VICTIMS of domestic assault are being turned away from support services as waiting lists stretch beyond two months due to skyrocketing rates of abuse.
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Riverina’s family violence epidemic continues to spiral out of control with the region recording more than 1000 reports of domestic assault in the past year.
It was the biggest spike in more than a decade.
Police attended roughly three reports of in-home physical abuse everyday in a sad indictment on the Riverina’s ongoing war against domestic violence.
The region’s 22 per cent increase in family abuse last financial year was the highest in NSW and more than doubled the neighbouring Murray district.
Junee, 50 per cent, and Wagga, 36.7 percent, also recorded the highest and second-highest rates for soaring domestic violence rates in the state by local government area.
It comes after police recorded more than 30 family interventions over a single weekend recently in a haunting depiction of the nationwide crisis.
Manager at Wagga Women’s Health Centre Gail Meyer was shocked by the latest statistics, acknowledging that much of the city’s resources had become strained by the issue’s prevalence.
“Even just having one instance a day is concerning, but to have three is flat out terrifying,” she said.
“We generally have a waiting list and a lot of the services around Wagga do, but we try to make sure we provide other options during that period.
“It could be that there’s an absolute increase in the amount of domestic violence occurring or it could be that people are reporting it more.”
A Wagga single mother and family violence victim, who chose not to be identified for safety reasons, told The Daily Advertiser she had to go through three different service providers to get help.
“For all the media attention, it doesn’t seem like it’s getting any easier to get support without having to wait months on end,” she said.
“I was given an October appointment in August and I couldn’t wait that long.
“It’s no surprise to me that we’re sitting at the top of the whole state – we really need to take more action to fix this problem.”
Concerns have also been raised the alarming number of incidents has strained police resources.
Wagga crime manager Inspector Darren Cloake said family violence call-outs were common place for general duties officers.
“There’s one car off the road that would normally be detecting other crimes, but it has to be done because family violence is a key priority and takes precedent over most other offences,” he said.
“We’ve seen more reports of suspected domestic violence but people are also reporting it more.”