Until every Victorian is safe

The Victorian Government is working to build a future where every Victorian can feel safe, respected and free from violence.

Since the Royal Commission into Family Violence in 2016, the Victorian Government has implemented all 227 of its recommendations to create a nation-leading family violence service system. Investment from this Budget will continue to support community safety and help keep Victorians safe from gendered abuse, violence and harm.

This includes:

• $74 million for family violence response activities, including safe and secure accommodation responses, case management, therapeutic supports and interventions for people using violence.
• $23 million to continue the Central Information Point, which provides information about perpetrators so family violence practitioners can assess risk and keep women and children safe.
• $10 million to upgrade Victoria’s mental health, alcohol and other drugs facilities and create safer, more respectful environments.
• $2.2 million for Sexual Assault Services Victoria to make sure the system responds appropriately to victim survivors.

Keeping families together and children safe

Entrenched gendered inequities place higher responsibility for caregiving on women – and this means women access family services at an overwhelmingly higher rate than men.

That’s why this Budget will also invest $382 million to continue providing support to vulnerable children and help keep families together. This includes:

• $165 million to continue and expand intensive family support services, to make sure children who are at risk of abuse or neglect are safe.
• $126 million to modernise the digital systems that support services for vulnerable children, young people and families.
• $71 million for child protection and care services, including:
  • residential care placements to support children and young people
  • continuing support for the family violence national framework
  • supporting children and young women at risk of sexual exploitation through the St Kilda Gatehouse Young Women’s program
  • support for the Melton kinship carers support group.
• $15 million to increase allowances for kinship, foster and permanent carers.
• $5.1 million to strengthen the Social Services Regulator’s collection and management of data under the Reportable Conduct Scheme, to enable better intelligence and stop child safety information falling through the cracks.

We are also continuing to support vulnerable people in our justice system, including victim survivors of family violence and sexual assault, who are overwhelmingly women. This includes:

• $347 million to ensure serious consequences for perpetrators of violent crime and to keep the community safe.
• $9.5 million for Blue Light Victoria to mentor children and young people at risk of offending.
• $8.7 million to support continued delivery of the Victims of Crime Financial Assistance Scheme.
• $7.1 million for cybercrime and digital forensic data storage and software to help combat technology-facilitated crime.
• $6.3 million to continue the Victims’ Legal Service, a dedicated statewide specialist legal service for victims of crime.
• $3.9 million to facilitate the early resolution of trial cases at the County Court.
• $2.6 million to maintain Victoria Legal Aid’s Independent Family Advocacy and Support (IFAS) service to support parents and primary carers in the child protection system.
• $2.5 million for the Victims of Crime Commissioner to continue improving victims’ experiences in the justice system.
• $1.2 million to maintain the Women and Mentoring Program.
• $882,000 to continue running the Tuning into Respectful Relationships program in the corrections system, helping end the cycle of violence against women.

Every Victorian deserves the dignity of a safe, secure and stable place to call home. Family and domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness, and while this can be experienced by people across all ages, genders and backgrounds, it mainly affects women and children. It’s why this Budget continues to support more Victorians including victim survivors of family violence into housing with:

• $774 million of $860 million to support an expansion of the Social Housing Growth Fund, which in combination with additional dedicated funding for First Peoples, will support the delivery of more than 7,000 new social housing homes.
• $26 million for additional emergency accommodation and 9 new outreach teams to expand support for rough sleepers and help connect them to the help they need.
• $6.1 million to support vulnerable renters to maintain tenancies – helping stop them from becoming homeless.