Hobsons Bay City Council has partnered with local community organisations to call for greater investment in family violence prevention and response services, highlighting the need for more coordinated, accessible support for residents.
A joint statement from Council and the Hobsons Bay Family Violence Prevention and Response Partnership calls on the Victorian Government to invest $485,000 over three years for a pilot program to help prevent family violence and coordinate response to it.
The proposed funding would go towards a dedicated project lead at Council, who would work with local community houses and centres, and service providers, to strengthen local partnerships by understanding their strengths and pressures, identify gaps in the system, and coordinate a best-practice process for when a victim survivor presents at a local service.
The partnership includes representatives from Housing for the Aged Action Group, Gambler's Help at IPC Health, Latitude: Directions for Young People, Laverton Community Integrated Services (LCIS), Outlets Co-op Neighbourhood House, South Kingsville Community Centre, and Zonta Club of Melbourne's West.
These groups represent a range of community support services, who together are advocating for a stronger local response to family violence.
Residents seeking specialist support currently need to travel outside the municipality, creating additional barriers for people experiencing family violence.
Local statistics highlight the need for action, with 1,078 family violence incidents recorded in Hobsons Bay in the year ending June 2025, a 4.9 per cent increase year-on-year.
Emergency department visits attributed to family violence also increased by 80 per cent over three years, while the number of residents accessing homelessness services due to family violence rose by 23 per cent in the year to June 2025.
Earlier this month, Hobsons Bay Mayor Diana Grima wrote to state Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Sonya Kilkenny, formally seeking support for the initiative.
The letter highlighted Hobsons Bay's unique position of having a strong network of trusted local community organisations working across health, youth, housing, emergency relief and community support.
The partnership, established in 2025, will continue to work together to identify opportunities to strengthen prevention, early intervention, response and recovery, and will again combine for the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, beginning on 25 November.
