SHOCKING numbers of family violence cases in Frankston have prompted calls for action. Around five domestic violence cases are reported on average each day in the Frankston local government area. It has among the highest rates of family violence of any area in the south-east of Victoria.
Frankston deputy mayor Steffie Conroy says that “more needs to be done” to address the rates of family violence in Frankston, and has called for intervention from other levels of government. “Unfortunately, Frankston City holds one of the highest recorded rates of [family violence] incidents in metro Melbourne,” Conroy said. “Approximately one in four women have experienced violence or emotional abuse by an intimate partner, and women are nearly three times more likely than men to experience violence from an intimate partner. On average, one woman a week in Australia is killed by an intimate partner. “This area is extremely delicate and we have so many community organisations out there supporting our community. We need to be able to keep getting funding and grants to be able to support them.”
Conroy said that council was recently unsuccessful in its application for a state government grant addressing family violence. A motion, raised by Conroy and agreed to unanimously by councillors at last week’s public meeting, read that council will write to state MPs Paul Edbrooke and Vicki Ward and federal MPs Jodie Belyea and Justine Elliot to “seek state intervention” and “seek federal intervention in areas of Dunkley with pronounced cases of family violence”.
“In the above correspondence, council is to highlight that it was unsuccessful in its recent grant application to the state government, for $212,500 over 3 years under the Free From Violence Local Government Grant Program 2024-2027. Had council been successful in the application, these funds would have been used to enable deeper engagement with communities of concern and for future program delivery,” the motion read. “Council notes that one of its primary advocacy pillars for the upcoming federal election relates to the federal government providing ongoing funding assistance to community relief organisations, such as Community Support Frankston. Many of these relief organisations are often at the coalface insofar as family and domestic violence situations throughout the Frankston LGA. Council, in the above correspondence, is to use this opportunity to reinforce its desirability for enhanced funding as per this advocacy priority.”
The motion reads that council will provide a copy of its correspondence to all declared candidates for Dunkley “in the spirit of fairness and bipartisanship given the imminent federal election”. The Liberal candidate for Dunkley is Conroy’s husband, former Frankston mayor Nathan Conroy. Council officers will prepare a report for council’s June meeting on the outcome of the advocacy efforts and potential budget additions to address the issue.
First published in the Frankston Times – 4 February 2025