Victoria pledges family violence package of $150 million

The Victorian government has pledged to spend an extra $150 million, which will include the introduction of electronic tags, to combat family violence.

Dennis Napthine

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine.

Family violence perpetrators in Victoria might have to wear electronic tags as part of a $150 million package.

Under a suite of reforms announced to combat family violence, courts could order high-risk offenders to wear a tracker, while victims would have a separate device which would sound an alarm if offenders approached.

Premier Denis Napthine has announced the major expansion in services aimed at reducing violence in the home.

"In 2013, 44 men, women, and children died as a direct result of family violence," he told reporters on Saturday.

"This is an unacceptable tragedy."

"In 2013, there were over 65,000 family violence incidents attended by police," he said.

The GPS technology to track offenders was to be trialled before it was implemented, but Dr Napthine said there were other things to be rolled out immediately.

As part of the package, Victoria's largest-ever prevention campaign would be launched, and crisis accommodation support for women and children would be expanded, Dr Napthine said.

He said outreach teachers would be sent to schools to work with children fleeing family violence, there would be extra legal support for women, and specialist court staff to help victims and perpetrators through the court process.

There would also be behaviour-change programs for men jailed for family violence, and improved and expanded post-crisis support for women and children.

Dr Napthine said the reforms would start being rolled out before the November 29 state election and were not contingent on the coalition being re-elected.

"Victorian families simply can't afford to wait for an election or for a drawn out royal commission process before the government takes decisive action and increases measures to eliminate family violence, he said.

Shadow Attorney-General Martin Pakula said GPS was unproven technology which the government had promised but failed to deliver in the case of arsonists.

"For four years they've allowed family violence to spiral out of control and now just before an election they come up with a barely thought out plan," Mr Pakula told reporters on Saturday.

"It's really only about catching perpetrators only after they've already committed a family violence offence once."

If elected on November 29, Labor will hold a Royal Commission into family violence.

"That's about getting to the bottom of the entire epidemic," Mr Pakula said.


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