Elsie Lange
Women and families in Melbourne’s north will now have easier access to co-ordinated family violence, child and family wellbeing services – all under one roof in Broadmeadows.
Today marked the opening of the Orange Door Network in Hume and Moreland, offering free services that bring together workers from a variety of support backgrounds including family violence, men’s, Aboriginal and child and family services.
Prevention of Family Violence Minister Gabrielle Williams said the state government is making access to advice and support “as easy as possible”.
Ms Williams told Star Weekly the Orange Door Network was a key recommendation from the Royal Commission into Family Violence, which addresses the “fragmented” support between services for people experiencing family violence.
“Having this network now up and running in Broadmeadows is great for this part of town and represents an expansion of this model across the state,” Ms Williams said.
Since 2018, the Orange Door Network has supported more than 195,000 people, including 77,000 children, providing crisis assistance, support to families under stress, risk assessment, safety planning and wellbeing support.
The opening of the new Hume and Moreland location is a partnership between Berry Street Victoria, DPV Health, Uniting (Vic-Tas), Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, Victorian Aboriginal Services Association and the Victorian Government, spreading the initiative into 14 regions across Victoria.
Broadmeadows MP Frank McGuire described the presence of the service in Hume and Moreland as “vital and urgent”.
Hume mayor Carly Moore was also present, and said the council was excited to have the new Broadmeadows-based service.
“We’re very excited to have this here, it’s great for our community to have access to the services that it needs close to home in a very accessible location,” Ms Moore said.
Ms Williams said the stress of navigating a complex system is taken away by the co-ordination team at Orange Door Network.
“There’s more of a multidisciplinary approach so that you have pods of different services case managing people experiencing family violence to ensure that there really is a holistic approach taken to their health and wellbeing and needs,” she said
Details: orangedoor.vic.gov.au/
