Report into domestic violence helpline DVConnect finds almost 4,000 calls unanswered in October 2024

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5 days ago

Almost 60 per cent of calls to a Queensland domestic and family violence helpline went unanswered in October, a disturbing new report has revealed.
A review into DVConnect, launched in December, has laid bare the pressure on the service amid a sharp rise in calls for help.
More than 6,500 calls were made to its Womensline in October, and almost 4,000 of those went unanswered.
Those who abandoned their call for help waited on average almost 13 minutes before hanging up, while those who waited for a responder were in the queue for more than 20 minutes.
From July 2023 to March 2025, the total number of abandoned calls increased by 388 per cent, which equates to more than 2,500 calls.
"The number of calls abandoned has grown steadily and has remained at a relatively high proportion of all calls," the report from BDO noted.
Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Amanda Camm said the figures were "astounding and frightening".
"Every victim deserves their call to be answered when they are seeking help, and in some of these circumstances, it could have been a life-threatening situation. It's not good enough.
"It's why we have taken action. What I would say to victim-survivors is I want people to be calling DVConnect, whether it's the Womensline, the Mensline, or those service providers, we want a 24/7 crisis service to be operating to the highest standard."
The report noted staffing issues, with actual hours worked well below employee rostered hours, from July 2023 through to October 2024.
"The lowest point in total hours worked was in December 2023, when DVConnect staff only worked 57 per cent of the hours they had been rostered or expected to work."
The review was launched following concerns from advocates around underfunding.
But Ms Camm said there was a "more than adequate amount of funding to meet demand".
"There is a failing, I believe, in the way in which those resources were allocated to meet that demand.
"Over time, what we saw is that it continued to decline and the organisation did nothing different.
"There has been a trust broken between my department and this government and that service."
She noted that since a new triaging system had been introduced, there had been an increase in the call response rate to 73 per cent in April and June.
"That's still not good enough for me. We have a long way to go," Ms Camm said.
"But I want people to have confidence that this government will put victims first and that we will do everything we can to increase the standard of that service."
DVConnect partnered with 1800Respect, a 24/7 confidential service for people affected by domestic and family violence service administered by Telstra Health, in 2017.
The partnership was designed to deliver connections to a team of specialist practitioners for those accessing the helpline.
Fronting budget estimate hearings in parliament on Thursday night, Ms Camm claimed there had been a lack of transparency by DVConnect last year.
"The review also uncovered that during the contract renewal negotiations in 2024 with the former Labor government, the service and the former CEO failed to inform the department that they had lost the multimillion-dollar contract to deliver the 1800RESPECT service," she told the committee.
The report found the relationship between DVConnect and Telstra Health, the helpline provider, was "fraught" in February 2023.
In May 2024, Telstra Health advised DVConnect that it had terminated the contract.
In July 2024, DVConnect renewed and signed after several negotiations with the state government.
"The report also notes when reviewing the 1800Respect contract that this risk could have been disclosed by DVConnect to the department as part of its funding negotiations at the relevant time. This did not occur," Ms Camm told the estimates hearing.
"Those contracts signed in July 2024 saw a significant investment by the former government, which effectively covered the lost millions of dollars when funding was pulled for the 1800Respect contract.
"The negotiations led by the former CEO of DVConnect have caused significant damage to the relationship and trust between the service and our government, relationships that are crucial to helping victim-survivors of domestic and family violence," Ms Camm told the committee.
The chief executive of DVConnect at that time was Beck O'Connor, who resigned from the role in June to become Queensland's Victims' Commissioner.
DVConnect chief executive Joanne Jessop said the organisation would continue to work with the government.
"We have already made changes as part of the review and note that every part of our DFV response system across Queensland needs to be better," she said.
She said was proud of the skilled staff, who support people in times of "extreme crisis and risk".
"Their actions keep people safe and save lives every day," Ms Jessop said.
Ms O'Connor has been contacted for comment.