The Department of Human Services (DHS) issued crisis payments to about 50 people a day experiencing domestic violence in the past financial year and supported more than 63,000 individuals in need of assistance from its team of 700 social workers.
Marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Minister for Human Services and Digital Transformation, Michael Keenan said everyone had a right to live free from violence.
“My Department is deeply committed to helping those in need and I am proud to say that 22,000 of our employees have now undergone special training to help them proactively identify people at risk,” Mr Keenan said.
“This training enables us to engage in early intervention and direct people to the wide range of support that is available to them, both from the Government and external partner agencies.”
He said that for those unable to come into one of the DHS service centres, support information was available online 24 hours a day.
“Our Family and Domestic Violence web pages were viewed almost 190,000 times last year,” Mr Keenan said.
“These online resources are also available in 28 languages so it’s easier for culturally and linguistically diverse communities to find out about the support that’s available.”
The Minister urged anyone who was experiencing family or domestic violence, or knew of someone in danger, to contact the family and domestic violence counselling service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or visit humanservices.gov.au at this PS News link.
