By Mitchell Clarke
The devastating reality of Melbourne’s harsh lockdown has been laid bare in heartbreaking new local family violence figures.
With the lockdown lifted, the family violence frontline is anticipating yet another spike in calls for help, as victims begin to seek support more easily.
Figures obtained by the Gazette from Wayss – an organisation which assists vulnerable women and children experiencing violence and homelessness across Cardinia, Casey and Greater Dandenong – has revealed the seriousness of the systemic problem.
Thirty women were on the Wayss waiting list for case management support at the beginning of the year – that number has now reached 135.
“That means over 100 women are waiting for support. It’s a bit like hospital waiting lists – they’re always there, but there are acceptable and unacceptable limits. This is an unacceptable limit,” Wayss CEO Liz Thomas said.
Ms Thomas said changing the culture around violence against women was paramount in bringing and end to the crisis.
“Family violence has never been a greater issue. It’s just not acceptable,” she said.
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the enormity of the problem. In March, as the first lockdown began, Wayss recorded an increase of 30.4 per cent of family violence reports referred from Victoria Police, when compared to the same time last year.
“In January, the figures are always very high and in February, when kids return to school it tends to drop. But in March, we saw it rise to 751 cases when the pandemic first started to have an impact,” Ms Thomas explained.
In April and May, those calls dropped slightly, but were still an increase of 26.6 and 16.3 per cent, respectively, when compared to the same time in 2019.
By June, when life returned to some normality, Wayss received 729 calls for help from women across the south east, an increase of 46.4 per cent.
As the second wave hit and a stricter lockdown was imposed across August, September and October, the figures again dropped dramatically – just a two per cent, four per cent and one per cent increase, respectively.
In October alone, Wayss responded to 99 police reports of family violence from Cardinia, 351 in Casey and 156 in Greater Dandenong.
Throughout the last month, one person in Cardinia, 19 in Casey and nine in Greater Dandenong were currently listed as homeless or at “imminent risk” of becoming homeless due to a violent partner.
But the November figures, which are expected to be released in December, are expected to paint an even more harrowing story.
“We expect our November figures to be even higher as people come out of this most recent lockdown,” Ms Thomas said.
“During lockdown, the figures tend to subside, and as soon as we come out of lockdown, it rises again.”
The pandemic has also given rise to more serious and complex offending, Ms Thomas said.
Different types of family violence have occurred, including adult children being abusive towards their parents, as well as sibling to sibling violence.
Ms Thomas said case workers revealed the nature of that violence tended to be “more horrific and sustained”.
Another grave concern is the lead up to the festive season, which is a notoriously dangerous time for victims.
“We’re about to go into that peak season. The situation is already volatile and that’s why we’re so concerned,” Ms Thomas said.
“There’s alcohol and more time at home which exposes relationship tensions and gives rise to alcohol induced violence.”
On Cup Day alone, Wayss received 75 reports of family violence across the three local government areas.
Ms Thomas said the focus now was to “get the waitlist under control and start a conversation about what’s going on in our local communities”.
“For something that’s systemic, like family violence, we need to chunk it down to pieces that people can respond to,” she added.
“If we talk about the issue of family violence at a federal or state level, it’s of interest, but when you start talking about what’s happening in your own neighbourhood, it makes it all very real.”
Cardinia Shire councillors took a vow to prevent violence against women during the 23 November meeting.
“We all should stand up, speak out and act to end gendered violence,” mayor Brett Owen said.
“We all need to play a part in raising awareness and committing to action that prevents mens violence against women, in workplaces, schools and communities all over Australia.”
Support services are available by calling 1800 RESPECT. Anyone concerned about their own behaviour can contact the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 000.
