Better practice in responding to family violence

As well as gender inequality, other forms of inequality and discrimination experienced (for example by people with a disability, migrant refugee backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) can increase the risk of family violence, and shape their experience of family violence.

Discriminations such as racism, ableism, homophobia and transphobia will impact how people will experience services such as the police and the courts and even their utility company. This coupled with family violence will further shape the access people have to services and the power and authority they may (or not) be able to leverage when accessing services.

In our research on customers’ experiences of the family violence provisions in water businesses, financial counsellors and family violence service providers described who was currently seeking their services due to family violence.73 While the majority were female, there were some male, people of various ages, cultural backgrounds, family situations and socioeconomic situations.74 Our research also highlighted that some groups of people have a more difficult time accessing assistance than others.75

“It is really difficult for some in our community to actually access supports they need, have an understanding of what’s available to them and actually get access to those things.” – Customer advocate76

It is important for businesses to understand these often compounding forms of discrimination and barriers to accessing services. By understanding this, businesses can come up with solutions to these challenges and create policies and services that everyone can access equally.

In order to support groups who find accessing assistance for family violence more difficult than others, Yarra Valley Water has sought new ways to connect with its broader community.

Case Study – Yarra Valley Water

Yarra Valley Water has published family violence fact sheets on its website, which provide an overview of their family violence policy in 10 languages other than English.

It continues to work with its financial counselling partner to ensure it supports culturally and linguistically diverse customers appropriately and engages with multilingual communities through bilingual financial counsellors and the use of an interpreter service. It also partners with organisations to gain a greater awareness of issues associated with different communities, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

It piloted a shopping centre hub to provide greater access to services for more vulnerable customers such as those that have poor literacy, are living with a disability, have limited English and that are experiencing homelessness. Through face to face discussion, including with bilingual staff, customers have an opportunity to raise issues that they may not feel comfortable discussing over the phone.

People living with a disability experience greater difficulty accessing essential services and can be at a higher risk of experiencing violence. In a survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, almost twice the amount of people living with a disability or long-term health condition reported experiencing sexual harassment in 2016 than those living without a disability. It is vital that business implement family violence policies that respond to the additional needs of people living with disabilities. SA Water discovered that often by tailoring services to suit customers with the most complex needs, many others will also benefit.

“If you’ve never walked a mile in someone else’s shoes, you often just don’t know what their life is like and therefore can’t appreciate the issues they face – and we needed to do that.” – Kerry Rowlands, SA Water

Case study – SA Water

Through its Wider World program, SA Water has set out to make its services more easily accessible to customers living with a disability or medical condition.

Over a 12-month period SA Water engaged with the Department of Human Services and South Australian Council of Social Services and held one-on-one meetings with its customers living with disabilities and their carers. It found that there were opportunities to provide more inclusive services and by catering to its most vulnerable customers its wider customer base often benefited. 

It also surveyed another 50 customers living with a disability to better understand how people living with various disabilities and medical conditions experience its services. In response to an overwhelming number of reports that water bills and meters were difficult to read SA Water simplified its water bills and initiated meter reading help.

A number of organisations have expertise on understanding and preventing family violence in an inclusive way. Useful resources include:

• Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health’s Intersectionality Matters: A guide to engaging immigrant and refugee communities in Australia, 2017.
• Women with Disabilities Victoria’s Voices Against Violence Research Project.
• Our Watch, 2017, Equality and Respect - Practice Guidance - Equality and Respect for All Women, an Intersectional Approach