Hannah Hammoud
Police stations in Hume have implemented a new family violence measure to help encourage local victim-survivors to report incidents of family violence.
Sunbury, Broadmeadows and Craigieburn police stations have set up the private, child-friendly rooms for victim-survivors to talk to police about family violence concerns.
Each station has a special room with information posters in the top five languages spoken in Hume: English, Arabic, Turkish, Punjabi and Hindi.
Hume Inspector Dean Clinton said this new measure seeks to increase the confidence of local victim-survivors to come forward and report family violence to police.
“We are committed to providing victim-survivors with safety, privacy and time to talk to us about their experiences,” Inspector Clinton said.
“We understand it takes courage, and that it can be difficult to come into a police station and take that first step of reporting the problem.
“Our family-violence reporting rooms provide a safe space away from the public counter; a comfortable and informal space, where victim-survivors can speak in private, and where our staff can take the time to listen to the whole story and make an appropriate assessment of how we can help.”
Inspector Clinton said that the initial discussion will take place on couches and will only move to a desk when a police officer needs to use a computer to take a report.
“The goal of these changes is to provide a more considerate service to victim-survivors and to allow them to build rapport with the police officer assigned to help them,” he said.
“These are very sensitive matters and privacy makes a difference. It is also safer for complainants that their business is not conducted in a busy foyer.”
