Preventing and responding to family violence

The local data demonstrates the scale of the challenge. In the year ending June 2025, Hobsons Bay recorded:

• 1,078 reported family violence incidents and increase of 4.9 per cent on the previous year.
• 32 per cent of reported incidents involved children present, equalling about one in three.
• 119 emergency department patients attributed to domestic violence, up from 66 in 2022, and an 80 per cent increase in three years.
• 23 per cent increase in residents accessing homelessness services due to family violence.

Source: Crime Statistics Agency Victoria, Family Violence Data Tables 2025.

Council is asking for $485,000 over three years from the Victorian Government. The funding would pay for:

• a project lead based in Hobsons Bay, to drive implementation, strengthen partnerships and build local capability
• referral pathways and shared ways of working between local services
• learning and evaluation from the start, to show what works and give other communities something they can use.

Local organisations are stretched: much of the coordination between services relies on organisations and practitioners working beyond their existing roles. They have told Council there are limits to how long that can continue.

A coordinating role is the right first step: the proposed Place-Based Family Violence Prevention and Community Capacity Project Lead would fill a critical coordination gap, bringing together existing services, driving collective action and ensuring investment delivers greater impact for the community.

It adds to specialist services: the model does not duplicate or replace specialist family violence services or the Victorian Government's existing response. It builds the local connections that are currently missing.

Three years allows time to test it: that is enough time to set the model up, embed it in local organisations and measure its impact.

The partnership was formed in June 2025 bringing together organisations across health, youth, housing, emergency relief and community support.

Over the past year, the partnership has gathered local evidence, built a shared systems map, prepared a detailed business case and developed six recommendations:

1. Strengthen local evidence and data
2. Improve coordination across the local service system
3. Establish a funded place-based coordination and community capacity role
4. Strengthen primary prevention through equal caregiving and engaging fathers
5. Explore prevention approaches through sporting clubs and community groups
6. Develop a stronger advocacy and storytelling approach to support systemic change

Hobsons Bay Family Violence Prevention and Response Partnership members:

• Hobsons Bay City Council
• Laverton Community integrated Services Inc.
• Latitude: Directions for Young People
• South Kingsville Community Centre
• Outlets Co-op Neighbourhood House
• Gambler’s Help at IPC Health
• Housing for the Aged Action Group
• Zonta Club of Melbourne’s West

This work supports the Hobsons Bay 2040 Community Vision (Priority 2: Building community wellbeing) and Goal 1.2, Reduce harm and build a safer community, in both the Council Plan 2025-29 and the Health, Wellbeing and Safety Plan 2025-29.

It also supports Council's commitments to gender equity and preventing violence against women, and aligns with Preventing Violence Together 2030, the western region's approach.

• Local organisations have identified service gaps and priorities.
• Local evidence has been gathered and a shared systems map developed.
• A detailed business case is ready.
• The partnership is ready to work with government to establish and evaluate the model.