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Danny O'Brien urges Allan Labor government to take action against increasing family violence rates in Gippsland

Gippsland South's Danny O'Brien urges action from Gippsland residents and the Allan Labor government to combat rising family violence rates. Immediate attention is essential for better family outcomes.

By news@gippsland - 20th October 2023 - Back to News

The Nationals Member for Gippsland South, Danny O'Brien is calling on all Gippslanders and the Allan Labor government to take action to reduce growing rates of family violence across Gippsland. Following an 11.24 per cent increase in the 12 months prior to July 2023, Wellington Shire has joined other Gippsland local government areas, Latrobe City and East Gippsland Shire, in the top four local government areas with the highest incidents of family violence per capita.

In 2020-21, about 47% of clients seeking homelessness services in Victoria cited family violence as their reason, per the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Prevention over support

Mr O'Brien said immediate action is needed to curb this alarming trend and improve outcomes for all Gippsland families. "Perhaps most concerning is that these figures only include incidents where police were called for assistance, whereas research suggests that many incidents of family violence go unreported."

"We need to see a focus on prevention of family violence rather than chasing our tails and focusing only on support after-the-fact. This begins with our whole community but also requires support and action from the government. Our local support agencies are burning through their limited budgets and the data clearly shows us that the problem is only getting worse under Labor," Mr O'Brien said.

Addressing family violence

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare approximately 47 per cent of clients seeking support with a homelessness service in Victoria in 2020-21 identified family violence as a reason they were seeking support.

"While I am all for increasing social housing stock, indeed I am desperately calling on the Labor government to provide more in Gippsland, we also need to be focused on reducing the demand for social housing. It is great to have support services in place, but we need to see an emphasis on prevention," said Mr O'Brien.

Pictures from Al Jazeera English YouTube channel.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com