4 days ago
Broome domestic violence support hub opens after years of delays
Amid a worsening domestic violence crisis in Western Australia's far north a family support hub has opened in Broome.
According to police data there were 2,018 call-outs for family and domestic violence in the region in the first three months of this year.
The rate has increased every year for the last six years.
The Broome facility, Bibimbiya Jan-ga Buru – meaning women and children's healing place – will support locals as well as Derby and Bidyadanga residents.
Service providers in the Kimberley, which has the worst domestic violence-related statistics in the state, have been calling for support for years.
The Broome hub was slated to open in 2023 but that was delayed by location issues.
The Men's Outreach Service Aboriginal Corporation (MOSAC), operating as Family Outreach Service, has been leading the project delivery.
Chief executive Peter Mitchell said the opening had been a long time coming.
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"The Kimberley have been dealing for a long time with a crisis in family violence and it hasn't been getting better — if anything it's been get worse," he said.
The centre is expected to be fully operational within a week and will offer access to legal advice, childcare services and other support, according to Mr Mitchell.
He said the site would operate as a "one-stop" hub filled with multi-disciplinary providers to help those in need and function as a "healing space" as opposed to an emergency access point.
Security guards will not be stationed at the hub, but Mr Mitchell says it will be a safe space for those seeking support.
WA Minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Jessica Stojkovski acknowledged the difficulties faced while establishing the hub and noted the importance of cultural sensitivity.
"The issues specific to regions like the Kimberley are really intricate," she said.
"So ensuring we got a space that was culturally appropriate and safe for women and children to come was a really important driver in finding the right location."
Ms Stojkovski said it was important to focus on the services soon to be available rather than dwell on the delayed opening.
"I understand it's easy to link deaths to this, as a delayed service that hasn't come on board," she said.
"Understand that even if somebody had access to the family and domestic violence hub, you may have had the same outcome.
"Every death in our community as a result of family and domestic violence is a tragedy and services like these are designed to help … prevent tragic circumstances from happening."
Following the opening of the hub Ms Stojkovski and Kimberley MP Divina D'Anna attended Nyamba Buru Yawuru for the launch of the Mabu Aamba West Kimberley Aboriginal Men's Network interim plan.
Co-founder John Puertollano said the network's goals included addressing family and domestic violence by working with men.
Last year network launched a program focused on underlying challenges men face, including poor mental health and high incarceration rates.
The goal, Mr Puertollano said, was to "help them to pull back and understand that they have a problem and work through that problem, or even prevent that problem from happening".
"To support the men to become a responsible man back in his family," he said.
The men's support group handed its interim plan to the Ms Stojkovski and Ms D'Anna in the hope of securing ongoing funding for the next stage.
