It takes a long time for a woman
to understand, quite often,
she's in domestic violence.
I mean, that violence
has been done by somebody
who they believe
they've loved and trusted
and they've built
a relationship with.
They've just heard one voice,
very often -
the perpetrator's voice -
for so long
that that's what
they think about.
They just think about him.
There is a lot of shame
around the issue.
But that shame,
that cloak of shame,
it stops women getting help.
Women from different cultures
have different needs.
An Indigenous woman
going through domestic violence
can't get out of bed,
depression,
maybe can't look after her kids
because she's feeling so down.
Women are often at
the greatest risk of harm
when they're about to leave
or have just left
an abusive relationship.
I know the work we do
saves women's lives.
The Women's Domestic Violence
Court Advocacy Services
assist women who are affected
by domestic violence.
We assist them to get
the protection of court orders
and we also assist them
with their welfare needs.
Getting the legal protection
may only be one role.
They may need
a lot of referrals,
they need a lot of advocacy
after that.
The advocate is...
I think that's the main
part of the service
where, when something happens,
when the women's voices
hasn't been heard,
that's when we kick in and make
sure that the voice is heard.
And if I have
an Indigenous woman
that I've worked
really closely with,
then I'm constantly calling her
to make sure she's safe
and that things are
working out for her
and if there's any other
referrals we could make for her.
I think it's about
making sure that
women don't feel
completely disconnected
and disempowered
by the court system,
because it can be, often,
taken out of women's hands.
So I think it's really important
that they feel part of it
and they feel that their voices
are being heard.
It's working together
just to keep people safe.
And I think that's
the most important thing.
I don't think there's any other
service that does what we do.
The Domestic and
Family Violence Reforms
are a whole-of-government
response to
dealing with domestic violence.
One thing that's been
highlighted by the coroner
is the fact that a lot of women
aren't seeing services
that can assist them.
And this will make sure
that the services come to her
and that the woman doesn't have
to go and seek the services.
WDVCASs will take on a new role.
They will be local
coordination points in each area
for domestic violence victims.
How the reforms
will work in practice -
police will go to an incident
and every police officer
will be required
to complete a Domestic Violence
Safety Assessment Tool.
If the woman answers more than
10 yeses to the 25 questions,
and also using the officer's
professional judgement,
that woman will be referred to
a Safety Action Meeting.
Safety Action Meetings, which
are information-sharing meetings
for local government
and non-government services.
The police, local courts
and the community sector
and welfare services together
working together to assist women
in improving safety.
It may be that she needs
to get some Centrelink,
she needs to get other housing.
Everybody will be
at that same table
to actually make sure that those
things are put in place for her.
It's vitally important
to work with other agencies
because they can, for instance,
provide long-term
case management
of women's situations that
perhaps our service can't do.
We can do a short-term
case management.
The strength of the program
is that it's a consistent
program across the state.
So a woman
could go to the Downing Centre
or a woman
could go to Dubbo Court
and receive exactly
the same service.
Hopefully the reforms
are going to mean
that the system is more cohesive
and that all of those services
are gonna work
more cooperatively
than they have in the past.
It's about collaboration,
but having a structure,
I think, to hold...
..the members of the Safety
Action Meeting accountable.
It will also mean that if the
referral process is improved,
that a woman only has to
tell her story one time
instead of telling it
multiple times
to a number of
different agencies.
It is client focused.
It's all about the woman and
what she wants, what she needs
and what we can do
to make her safe,
and how to bring that together.
It's prioritising support for
the women who need it the most
so they don't
fall through the cracks.
The court is about the process.
The police is about the crime.
But we're about the woman.
