Tasmanian family and sexual violence services welcome continued investment from the Government in the Family and Sexual Violence Action Plan, and their stated commitment to victim survivors throughout the state.
However, given the growth in demand for our services, as well as the increasingly complex needs of the individuals and families we are working with, we are concerned our services — who are already stretched thin — are going to continue to struggle to respond to the needs of our community.
Our community needs meaningful investment in programs and initiatives to engage in preventative work to keep everyone safe, particularly women and children, to develop and deliver effective early intervention to those at risk, and to assist victim survivors who are recovering from violence. Our workers and organisations need sustainable funding, properly indexed, to be able to continue delivering the services that keep Tasmanians safe.
We also need certainty that the budget measures intended to support victim survivors will provide the assistance they really need. We want more transparency about how money is being spent to support our work and deliver outcomes for our communities. For example, while we welcome the announcement of $30 million towards implementing recommendations from the recent Commission of Inquiry, we need more certainty around how exactly these allocated funds will provide tangible benefits to victim survivors. We appreciate the Government is waiting for the recommendations before formally implementing its response, however we seek a greater assurance from the Government that our specialist services — who have extensive experience, strong relationships and deep trust already within our communities — will be adequately supported to do this work.