Eight years ago, Melton police made five referrals to a victims assistance hotline.
There’s been a “remarkable turnaround” since then, with the number of referrals increasing by 20,000 per cent to 1036 in the 2015-16 financial year.
Department of Justice’s Amanda Smillie, cohealth’s Lyn Morgain and Melton police’s Inspector Kathy Rudkins last week signed a two-year memorandum of understanding for a Victims Assistance Program that will run out of the Melton police station.
The program, designed by cohealth and the Department of Justice, works with victims of crime and connects them to appropriate services, Inspector Rudkins said.
“They help victims through the court processes, and actually take away some of the work from our police,” Inspector Rudkins said.
“And they’re more qualified to deal with victims … they help victims navigate through the whole judicial process and hook them up with any services, like counselling, gambling stuff, financial stuff.”
Ms Smillie said 10 years ago, the victims assistance line would receive about 20 calls per day – on Monday, October 10, between 9am and 5pm, there were 198 referrals.
She said the department expected the demand for services to increase in the future as the area’s population grew.
“We’re doing brilliant things out here,” Ms Smillie said.
“We know crime is an issue across Victoria, and we also know in postcodes 3337 and 3338, which includes Melton and Melton West, the top three crime types are assaults, aggravated burglaries and, sadly, homicide.
“So our Victims Assistance Program workers are working with really complex cases, there are really intense needs … and cases are requiring case management for upwards of three to five years.”
Victims Assistance Helpline: 1800 819 817 or Melton police: 9747 7999
