbeing programs to communities in the west.
Our staff group has also grown significantly. We’ll exceed 200 workers for the first time in the coming year. This is more than double the number of staff we had five years ago.
Our Annual Report is now available
This year, our Annual Report focuses on telling stories about GenWest’s year.
The stories provide an insight into the experiences of victim survivors who accessed our services, as well as program highlights and an overview of some of the biggest changes and challenges we faced in a year of extraordinary growth.
Read and download our Annual Report here.
GenWest’s opening hours in December and January
Lastly, a reminder that, with the exception of public holidays, our offices are open throughout the Christmas and New Year period.
