Women’s Health West is continuing to deliver essential services to women and children who experience family violence during the COVID-19 health emergency. We remain open and will continue to provide our family violence services. As well as this, we will continue to follow up referrals received from Victoria Police following incidents of family violence.
Earlier this year Women’s Health West (WHW) wrote to members of parliament about the inadequate rate of Newstart and related payments. Since that time, the Commonwealth Government has introduced JobSeeker and JobKeeper as vital measures to mitigate the financial impact of Covid-19. We wrote again in August to urge the Government to maintain an adequate permanent increase to JobSeeker beyond the current crisis, and to make both wage subsidies available to people on temporary visas.
WHW urges the government to maintain JobSeeker at an adequate permanent increased rate, and to extend it and JobKeeper to people on temporary visas for the six reasons outlined below.
Preserving community health, wellbeing and dignity during a public health crisis
It has been
almost two months since nine public housing towers in Flemington and North
Melbourne were placed in a hard lockdown.
In that time residents have continued to share their experiences and concerns
about the ‘enforcement first’ response, and advocate for trauma-informed,
community-centered approaches to public health crises going forward.
As the towers
fall under Women’s Health West’s (WHW) catchment, we were able to provide family
violence support services during the hard lockdown. Since then, we have also
written a submission to the Victorian Government echoing the concerns of
residents, advocating for community-centred, health-based responses to public
health crises, and providing recommendations for the implementation of
future COVID-19 related crisis measures in Victoria.
But most
importantly the submission is informed by the voices, stories and lived
experiences of the communities from the Flemington and North Melbourne public
housing estates. As the first Victorians to experience a COVID-19 hard
lockdown, these residents are in the best position to offer expertise and insights
to inform future practice and to minimise the harm caused by emergency public
health measures.
Learning from the hard lockdown
This is an unprecedented situation, and each day brings new
challenges and dilemmas. Any response must balance the need to control this
pandemic with the broader health, safety and wellbeing of communities. This
requires that the rights and social welfare of the people most impacted by this
pandemic and subsequent public health responses, are always at the front of our
minds.
The Government’s
lack of response to residents’ early requests to introduce preventative
measures, as well as the subsequent implementation of a hard lockdown, that
occurred without warning and markedly distinct from the restrictions placed on
other Victorians, was profoundly harmful. The ‘enforcement first’
implementation of targeted restrictions for public housing residents was widely
viewed as discriminatory and stigmatising.
Instead of
being approached as a strong community, with a history of concern and proactive
advocacy for the health and wellbeing of their neighbours, residents describe
being treated with prejudice and distrust. Over the following hours and
days, residents and community advocates reported a lack of clear protocol,
communication, and support which exacerbated community distress and confusion.
It is important that we learn from these accounts. A public
health crisis is best addressed with a health, welfare and community-centred
response. This includes immediate presence of health authorities, community
health workers and services that already work with and are embedded in the
affected community. Trust, goodwill, and strong two-way communication are
vital. Community members need to be part of the response, planning,
implementation and communication of strategy.
Recommendations
Women’s Health
West recommend that the Victorian Government implement the following public
health measures, in the event of a future COVID-19 hard lockdown in Victoria,
or similar event:
Directly and equitably engage women in the planning and implementation of gender responsive COVID-19 public health interventions.
Ensure that community leaders and community organisations are central to the planning, implementation, and communication of any extraordinary public health measures introduced in their community.
Establish clear public health protocols and partnerships to ensure that that future COVID-19 emergency measures are informed by and jointly implemented with community-based experts and networks and tailored to holistic community health and welfare priorities.
In addition to participating in the Victorian Ombudsman’s investigation into the hard lockdown at 33 Alfred Street, North Melbourne, we also recommend that:
The Victorian Government commit to an independent review of the July 2020 public housing hard lockdown, in its entirety, and ensure that affected community members are encouraged and adequately supported to document their experiences, feedback and recommendations, to inform guidelines for improved practice.
We have also compiled a series of resources translated into various community languages, with information about family violence during lockdown, as well as information about your rights and sexual and reproductive health during COVID-19.
Women Health West responded to the call for submissions to inform the Final Report of the Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor.
Women’s Health West (WHW) provides specialist family violence services to women and their children across Melbourne’s western metropolitan region. We also undertake advocacy and run programs that promote equity and justice for women and girls, including leading a regional partnership for the primary prevention of violence against women. Receiving over 20,000 referrals every year, many of which are L17s from Victoria Police, we see firsthand how the family violence service system has changed since the Royal Commission into Family Violence (RCFV).
In summary, the specialist family violence sector continues to require increased funding to meet ongoing and increasing demand, as do other sectors related to effectively delivering family violence services—like public housing, mental health services and services for children and young people affected by family violence. In addition, the sector also requires a resourced exploration of alternative models of support, as well as funding for better coordination of services overall.
Women’s Health West (WHW) stands in solidarity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and people of colour in Australia and across the world to end racism, racial inequity and injustice.
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is marked every year on 15
June to raise awareness of the mistreatment of older people brought about by
ageism and inequality in our society. This year with the impact of COVID-19,
there is increased urgency to bring light to this issue.
