Domestic violence victims in St George soon will no longer have to shop around for services or re-tell their story to multiple agencies.
The Safer Pathway program will be introduced in St George police local area command in March next year.
Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Pru Goward announced the program at Riverwood police station.
Among those present were St George LAC domestic violence liaison officer Senior Constable Karlee Ball, senior police, non-government domestic violence workers and Oatley MP Mark Coure.
The program has proved very successful in the first six locations throughout the State where it is operating, and is being rolled out to a further 21 local area commands.
Ms Goiward said the program provided “tailored, multi-agency support” to victims.
“Courageous victims, who have been left traumatised and terrified, will no longer have to shop around to get the services they need, nor will they have to re-tell their story to a multitude of government agencies,” she said.
Ms Goward said the program brought together local representatives including Police, Health, Corrections, Family and Community Services and Education along with local specialist non-government domestic and family violence services.
The program is designed to provide a streamlined, integrated referral pathway for victims who are “at threat’ or “at serious threat to their life, health or safety”.
When police attend a domestic violence incident, they assess the level of threat to the victim, which results in a number of actions:
A victim identified as at threat or serious threat is referred to the state-wide Central Referral Point.
hen the Central Referral Point receives the information, the case is allocated to the nearest Local Coordination Point.
A domestic and family violence worker from the Local Coordination Point contacts the victim and focuses on their safety.
Victims identified as being at serious threat are referred to a Safety Action Meeting, involving government and non-government service providers who develop a plan to keep the victim and their children safe.
