Related stories: Hume LAC respond to domestic violence with new liaison officer
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Safer Pathway, a statewide collaborative initiative aimed at eliminating domestic violence offenders and protecting victims, was announced in Goulburn on Monday.
MP Pru Goward, along with Hume LAC acting superintendent Chad Gillies, representatives from Department of Family and Community Services, Mission Australia, Anglicare and Legal Aid attended the official announcement.
Safer Pathway or the Safety Action Meetings (SAM) will include AVO compliance checks and Domestic Violence Suspect Target Management Plans led by the police for high risk domestic violence cases.
The state’s push to lift privacy laws allows key information to be shared between police and key agencies. Set to launch in March, Ms Goward said the Hume was one of the last places to receive the rollout due to its safety, but maintained no community is immune of domestic violence.
“We were looking for a way to integrate services as there was a lacking of consistency across NSW. With Safe Pathways all the agencies, plus the government organisations, can now share that information around the table for highrisk cases,” she said.
“It is best when they are only high risk cases and you have time to go through records and their background and work out what’s best. You’re not going to keep victims safe if we don’t do more about perpetrators. In our doubling of the DV specialist services the budget stands at $350 million, a great deal more than any other state.”
About 168 incidents of domestic violence related assaults was reported to the Goulburn Police in 2015 and 2016.
A slight increase, 172 incidents, have been submitted to the police over this year.
“This is about targeting offenders and treating the volume of the crime. The important thing is to shift the mentality,” Acting superintendent Gillies said.
“Now with the AVO compliance checks it’s more than a piece of paper, they know that police can show up at any time, really bringing it under criminal sphere. It’s fortunate with our community as we have a fairly good working relationship anyway. This is just formalising that.
“Getting us around the table regularly can only be of benefit.”
The Hume LAC added a second domestic violence liaison officer (DVLO) as part of SAM in August.
The NSW Government has committed about $50 million for Safer Pathway over the next four years.
