BM
This is a West Wimmera Health Service podcast. Presented by me Brigitte Muir.
This series focuses around stories and issues related to health and wellbeing. Some of the people we hear from are sharing their stories, hoping that their experiences will help us with our own health and wellbeing. Please be aware that some of their life experiences may touch on issues that are sensitive to some. Please listen with care. You will find information on seeking help if you need it in the notes attached to each episode.
Family and domestic violence are issues that affect people from all walks of life. Concerned individuals can now seek help at The Orange Door in Horsham. Mandy Noble is the Service System Navigator at The Orange Door and she explains to me what it is all about.
MN
The Orange Door came about after the Royal Commission into family violence and a another really important report called The Child Wellbeing report. And basically, what those two… reviews found is that it's really difficult for people wanting to access family violence and child wellbeing supports to find what they need in a really timely manner. And it's been really difficult for… people working in supporting people to have access to the tools and information and supports that they need to do their jobs well. So part of the recommendations from… that came down from the Family Violence Royal Commission was to establish Orange Doors. And what The Orange Door is… is a entry point to local family violence and child wellbeing services, in the Wimmera. And the idea behind them is that a person needing that support can come to us. We can work with them for a short time… to find out what their needs are. While we work with them…we can make sure that they're safe, and we can assess, and manage their risk, and we can help them navigate the service system. So, we can get them to the supports that they need… when they need them and they only need to tell their story once and we can support them through that journey. Orange Doors exist all across the state and it really is about making it easier for people needing that support and getting that support.
BM
Alright, let's say that's in the Wimmera I'm really scared. What do I do?
MN
You can pick the phone up you can ring us, you can walk in, we're open nine to five Monday to Friday, and just walk in and we will…. sit you down with a practitioner. We have practitioners who will work with you. If we're talking family violence, the practitioner will work with the person to assess risk, talk about what your needs are, what you'd like to happen and work out a plan for keeping you safe and also make those referrals to those services… that you may need. So, it's all about working alongside the person and really trying to figure out and support them to identify what it is that they would like to do and making sure that they can get those supports that they need.
BM
Okay, so…its family violence, domestic violence, it's not necessarily someone… hitting someone else, is it?
MN
No, no Family Violence can take on many forms. It's a pattern of behaviour. Family Violence… yes, of course can be physical, but it can also be… controlling finances. It can be… coercive, in that it could be stopping you seeing your family and friends. It could be… isolating you from family and friends… and work. It can include sex… sexual violence It can include… intimate partner violence. Could, could even be family violence, where it could be… a carer or it could be a… daughter or son. Family violence can take on many different forms. It can be economic, it can be financial, it can be physical, and it can be… controlling behaviours. And more often than not family violence actually exists as partner, intimate partner violence but it can actually take on other forms. So, it can be violence against…against a parent or carer who might be looking after… someone caring for someone with a disability. There can be family violence to can actually… can take place there, that's also considered family violence. Orange Doors aren't just… places for people who might be experiencing family violence. Orange Doors have been established for people who might be …just having problems with… parenting or they might have some concerns about their children, in terms of their growth or development.
BM
So like, I can’t handle my children….
MN
Yep
BM
… and I just don't know what to do.
MN
Yeah, They might… That's right. So absolutely people can come here too, so Orange Doors so very much about that as well.
Part of the model is… obviously in order to keep victim survivors safe…we need to be working with perpetrators as well. So, Orange Doors… have practitioners who have a…are specialised to work with perpetrators and we… navigate services for them to make sure that they can get the services and support they need. So… we work on both sides. It just helps to increase the safety for victim survivors if we can be working and supporting the perpetrators as well.
BM
I would presume that… the majority of perpetrators are male.
MN
Yes.
BM
But… I would also assume that… some of them may be female.
MN
Absolutely. And… when we’re talking about same sex partnerships too… perpetrators we will work with perpetrators regardless… of their gender identity, cultural background, we will work with the perpetrator and support them as well as we work with victims and survivors.
BM
The other question I have for you is… what happens if I …get… in here? And I tell you, I just don’t wanna go home. I can’t go home, I’m too scared. What happens then?
MN
Orange Doors have access to… brokerage or access to funding to actually support people if they don't want to go home. So, we can… while we're waiting to actually refer you to the services that you may need. We can absolutely help to support you to look for accommodation elsewhere. Maybe… help with transport to go to… a friend's house or to… a family member's house, that may not live here. But safety is a very… high priority. When working with people in The Orange Door, so we have means to… put you up in accommodation, whether it could be a local motel… or anything but we will work with the person to decide where best they would like to go. So that's absolutely possible.
BM
And I guess, the other thing with that is… I really should report the person who's been… violent towards me, but I don't want to go to the police.
MN
The thing with family violence is… and what research has shown is that, the victim survivor, or the person experiencing family violence, they're in the best position to know exactly… what keeps them safe, what they need to do, and how to actually manage their situation. So, our role is, is really to work alongside you… and to help you get those things that you need. So, if… you're not ready to report that's completely okay. And we will look at other ways in which we can keep you safe.
