Forum tackles abuse of disabled Crisis shelter to aid victims

A CRISIS shelter will be established in Townsville as part of a State Government response to the domestic and family violence crisis, with 180 cases in Queensland each day.

Disability Services Minister Coralee O’Rourke, who hosted a forum in Townsville yesterday, said community attitudes to domestic and family violence needed to change.

“It is more than just something we can sweep under the carpet ... it’s something that needs to be addressed by every person in every city and every town,” Mrs O’Rourke said.

The Government will spend $ 31.3 million over four years on initiatives aimed at tackling domestic and family violence as part of its response to a report by a taskforce chaired by Dame Quentin Bryce.

Included in the spending is $ 8 million over two years to es-

Sadly, domestic and family violence can reach all corners of the community CORALEE O’ROURKE

tablish dedicated 72- hour crisis shelters in Brisbane and Townsville and a further $ 11.9 million over four years to operate the shelters.

Yesterday’s forum concentrated on tackling domestic violence in the disability sector.

“Sadly, domestic and family violence can reach all corners of the community and people with disability are some of our most vulnerable Queenslanders,” Mrs O’Rourke told the forum yesterday.

“There is already a lot of work being done at a local level by community organisations and service providers here in Townsville to help tackle domestic and family violence.

“There are particular issues for people with a disability in relation to domestic and family violence and we need to make sure that we have the support in place to help prevent violence and protect those who have experienced it.

“This roundtable gives us the chance to bring together community leaders from the disability sector to discuss how we can work together on local solutions to eliminate this problem.

“Community support is vital because only through action from the whole community can we hope to eliminate this terrible problem.”

About 40 people attended the roundtable session.

The taskforce chaired by Dame Quentin found the level of domestic violence in Queensland had increased by more than 10 per cent since 2010- 11. It found there were 64,246 occurrences of domestic violence in 2013.