SLASHING SERVICE

THE Gold Coast will lose two sexual violence counsellors in a matter of weeks and the state government has still not committed to continuing their funding.

In March the Bulletin revealed the Gold Coast Centre Against Sexual Violence stood to lose four counsellors by the end of the year when about $250,000 in funding relief ran out.

Funding for two of those counsellors will come to an end on June 30, at a time when more people are turning to the service following the deaths of Kelly Wilkinson and Lordy Ramadan.

Centre director Di Macleod said more people had “come out of the woodwork”.

THE Gold Coast will lose two sexual violence counsellors in weeks and the state government has still not committed to continuing their funding.

In March, the Bulletin revealed the Gold Coast Centre Against Sexual Violence stood to lose four counsellors by the end of the year when about $250,000 in funding relief ran out. Funding for two of those counsellors will come to an end on June 30 – less than three weeks away.

Gold Coast Centre Against Sexual Violence director Di Macleod said she was yet to hear from the state government about continued funding. “We are weeks away from our funding being pulled,” she said.

“The biggest thing (to help with prevention) is making sure you have a good grassroots response.”

Ms Macleod said there had been a terrific response from the community.

An anonymous donor has pledged to give $500 a week; a service club has offered to meet to talk about fundraising opportunities; she is in talks with a business sponsor and an experienced grant application writer has offered support.

The centre has received a $10,000 donation from Varsity Against Violence in March.

Losing the $250,000 from the centre’s budget means the centre will lose about half its staff by the end of the year.

Ms Macleod said the calls for help were just getting more frequent due to recent events such as the deaths of Kelly Wilkinson and Lordy Ramadan, Jarryd Hayne’s rape conviction and recent widespread publication of an alleged rape in a Surfers Paradise park.

“As soon as we have a case like this on the Gold Coast, people come out of the woodwork,” she said. “It gets into a snowball effect.”

It is common for women who have experienced sexual or domestic violence to come forward and ask for help when the topics are in the public consciousness.

Last month, AttorneyGeneral Shannon Fentiman announced a $2.5m funding package would be divided among 23 projects to help fund domestic, family and sexual violence survivor services.

The Coast will receive only 2.5 per cent ($63,000) of that money. Of the grants distributed, only about 3.5 per cent will be for sexual violence funding, the rest for domestic violence.

A majority of clients seeking help from the Gold Coast Centre Against Sexual Violence have also experienced domestic violence.