BM
What if I want to report, but I don't want to go to the police station.
MN
We… have really good relationships locally with Victoria Police, with lawyers and with other agencies. And if that's the case, that's fine. We…we have ways in which we can work with Victoria Police and, and make that actually happen where it's not at the police station, they could come down here and we can arrange those sorts of meetings and interviews, as well.
BM
And I guess it would be the same if… if I have to go to court, I'll have to go to court.
MN
Same thing. So, what's awesome about The Orange Door is that we actually have… visiting lawyers that come and sit down at The Orange Door. So, we have arrangements with Victoria Legal Aid, and community legal service, and youth law and so what we can do in that space… is that we can arrange for you to meet with them. That can be done at The Orange Door. It can be done over the phone. It can be done over… Teams. We can Zoom you in… to actually talk to someone. But we do whatever we can to make it as easy as possible for you to access the services that you need while we are working with you. A really cool thing about The Orange Door is that we work in partnership with the local agencies and so… The Orange Door is that key entry point to…. the local family violence services that are offered through Goolum Goolum, the Aboriginal cooperative, and Grampians Community Health and… also to local families support services that sit within Uniting… Wimmera.
BM
One important question…
MN
Yeah
BM
…how busy are you?
MN
We are very busy, it's been consistently busy, since we opened and… what's important about The Orange Door is that… people have somewhere to go to, if they do need support. Across… across the Wimmera there are quite high rates… of reported family violence. We're receiving a lot of referrals… in from… service providers and a lot of people who are just making contact with them themselves, were fairly busy here at The Orange Door.
BM
Can you tell me a little bit about people's background? Because… you know, we might have preconceived ideas about… the kind of people who hit their partners.
MN
We …we see people from all walks of life. Family violence affects every part of our community. There's no pattern, particular group or cohort in our community where it's affecting more than others. One of the biggest drivers… for… of family violence is inequality, gender inequality, and we're super lucky that we have organisations like Women's Health Grampians working in that space but… family violence affects all of us. Family violence affects all parts of the Wimmera community. I think that's a really important message to get across that it doesn't target or at least it doesn't affect one more than another.
BM
Is there any way to reduce it?
MN
Orange Door kind of works at the pointy end… we're working where… we're… at that point end where people are needing the services and supports now, I think the real change will happen where we can start to… address some of those inequalities… and some of those … cultural and societal… norms and values that that we hold and that are present in our communities, and the work of Women's Health Grampians and other organisations like that… are doing amazing things, right through the Wimmera. I think that's where we'll start see the change…when we start to see a shift in those norms and values, amazing work happening in that space. And we just need to put more resources and effort into that. And I think own it as a community, you know, we all need to stand up. And we all need to play a role in making sure that we understand that family violence is not okay… that we need to call it out when we say it.
BM
And how do you do that? I mean, if… if you know that… this person or that person… is not appropriate in their relationship, whether towards their spouse, partner, or children, or whoever else… can you dob them in?
MN
If you are concerned for family member or a friend, you can absolutely ring us and have a chat to us about that. Dob in… probably… not, but absolutely. There are a lot of great resources out there… about how to have those conversations with your friends and with your family and we can help support people in the direction of where they can find that stuff.
BM
Anything else to tell people out there?
MN
If you're unsure… if you're not sure whether you're ready for help, or if you are really for help, please reach out there's always someone here to actually have a talk to you.
BM
Out of business hours…
MN
Out of business hours, we do work closely with an…a… a 24 hour… service, which is called Safe Steps. So, if people need help after hours, can call Safe Steps. Safe Steps will then work with us the next morning so that we can connect with you… and continue that work to Safe Steps would have started
BM
And I guess there's also the option of… if you're too scared to do it yourself. You can ask someone you know …if you…
MN
Absolutely
BM
…completely isolated…
MN
yep
BM
…to ask for you.
MN
If people are… in crisis and… if it's an emergency. You can also call… Victoria Police.
BM
Triple Zero
MN
Triple zero… definitely.
BM
I'm very grateful that there is now service like The Orange Door, in the Wimmera… I think it was long overdue.
MN
Yes.
BM
And please make use of it if you need it.
MN
Yes
BM
People here are fantastic. I've seen lots of people sitting at computers talking to clients. They're totally there for them. The space is very safe and very welcoming. And… it's there for you.
MN
Yes. It is.
BM
Thank you, Mandy.
MN
That’s ok
BM
That was Mandy Noble, Service System Navigator at The Orange Door, in Horsham.
You will find as always contact numbers and details in the notes attached to this episode. And while you're at it, please give us a star rating. We'd also love to hear your comments and suggestions. Our Facebook and Twitter details are in the notes. Until next have a healthy life won’t you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai edited by the WWHS Health Promotion Team.