Creating a safer home for women and children

The Victorian Government’s family violence reforms continue in their mission to stamp out what is now the leading contributor to preventable death, disability and illness for Victorian women aged 15-44.

Julie’s story

Family violence affects one in five Victorian women. Julie Ramage was one of them and her story is just one reason the Victorian Government is determined to improve family violence services.

In 2003, six weeks after Julie left her abusive husband of 23 years, he killed her. Julie’s husband used the defence of provocation which reduced the charge of murder to manslaughter; he was sentenced to eleven years with a non-parole period of eight years.  

Julie’s sister Jane Ashton says her sister’s death may have been prevented if friends, family, police, lawyers, counsellors, and even Julie herself, had had a greater understanding of family violence and how to escape safely.

Since the death of her sister, Jane has been a strong advocate for women’s rights and was part of the campaign that succeeded in abolishing the provocation defence in Victoria in 2005.

The changes to date are due in no small part to the advocacy efforts of people like Jane Ashton and Yee Man Louie, a survivor of family violence.

Yee Man’s story

Yee Man Louie endured nine years of violence from her husband before she escaped in 1997, with their two small children.

Yee Man had no information about services and support available for women experiencing family violence and didn’t take action until she came in contact with a community worker who advised her that she and her children were in danger. She escaped immediately to a women’s refuge where she spent three months. The separation gave her precious time to access essential legal and financial assistance, case managers, childcare for her two small children and most importantly a safe environment for her to come to terms with what had happened and to contemplate re-building her life.

Eventually Yee Man was accepted into private rental accommodation but lived in fear for many years while her ex-husband was never prosecuted.

Yee Man stresses the importance of the recent reforms, particularly in giving more power to police to remove the perpetrator and to protect women and children in their own home.

Quoting her ex-husband, she says ‘intervention orders are just a piece of paper’ and are not enough to stop these men from exerting their power.’ A combination of immediate police action and support is essential to maximise protection of victims.

Working together to enact change

Since the introduction of the Integrated Family Violence Strategy in 2005, the Victorian Government has invested $75 million to improve coordination of services, raise awareness of family violence, and improve the assistance provided to victims.

Five Ministers have taken active leadership in the reforms, including Housing Minister Richard Wynne, Minister for Women’s Affairs Maxine Morand, Minister for Police and Emergency Services Bob Cameron, Attorney General Rob Hulls and Minister for Community Services Lisa Neville.

Among the changes is the new Family Violence Protection Act, which provides for a more immediate legal response for victims and ensures that perpetrators are held accountable, with services in place to address their behaviour.

At the same time, the Victorian Government launched the Enough campaign to raise awareness of family violence and to empower more women to seek help.

To prevent further deaths and to manage the impact of family violence, significant changes have been made to the police, justice and human service systems.

Police will receive special family violence training, more resources to respond efficiently and more authority to take immediate action.

More funding will be provided to human services to enhance the support available to women and children escaping violence, such as more crisis and long-term housing options, a common risk assessment framework that will enable all services to identify victims, increased support for Indigenous victims, more emergency housing for perpetrators, more refuge workers and more case managers. There are also a growing number of men’s behaviour change programs.

The service system and legislative changes are a huge part of the solution to family violence and will hopefully encourage more women to come forward, with the reassurance that they will be adequately protected. They are urged to contact the Women’s Domestic Violence Crisis Service tollfree on 1800 015 188.

For further information, please visit www.familyviolence.vic.gov.au.