Melbourne City Mission (MCM) is looking to expand its Amplify program to Wyndham and help young people aged 15-19 escape and recover from family violence.
With funding ending in June, MCM is calling for its model to be rolled out across Victoria, with a dedicated team based in Werribee to work with local services and schools and the Werribee Orange Door.
Amplify Advisory Group member Conor Pall has experienced family violence and said he wished such services existed when he was 16.
When he called the first service he could find on Google, he was asked if he was a perpetrator.
“I didn’t know what that word meant– it was really isolating and has fuelled my advocacy,” he said.
“A lot of my advocacy is not necessarily about the abuse I endured, but about what didn’t happen when I reached out.”
Mr Pall said that one of the fundamental flaws of the current approach is the need for minors to be accompanied by a ’protective parent’- which many young victims of family violence do not have.
Head of policy and advocacy at MCM Shorna Moore said Amplify had been a “revelation”.
“Interviews with young people found many saying that Amplify was the first time they had felt listened to and validated by any community support service,” she said.
“80 per cent of the young people were supported to leave violent situations and 97 per cent of those young people have not entered into new violent relationships or returned to violent households.”
Mr Pall said the forthcoming by-election was a nonpartisan opportunity for candidates to listen to young people.
“Unfortunately young people under 18 don’t get a vote, so it’s important to listen to them and their experiences and put their experiences into action.“
Jaidyn Kennedy
