Kimberley family violence response bolstered with $5 million funding package amid magistrate’s SOS call

A Kimberley magistrate’s SOS call to politicians to address the family and domestic violence scourge in the region has resulted in extra funding and resources for response teams and outreach services. Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Minister Simone McGurk announced more than $5 million in funding towards a package of initiatives after meeting with members of the Kimberley Joint Response and West Kimberley Family and Domestic Violence Response teams in Broome. The package, funded through the WA Recovery Plan, includes additional community sector workers for the response teams in Broome and Kununurra, two extra outreach workers to provide additional support to women and children in refuges and safe houses throughout the region, and extending the Kimberley Family and Violence Service trial by another two years with $2.6 million in funding. Minister McGurk said the McGowan Government was also looking at the Evidence Act to figure out how footage from body-worn police cameras could be used as evidence in court. “Not only would it be more accurate but I imagine it would also be more compelling and it would save the victims from facing their perpetrators in court,” she said. Minister McGurk acknowledged there was a lot of work to do to address the ongoing domestic violence scourge in the Kimberley and across the State. “We need to understand that we might need to look at things quite differently such as looking into culturally appropriate ways where perpetrators can be held accountable but also keep the safety of victims in mind,” she said. “We clearly want to send a message that domestic violence in any form is not acceptable but we need to have an open mind to how we might deal with domestic violence more credibly and more effectively than we have done in the past.”