ECLC welcomes the Victorian Government’s announcement of a new Orange Door to be established in Box Hill to support more women and children in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne experiencing family violence.

The Orange Door aims to “provide every family the specialist support they need – regardless of where they live – from workers across family violence, child and family services, Aboriginal and men’s services, along with emergency and crisis services.”

The expansion of the Orange Door Network continues the Victorian Government’s work on a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Family Violence.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said his message to all Victorians is that help is there if you need it.

“Escaping violence at home is always a reason to leave your home, no matter what stage restrictions are in place,” he said.

ECLC CEO Michael Smith said that the Royal Commission had made clear that the existing service system was inadequate and required major improvement.

“The Orange Door provides a critical opportunity to improve the service pathway and integration of work for agencies responding to family violence. This clearly includes legal services which ECLC and its partners know should be provided as early as possible.

“There have been lessons learnt in the establishment of the Orange Doors in other locations. We look forward to using our shared expertise and working closely with government and agency partners to make the Box Hill Orange Door as supportive, inclusive and effective for families as possible.

“This will make it easier for our families and communities to get access to critical family violence services when they need them,” said Michael.

Until the Box Hill Orange Door is open, people in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne can continue to access all of the family violence support services through existing services.