NEWS DESK
Orange Door to safety opens at Hastings
Meridith Cameron and Peter Orton at Peninsula Community Theatre where later this month Peninsula Voice will hold a Homeless Awareness forum. Picture: Yanni
Liz Bell liz@mpnews.com.au A NEW service has opened in Hastings to tackle the growing need for family violence and child wellbeing support on the Mornington Peninsula. The expansion of the Bayside Peninsula Orange Door Network to Salmon Street, Hastings will ensure more people across the region can access the support they need, closer to home. The Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Ros Spence, who attended the opening of the Hastings Orange Door access point, said the service was free for adults, children and young people experiencing or who had experienced family violence. “When experiencing family violence, reaching out for help can be the hardest thing a person will do. We are making sure accessing advice and support is as easy as possible, no matter where you live,” Spence said. “We are already seeing the power of services working together to support child and family wellbeing, with thousands of residents accessing the Bayside Peninsula Orange Door Network since it opened.” Family violence is a significant problem across the peninsula, with the Orange Door Bayside Peninsula alone supporting 58,000 people, including 20,000 children and young people since opening in 2018. Across the state, Victoria Police data reveals a 6.7 per cent increase in incidents from 82,651 in 2018–19 to 88,214 in 2019–20 (an increase of five per cent in the rate of incidents per 100,000 people). Peninsula support workers say that since COVID-19, there has been a steady increase in incidents, with most service providers experi-
IN THE
SONIA Weston from the Bunurong Land Council, Good Shepherd CEO Stella Avramopoulos, the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence Ros Spence and Labor candidate for Hastings Paul Mercurio. Picture: Yanni encing an annual surge in demand for support. The Orange Door network brings together workers from specialist family violence, men’s, Aboriginal and child and family services to provide coordinated, multi-disciplinary support, including crisis assistance and support, risk assessments, safety planning and wellbeing support. Spence said Victoria was leading the nation with its work to end family violence, with more than $3.7 billion spent since the royal commission into family violence – more than every other state and territory combined. Since 2018, the Orange Door has assisted more than 238,000 people, including 95,000 children, statewide. Orange Door Bayside Peninsula opens 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Call 1800 271 170 or visit orangedoor.vic.gov.au. The Orange Door can be accessed by phone, email or face-to-face in Frankston, Prahran and Hastings and via an outpost in Rosebud.
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Giving voice to homelessness Continued from Page 1 “So, she’s up against others looking for somewhere cheaper in a tough market and will have to move the kids to different schools, that’s the story we are hearing every day,” Smith said. Despite the growing housing crisis, he said, the state government was not encouraging the building of affordable accommodation “It’s incentivising profit making instead,” he said. President of Peninsula Voice Peter Orton said that when bad things happen in communities, “we are all damaged”. “As it is, we don’t understand homelessness and we don’t know how to respond,” he said. “Peninsula Voice tries to look at problems ‘upstream’, in other words dealing with the problems that cause the homelessness. “People think it’s too hard but, if we don’t do anything, we will become like America.” Orton said the homelessness forum would hear
from people experiencing homelessness, battling with housing affordability, and experts in the field who are helping and advocating for those in these circumstances. In the past three years, the priority wait list for Victorian public housing register has increased by 25 per cent on the peninsula (981 in 2019 to 1225 in 2022) but there is still no crisis accommodation. While demand was soaring, the number of affordable and appropriate homes in Victoria available for rent halved in the past 12 months. The free forum will be held at 6.30pm on Wednesday 24 August at the Peninsula Community Theatre, 91 Wilsons Road, Mornington. For more information about Peninsula Voice and to register, go to www.peninsulavoice.org.au On Saturday (6 August) Fusion’s Sleep In Your Car event starts at 5.30pm at Mornington Park. Details: mornpen.vic.gov.au/sleepinyourcar
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The Viator Strap is an engineered mesh comfort shoe with soft memory foam footbed that keeps your feet energized. The Arch support of high density Open Cell PU foam allows air to flow for a cooler, healthier footbed and gives good thermal control comfort for your feet. Bayside Shoes has been operating since 1987 and endeavours to create a high customer satisfaction by finding shoe solutions that meet your needs and budget. Whether for work, casual or that special occasion they offer a large range of footwear choice as well as the largest range of work & formal large size shoes for women (11/42 – 15/46) and men (11 / 45 to 17/51) on the Mornington Peninsula. Bayside Shoes is located at 103 Railway Parade, Seaford on the corner of Clovelly Parade and has both free and disability parking near its entrance with wheel chair ramp access to the store. Business hours are 10am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 3.30pm on Saturdays. The Bayside Shoes website baysideshoes.com. au gives only a snapshot of the total range of footwear choice or phone 9785 1887 if you need additional information on a specific footwear requirement.
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3 August 2022
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