Latest news with #SafeSteps
Sydney Morning Herald
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
New high-security shelters for women in crisis to sit empty during family violence epidemic
Nearly 30 high-security units for sheltering women at high risk of death by family violence will stand empty after the state government refused to fund their operating costs. Construction of the 28 crisis shelter units – expected to house more than 1000 women and children a year – is underway in Melbourne's north after the federal government provided $7.8 million in July 2024 to Victoria's 24/7 domestic violence response service, Safe Steps. The May state budget did not include the $3.9 million in operational funding for the new units for 2025-26 or the $9.6 million in ongoing funding requested by Safe Steps. As a result, the apartments will sit empty during a housing crisis, Safe Steps chief executive Chelsea Tobin said. Loading A Victorian government spokesperson said that since the federal government funded the construction of the apartments, 'they should fully fund it to become operational'. The construction money was granted after a string of brutal deaths in 2024 prompted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's rapid review into addressing gendered violence. It allowed Safe Steps to expand its wraparound pilot service, Sanctuary, from seven apartments to 35, adding 120 places for women and their children to stay for three weeks while they are connected with safe accommodation, social services, education and employment. Independent analysis of Sanctuary's first year, 2023-24, found it saved Victorian taxpayers $100 per night per client compared to putting women and children in motels, which are currently used to cover the large gap in crisis refuge places in Victoria. It found 98 per cent of those who stayed there did not return to violent – and potentially deadly – homes.
The Age
29-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
New high-security shelters for women in crisis to sit empty during family violence epidemic
Nearly 30 high-security units for sheltering women at high risk of death by family violence will stand empty after the state government refused to fund their operating costs. Construction of the 28 crisis shelter units – expected to house more than 1000 women and children a year – is underway in Melbourne's north after the federal government provided $7.8 million in July 2024 to Victoria's 24/7 domestic violence response service, Safe Steps. The May state budget did not include the $3.9 million in operational funding for the new units for 2025-26 or the $9.6 million in ongoing funding requested by Safe Steps. As a result, the apartments will sit empty during a housing crisis, Safe Steps chief executive Chelsea Tobin said. Loading A Victorian government spokesperson said that since the federal government funded the construction of the apartments, 'they should fully fund it to become operational'. The construction money was granted after a string of brutal deaths in 2024 prompted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's rapid review into addressing gendered violence. It allowed Safe Steps to expand its wraparound pilot service, Sanctuary, from seven apartments to 35, adding 120 places for women and their children to stay for three weeks while they are connected with safe accommodation, social services, education and employment. Independent analysis of Sanctuary's first year, 2023-24, found it saved Victorian taxpayers $100 per night per client compared to putting women and children in motels, which are currently used to cover the large gap in crisis refuge places in Victoria. It found 98 per cent of those who stayed there did not return to violent – and potentially deadly – homes.
Perth Now
07-05-2025
- Perth Now
Victims of violence honoured in candlelight vigils
Sitting in a courtroom feeling frightened, lonely and uncertain, Farah Mak's life changed when a woman gently sat down next to her. The woman was a court support officer from Safe Steps, an organisation that provides immediate, life-saving support to Victorians experiencing family and domestic violence. "I can't remember her name or her face, but a decade on I remember how she made me feel," Ms Mak told AAP. "Facing a perpetrator in the judicial system is very difficult, but having a Safe Steps court support worker made the biggest difference and I felt like I had my mum or best friend with me through the process." On National Domestic Violence Remembrance Day, Safe Steps held its annual candlelight vigil at the Family Violence Memorial Garden in Melbourne. Vigils were held across Australia on Wednesday night to honour the lives lost to family and domestic violence. The vigils started in 2005 and are held annually. Twenty-four women and seven children have died in 2025 as a result of violence, according to the Australian Femicide Watch website. There is no government-run national domestic violence register, which advocates say is needed to track the issue. One in four Australian women has experienced violence by an intimate partner or family member, while 12 per cent of adults witnessed partner violence as children. Up to almost 40 per cent of children have experienced exposure to domestic violence before the age of 18. "Domestic and family violence is still a national crisis, affecting 21 per cent of adult Australians and leaving a devastating toll on individuals, families, and communities," Safe Steps chief executive Chelsea Tobin said. According to Safe Steps, it can take seven to 12 attempts for a victim to leave their abuser. "This highlights the urgent need to raise awareness about available support services, ensuring victim-survivors know where to turn and feel empowered to seek help when ready," Dr Tobin said. As a survivor, Ms Mak now advocates across various platforms, breaking down stigma and helping others to seek help. She wants to give other women hope when escaping domestic violence and transform their pain into healing and empowerment. "Domestic and family violence rates in Australia are only increasing and it's pretty devastating," she said. "Simple things could start to make a change like school education, empowerment programs for survivors and trauma-informed legal practices." 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14
Sydney Morning Herald
03-05-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Invisible victims': Calls for reform as family violence system fails children
A decade of family violence reforms have failed to address the needs of tens of thousands of children impacted every year, prompting calls for a dedicated national support service. The nation's leading family violence prevention advocates and experts have warned that vulnerable children are falling through cracks in the response to the 2015 Royal Commission into Family Violence and desperately need their own tailored services. The move is being backed by the Family Court, which has begun reforming its own processes and introducing a Children's Charter to ensure the needs of young people impacted by family violence are put at the centre of its considerations. The charter will guide all people working in the Family Court system – from social scientists to lawyers and judges – to ensure children and young people are considered at every step of the process. Children were present during more than 37,000 family violence incidents Victoria Police responded to last year, but Safe Steps chief executive Dr Chelsea Tobin said young people were still not being treated as victims in their own right. 'We've come a long way since the royal commission. Billions of dollars are being poured in, and we see people seeking help that wouldn't have 10 years ago,' Tobin said. 'But there is a gap for young people. The sector has predominantly built a system for adult victim/survivors, and it's forgotten teenagers or young people, and they're quite the invisible victims. 'Forty per cent of young people under the age of 16 have been exposed to family and domestic violence, and that's really important because they're particularly vulnerable to the effects of trauma at that age.'
The Age
03-05-2025
- The Age
‘Invisible victims': Calls for reform as family violence system fails children
A decade of family violence reforms have failed to address the needs of tens of thousands of children impacted every year, prompting calls for a dedicated national support service. The nation's leading family violence prevention advocates and experts have warned that vulnerable children are falling through cracks in the response to the 2015 Royal Commission into Family Violence and desperately need their own tailored services. The move is being backed by the Family Court, which has begun reforming its own processes and introducing a Children's Charter to ensure the needs of young people impacted by family violence are put at the centre of its considerations. The charter will guide all people working in the Family Court system – from social scientists to lawyers and judges – to ensure children and young people are considered at every step of the process. Children were present during more than 37,000 family violence incidents Victoria Police responded to last year, but Safe Steps chief executive Dr Chelsea Tobin said young people were still not being treated as victims in their own right. 'We've come a long way since the royal commission. Billions of dollars are being poured in, and we see people seeking help that wouldn't have 10 years ago,' Tobin said. 'But there is a gap for young people. The sector has predominantly built a system for adult victim/survivors, and it's forgotten teenagers or young people, and they're quite the invisible victims. 'Forty per cent of young people under the age of 16 have been exposed to family and domestic violence, and that's really important because they're particularly vulnerable to the effects of trauma at that age.'
