On Thursday, 24 March 2022 GenWest held and event in collaboration with our peak bodies Safe and Equal and GEN VIC to call on government to better support our sector. Watch the recording of this event.
With a state budget, a state election and a federal election rapidly approaching. It’s a huge year, enabling us to influence the government’s policy agendas at a state and federal level.
The family violence and prevention sectors are in crisis, and we need government to listen.
On Thursday, 24 March 2022 GenWest held and event in collaboration with our peak bodies Safe and Equal and GEN VIC to call on government to better support our sector.
So far this year:
- The family violence sector is facing its highest ever levels of demand. In 2021, we received 13,493 family violence referrals from police alone. Yet we have little flexibility in how we are funded and are unable to pay our staff a fair wage.
- The economic and health impacts of the pandemic on our communities are enormous, and our health promotion work has not seen an increase in core funding since 1988. We need to reach more of our communities with our vital health promotion and violence prevention programs.
At the event, we heard from:
- Kate Phillips, Interim CEO of GenWest who outlined the challenges facing our organisation in the unique position of working across both primary prevention and response.
- Tania Farha, CEO of Safe and Equal, the peak body for specialist family violence services supporting victim survivors in Victoria. Tania outlined what the family violence sector needs from government to be sustainable, and reach more victim-survivors.
- Jacinta Masters, Manager Advocacy and Sector Development at Gender Equity Victoria (GEN VIC). GEN VIC is the peak organisation for women, gender equality and the prevention of gendered violence in Victoria. Jacinta highlighted what the prevention sector needs in order to move towards gender equity in Victoria.
You can watch the recording below.
