Vulnerable women in the Penrith region will again have access to a domestic violence case worker, now funding has been reinstated for a further year.
For four years, the case worker at Penrith Women’s Health Centre (PWHC) supported women who were undecided whether or not to leave violent partners, but lost NSW Government funding from June 30.
Last week, Manager Jane Gold received the news that $100,000 was heading the centre’s way to bring back the case worker.
“It doesn’t sound like a lot, but will help those women in contemplation phase… We are trying to reach them before it gets too bad,” Ms Gold said.
The case worker closed the gap for women before they entered the ‘Staying Home Leaving Violence’ program, that helped them remain safely in their home after they had decided to leave an abusive partner.
Over 100 women were seen by the case worker in less than a year, but for over a month women have been without a service while the State Government decided what to do.
Member for Penrith Stuart Ayres said the case worker role received funding through the Safer Pathway initiative because it “closed a gap”, and assisted women who could potentially “slip through the cracks”.
“This support for PWHC will see their workforce, which is now approaching 30, continue to assist women in our local community who are victims of domestic violence and provide them with the necessary skills and strategies to enhance their lives,” he said.
Penrith has the second highest number of recorded domestic violence related assault incidents in NSW, with 1035 incidents between April 2015 to March 2016.
Mr Ayres said the Penrith area has been instrumental in the State Government’s approach to domestic violence.
“The evidence-based decision making that has come out of this community has influenced the way we tackle domestic violence across the state,” he said.
Member for Londonderry Prue Car met with State and Federal Labor MPs at the centre last month to advocate for the funding to be restored.
“It is appalling that it has taken advocacy by Labor MPs in surrounding electorates to get the Government to act on this,” she said.
