FRANKSTON Council has agreed to review its family violence prevention measures.
At last week’s meeting, councillors approved a proposal to “assess the current approach to family violence prevention and identify opportunities, challenges, and initiatives to deliver the actions within Council’s Family Violence Prevention Action Plan 2024-2028.”
The approved motion, put forward by Cr Kris Bolam, read “that funding growth since 2020/21 has been nominal and has plateaued in recent years, despite increasing demand and complexity.”
Recently released crime statistics show that there were 2950 family violence incidents in the Frankston local government area in the year ending March 2026. That figure is a 4.4 decrease on the year prior, but remains well above the statewide average.
Cr Bolam said “Frankston records the highest rate of family violence incidents per 100,000 people out of all of metropolitan Melbourne local government areas.”
“It’s an ugly truth. And the reality is, we as a council are one of very few councils in Victoria that actually dedicate a budgetary line item to family violence amelioration. But when we look at how this funding has historically trended since its inception in 2019, it paints a concerning picture of a response that has stalled in recent years,” Cr Bolam said. “We saw those early allocations sitting at $80,000, creeping up to $90,000, then a marginal shift to $91,000, followed by four consecutive periods completely frozen at $93,000. What makes this stagnation truly unbelievable, and frankly unacceptable, is the astronomical rate of family violence.”
Cr Bolam said that a lack of sufficient funding from other levels of government was forcing council to “do the heaviest amount of lifting”. The approved motion noted the “importance of securing ongoing resourcing from state and federal governments to expand work within the Frankston municipality and reaffirms council’s ongoing advocacy for sustained external funding to support prevention and intervention initiatives.”
“It’s not just Frankston City Council, but our local sector in general, drowning under the weight of this crisis. Look at our local support partners who are dealing with the impact right here in Frankston – Community Support Frankston has seen a massive 30 percent increase in demand, including a record high number of first-time contacts. Families who have never had to ask for help before, but they’ve been pushed to the absolute brink,” Cr Bolam said. “Then look at Peninsula Community Legal Center – over 40 percent of their clients are actively experiencing family violence. In fact, the legal center data reveals a mind-boggling 233 percent spike in demands for family violence assistance at the Frankston Magistrates Court over recent years. They are dealing with an intersecting crisis of legal trauma, safety risk, and housing stress right on our streets.”
Council officers will prepare a report on the matter, which will return to council in October. The report will “outline evidence-based options and recommended next steps to strengthen outcomes, including any proposed service improvements, partnerships, or delivery models.”
First published in the Frankston Times – 21 July 2026