Key Points
- The Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence was launched in July.
- Its first day of hearings explored the link between housing instability and domestic violence.
- Domestic violence hotlines also reported that they only had the capacity to respond to 70 percent of calls received.
This article contains references to domestic violence.
South Australia’s domestic violence crisis line received a record number of calls on July 1, the same day the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence began its work.
The head of the state’s largest domestic and family violence service provider told the commission’s first day of public hearings that the system is in crisis because it doesn’t have the resources it needs to cope with the significant increase in demand.
Opening the hearings on Wednesday, Commissioner Natasha Stott Despoja said she wanted to identify ways to improve systems, “so that we can eliminate – at least reduce – the scourge of domestic, family and sexual violence.” and draw conclusions that will change. and save lives.
“We hear about…the importance of prevention, early intervention, the need for greater support for children and young people, the complexity of service delivery in remote and regional areas, up “to discussions about how we hold people who perpetrate this violence more accountable, while also providing more behavioral education to people who resort to violence,” she said.
Housing Instability and Domestic Violence
The commission’s “listening phase” involved hundreds of hours of meetings, received more than 300 presentations and more than 500 survey responses, held more than 80 listening sessions, and visited five regional sites.
The first day of hearing focuses on
Women’s Safety Services SA chief executive Maria Hagias said a decade ago the focus had been on early intervention so women could avoid ending up in a crisis.
“Unfortunately, we are now a system that weeds out instead of filters… our decisions are made based on imminent risk,” she said.
There is now much more awareness in the community about domestic and sexual violence, but when demand increased, funding did not follow.
“Ultimately, the people you could have captured early on end up in crisis, which puts more strain on the system,” she said.
Difficult choices were made to redirect funding from early intervention and prevention to the crisis.
“Now… the majority of our work focuses on the imminent risk of domestic and family violence and homelessness,” Hagias said.
“We had to step back from initiatives around risk and safety reporting, court appearances, group work; the demand just increased… we had to make decisions.”
It has become very difficult to move women and children into suitable housing due to housing supply, cost and bottlenecks in the system, Hagias said.
They found themselves trapped in a prohibitively expensive motel, with no way to cook, while dealing with trauma.
Crisis hotlines receive record numbers
South Africa’s domestic violence hotline received a record number of calls on the day the commission began its work and is expected to receive 35,000 calls by 2024.
“We can only respond to 70 percent of these calls…it’s an extreme challenge, and it takes a lot of courage to call,” she said.
“When you can’t pick up that phone to support that person at that time, you feel extreme frustration, not only from the people trying to call, but also from external stakeholders because they can’t not join.
“It also puts considerable stress on our front-line staff…and when you can’t reach everyone who calls, it’s extremely distressing.”
Of the 70 percent of calls answered, a further 55,000 calls are then made to support families.
“The demand is high, the system is not coping and is at crisis point,” Hagias said.
If you or someone you know is affected by family and domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732 or visit . In case of emergency, call 000.
run by No to Violence, can be contacted on 1300 766 491.
