A Victorian where people can thrive and live free from violence

BUDGET ANALYSIS

This is a long-form analysis of the Victorian Government’s investments in housing and homelessness. For a quick summary of specific Budget program expenditure in this space click here.

Off the back of a record $3.5 billion investment in the family violence system since Victoria’s landmark Royal Commission into Family Violence in 2015, the 22-23 Budget continues the commitment to supporting family violence services and systems reform, with an additional $240 million.

This includes funding to build new refuge and crisis accommodation, invest in crisis case management and therapeutic support, deliver perpetrator intervention programs (including building the evidence base around what works), expand the Central Information Point and better support victims of sexual violence and harm.

VCOSS is pleased to see that this Budget has delivered an uplift in funding to support crisis case management, and funding to support Sexual Assault Services Victoria. However, we note that a sustainable funding increase is needed in the specialist family violence sector to ensure that services can respond to both increased demand and complexity of cases.

VCOSS also welcomes the increase in funding to support 12 women’s health services across Victoria (including new funding for Women with Disabilities) and support for sexual and reproductive health services. This funding will enable more Victorian women to access the medical and health services they need. It also addresses increased gender inequity across the Victorian healthcare system arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, readdresses systemic underfunding of this part of the sector and aligns with VCOSS’ budget submission.

VCOSS was particularly pleased to see the impact of the new Gender Responsive Budgeting Unit in the Department of Treasury and Finance. This year’s Gender Equality Budget Statement demonstrated real progress towards implementing gender responsive budgeting in Victoria, including discussing how gender impact assessments have occurred across new policy programs (e.g., Head Start and Events Recovery and Support) to help refine the program design and improve gender outcomes. 

We were pleased to see that gender responsive budgeting will be embedded in Victorian legislation to ensure that an equality lens is applied to all future budget processes, and that the Budget affirms the intention that, over time, gender analysis will be applied to every stage of the policy making process – from identifying budget priorities, through to policy design, decision making, implementation and evaluation.

There is a continued need for a greater focus on primary prevention of family violence, including strong investment in Respect Victoria. Whilst we welcome the boost in funding to women’s health services and the Elder Abuse Prevention Networks, VCOSS has long advocated for an increase in funding for family violence prevention from 3 per cent to at least 10 per cent of the total family violence budget, as we believe that this will produce long lasting benefits for the Victorian community in helping stop violence before it starts. Unlike previous years, this Budget did not contain any new funding pools for primary prevention projects.  

VCOSS has long advocated for an increase in funding for family violence prevention from 3 per cent to at least 10 per cent of the total family violence budget

VCOSS welcomes the continued investment in the Equal Workplaces Advisory Council and its focus on undertaking research and providing advice on issues relating to pay equity, equality and productivity in Victorian workplaces. We look forward to seeing the recommendations of the Inquiry into Economic Equity for Women, which was established last year to find solutions for problems such as unequal pay and workplace barriers to women’s success. We note that the Victorian Government has a number of levers at its disposal to effect transformational change for workers in the community services industry – the state’s largest industry based on employment, in which women make up 83.5 per cent of the workforce. Government funding has a direct impact on wages, conditions and the length of employment contracts. We believe that more can be done to advance gender equality and improve pay equity in the sector.

The Budget recognises the increased pressure on child and family services and provides funding to bolster capacity in key parts of the system. We welcome the announcement of $57.6 million over three years to meet increasing demand for targeted and specialised family services and support for up to 1,000 additional vulnerable families. This funding also includes the introduction of a carer help-desk dedicated to assisting carers and providing them with support to acquire a range of essential documents and services for the children and young people in their care.

However, there remains a gap in the funding required to support volunteer foster carers. Despite rising cost of living pressures and the large number of carers exiting the system, there has been no increase or indexation to the Carer Allowance since 2016. VCOSS looks forward to working with Government on this important issue.  

VCOSS would also like to see additional funding provided to expand high-quality evidence-based programs, such as SafeCare, Functional Family Therapy and Caring Dads.