Horsham-based Goolum Goolum Aboriginal Co-operative says it will do everything in their power to end family violence in their community, as ACCOs across Victoria work to achieve the same.
Over three hours from Naarm / Melbourne, local services don't have the resources available in metro areas. As a result, strong, honest conversations and relationships are even more vital to stamping out the scourge of family and domestic violence.
Goolum Goolum delivers a range of programs from those tailored to youth, justice, housing and specifically focused on ending family violence.
'Hoops Against Violence', utilising basketball with police involvement to build trust, and community education-based 'Our Community, Our Responsibility - Will you be the difference' are two.
"It was born out of a need to try to get some community confidence in helping with police to report incidents of family violence," Goolum Goolum general manager and Wotjobaluk man John Gorton told National Indigenous Times, outlining Hoops Against Violence.
It addressed an understood presence, and risks of underreporting by trying to "bridge a gap" between community and police.
"We're three and a half hours from Melbourne, further you get out from Melbourne, the services get more limited, so a lot of those conversations are reliant on relationships. If we don't have good relationships, we generally don't have great outcomes." Mr Gorton added.
The program has been secured grants from the latest round of the Victorian Government's Aboriginal Community Initiatives Fund (CIF).
It's aimed to support communities to take action against family violence and priority areas identified by the state's Dhelk Dja: Safe Our Way - Strong Culture, Strong Peoples, Strong Families 10 year agreement.
$1.45 million collectively has been injected into 29 projects around the state.
Six are specifically funded for Aboriginal-led prevention projects.
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Hoops Against Violence involves clinics, primarily for children, though adults are welcome, and shared larger program events with Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative.
Horsham has higher rates significantly higher than the state average.
Between 2022-23, police reported 582 family incidents in the local municipality. It equates to an incident rate of 2902 per 100,000 people, compared to the state average of 1632, according to a local council snapshot.
The statistics represent rates across the whole community, not solely Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Verbal abuse made up 38.2 per cent of incidents, emotional abuse was 30.8 and physical abuse 14.8 per cent.
A child was present as a witness or victim in 44 per cent of incidents.
Mr Gorton noted that if incidents aren't reported, the problem becomes even more of a challenge to solve.
"Goolum Goolum itself covers a 34,000 square kilometer area. There's no other Aboriginal services that are providing, particularly the family violence response to Aboriginal people in our area, so we have a massive responsibility, and Victoria Police are a big part of that responsibility," he said.
The state government outlines the Community Investment Fund is delivered to support Aboriginal-led, goals and objective-focused, local community projects or initiatives aiming to create long-term benefit, among other elements.
Self-determination is identified as an intended aspect.
Individual grants up to $100,000 are available.
"The strongest programs to support Aboriginal communities are those that are led by Aboriginal communities - that's why Labor funds First Nations organisations to lead that work," Victorian Minister for First Peoples Ros Spence said.
Victoria's Minister for Prevention of Family Violence Melissa Horne added: "Every woman and child deserves to feel safe - that means investing in prevention before violence begins."
"If we want to drive down family violence, we must back Aboriginal-led programs to get the best results," she said.
VACCA (Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency) chief executive Muriel Bamblett welcomes community-led funding. It differs from funding often contingent on widgets, or prescriptive, she added.
"The community initiative fund gives us an opportunity to work culturally with communities on engaging," Aunty Muriel said.
VACCA have four projects receiving grants.
These include a Men's Group in the east metro region, Men's Cultural Healing Program in the Hume, Men's and Women's Business on Country in inner Gippsland and Cultural Camps in west Metro.
Those support a space often neglected, Aunty Muriel feels.
"The government doesn't fund us to work with men often...men want healing programs, the men want a yarn, they do want to come up with solutions."
Regular sentiment is men recognising they are the majority of perpetrators, they can be leaders in the efforts to tackle the issue.
"We're excited by the CIF funding that we were able to get to be able to do that work on the ground," Aunty Muriel said.
"Our approach to family and domestic and sexual violence is to include all of our people and bring all of our people on a journey."
Goolum Goolum's other funded program 'Our Community, Our Responsibility - Will you be the difference' is in its second year of delivery.
Actor, playwright and advocate against family violence Leah Purcell has spoken as part of the community education initiative. Stan Grant is planning to do the same this year.
As a community, for the community, it was decided they'll own the responsibility of stamping out family violence, Mr Gorton said.
It addresses all elements, from phyical to mental and long-term impacts of the issue.
"I think this gives the self-determining factor to community," he said.
"Because it is community-led, they're making the decisions.
"The whole stance of this program is that we as a community will not accept this".
They'll do "everything in our power" to "stamp it out", Mr Gorton said.
