Wagga’s Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service supported an overwhelming 2286 clients in 2017. In the first three months of 2018 they have already assisted 646 clients compared to the average of 570 in 2017. 

Helen West, the coordinator at Wagga’s WDVCAS said the demand can be attributed to the 2015 government initiative to have the centres automatically receive referrals for female victims every time police attended a domestic violence incident.

“We outreach to nine courts from Wagga and have a staff of 12 within Wagga Family Support who has a total of 23 staff,” she said. 

“We call women who have been involved in a domestic incident, ranging from verbal abuse to a straight AVO, within 24 hours of the police referral. 

“If it’s a verbal argument then we see it as early intervention because we can make the woman aware of our services.”

The key is to ensure the services and counsel is delivered judgement-free, Mrs West said, and to tackle the issues in a holistic way. Mrs West said the service is fortunate to be involved with ‘Safer Pathways’ which aims to stop death by intimate partners.

“We have a safety action meeting every fortnight,” she said.

“We have head agencies – including the police, the education department, housing, NGOs, health and refugee services – that can offer safety strategies for our clients. 

“It’s very important that education is involved as they need to be aware and making sure the children are not victimised at school,” she said. 

On average a woman can leave a domestic violence relationship eight times before it sticks, Mrs West said, and the centre will help the woman every time. 

“We tell women if things don’t work out, please do not hesitate to call us because we do not judge,” she said. 

“We know they are trying to make things work and we want to take the pressure off.” 

Renata Field, director of WDVCAS NSW, said each centre is supporting more clients than ever before. 

“The vital work of the WDVCASs was recognised in December 2015 with a 20 per cent funding increase, however this does not match the 104 per cent increase in workload,” she said.