Those working with women facing domestic violence received support from Sunbury councillor Jack Medcraft this week.
He spoke to the issue at a council meeting on Monday (29 April 2024), asking fellow councillors to vote for his notice of motion that State Premier Jacinta Allan be told about the rates of violence against women in the city and to provide more money to agencies that work in the area.
Cllr Medcraft told councillors that family violence, violence against women, and psychological violence is a “serious situation”.
He wants police to have a designated group to help women facing abuse, said the judiciary has blood on its hands for giving alleged offenders bail, wants convicted offenders to be ‘named and shamed’, and a public register listing men with a criminal record for assault.
“We have had too many women murdered in our community,” he said. “Violence against women is not accepted and needs the appropriate bodies such as Government and our legal profession to acknowledge the seriousness of this crime.”
Cllr Medcraft gave the example of a woman who contacted an [un-named] agency for help and got a return phone call two weeks after she was allegedly murdered.
“That is just not tolerable,” he said. “How the hell does that happen?”
He said violence is not just physical “it is also psychological”.
“A lady contacted me who was so fearful of going to her house that she stayed in her car…It is a sad situation,” said Cllr Medcraft. “Any man who is such a coward to treat a woman like that…It doesn’t deserve comment.
“Women need to have the confidence to go and say [to police] ‘I want to speak to somebody about what’s happening’. And they need to be female officers. I don’t know that male officers understand what it is like to be harassed or bullied.
“We need to have a group in the police force who can work with women, give them confidence, and see them through the process.”
He also criticised the courts for releasing alleged violent offenders on bail.
“They should be held in custody, but no they are released,” he said. “Some of our judiciary have blood on their hands for giving bail to offenders who come out and kill their partners.
“I would like to see a register where people can look up…to see if this guy has any convictions for assault, or worse. Then at least they’d know if they are mixing with an absolute moron.”
Cllr Medcraft’s notice of motion was carried.
Hume City Council will write to the Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan:
- Expressing Council’s concern regarding the persistence of family violence rates in Hume City and elsewhere across Victoria
- Expressing Council’s ongoing commitment to prevent family and gender-based violence through the delivery of coordinated action across specialist family violence services, primary prevention agencies, the community, and other levels of government
And call on the Victorian Government to:
(a) Sustainably fund the specialist family violence response sector
(b) Increase safe and affordable housing to facilitate escape and recovery from family violence
(c) Maintain primary prevention work – including a commitment to sustain grant funding for local governments through the Free From Violence Local Government Program, particularly for those councils whose funding is expected to cease in 2025
