Budget invests in addressing violence and supporting women’s health

Supporting Victorian women by investing in their health and wellbeing is a key priority of the Victorian Coalition Government’s 2012-13 Budget, Minister for Community Services Mary Wooldridge said.

Violence is the leading contributor to death, disability and illness for women under the age of 45 living in Victoria.

“The Coalition Government is committed to addressing violence against women,” Ms Wooldridge said.

While an Action Plan to Address Violence Against Women and their Children is set to be released later in the year following extensive consultation, the Budget provides significant new spending to prevent violence wherever possible and respond effectively when it does occur.

“We are investing $20 million to establish three new Multi-Disciplinary Centres across Victoria to investigate sexual assaults, child abuse, and provide specialist support for victims,” Ms Wooldridge said.

“In addition, $7.4 million will help prevent violence in the first place, by providing better treatment of children and young people exhibiting problematic sexual behaviour that may lead to offending later in life.”

Ms Wooldridge said $4.6 million was provided in the Budget for regional integration co-ordinators across 12 regions to better co-ordinate services for women and children who have experienced family violence.

“Co-ordinators form partnerships between counselling, accommodation, child protection, policing and judicial systems to support women fleeing family violence,” Ms Wooldridge said.

The Budget also invests $8.8 million to strengthen the oversight of sex offenders and $20.4 million to fund mediation of intervention order applications.

The government is also funding programs that will specifically target women’s health, including:

• $6 for the construction of two new five-bed Regional Mother-Baby Mental Health units to add to the unit funded in the last Budget for Bendigo;
• $59.6 million for cancer research, including breast and cervical cancer;
• $3 million to respond to young people – predominantly young women – with severe eating disorders through the intensive eating disorder day program at the Royal Children’s Hospital; and
• $72 million for Home and Community Care services to help keep older Victorians living independently in the community.

Further funding in the areas of maternal and child health will also be delivered, with $78.9 million to be spent over four years to continue the universal Maternal Child Health service and $4.7 million to continue the Healthy Mothers-Healthy Babies program, which provides ante- and post natal support, health education and care co-ordination.

“The 2012-13 Budget also takes into consideration the vital role women play in caring for someone with a disability,” Ms Wooldridge said.

“Women make up more than two-thirds of primary carers and more than half of all carers. They are also more likely than men to provide care to someone with a disability.

“The Budget will provide a boost of $38 million to deliver up to 400 new individual support packages so that more Victorians with a disability, their families, and carers have choice about how they access care,” Ms Wooldridge said.