- Ovis Community Services awarded contract to deliver new online and telephone support service for children and young people impacted by family and domestic violence
- Cook Labor Government investing $3 million over three years for State-wide centralised service offering counselling, support and referral via telehealth and web-based platforms
- Part of Cook Labor Government's priority to build safe and inclusive communities
Western Australian children and young people impacted by family and domestic violence will soon have access to a new State-wide online and telephone support service.
Ovis Community Services has been awarded a contract to deliver the initiative which is backed by a $3 million Cook Labor Government investment over three years.
The centralised service will provide youth aged 12 to 18 with access to information, counselling, therapeutic support and referrals through telehealth and web-based platforms.
It will also extend to children and young people who may be displaying harmful behaviours, including using violence in their own family or intimate partner relationships.
The new service will also provide information and practical advice to professionals and practitioners from the family and domestic violence sector, as well as teachers, youth workers and day care providers.
Peel-based Ovis Community Services provides support to victim-survivors of family and domestic violence, offering services to people and engaging the broader community in compassionate conversations around safety.
The State-wide centralised service is part of an $8.23 million package announced by the State Government in December 2024 to design and pilot a range of support services for children and young people impacted by family and domestic violence.
Initiatives already underway include the expansion of three existing family and domestic violence services to include senior counsellor roles for children and young people and the establishment of three new therapeutic services for children and young people, including two Indigenous Healing Services.
Since 2017 the State Government has invested a record $817.5 million in new funding to strengthen the family and domestic violence system as part of its priority to build safe and inclusive communities.
As stated by Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Minister Jessica Stojkovski:
"Exposure to family and domestic violence can have profound, long-term impacts on children and young people.
"Children and young people need to be treated as victim-survivors in their own right, whose unique insights into their own lives are deeply respected. This new State-wide centralised service, delivered by Ovis, will ensure more children and young people have access to appropriate and tailored support when they need it most.
"Importantly, it will offer online youth-friendly resources, brief therapeutic interventions, referral pathways to local services and practitioner consultation and support."
