Calls For Help At Govt Sex Violence Helpline “Go To Voicemail” Nambucca Valley by News Of The Area - Modern Media - March 4, 2022 Chief Executive of Full Stop Australia Hayley Foster is seeking ‘adequate and ongoing funding’ to support sexual violence survivors in NSW. FULL Stop Australia – formerly Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia – last week launched a campaign calling for “adequate and ongoing funding” to support NSW sexual violence survivors in NSW. The organisation claims two-thirds of callers to the NSW Sexual Violence Helpline are unanswered due to staff and resource shortages. “Currently one in three people who call the NSW Sexual Violence Helpline can’t get through because of lack of funding,” said a spokesperson for Full Stop Australia. While reporting of sexual violence in NSW has increased by more than 80 percent over the past decade funding for the NSW Sexual Violence Helpline has remained static, according to Full Stop Australia. According to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research reports of sexual violence in the Coffs Harbour-Grafton region increased by 65 percent in the year up to March 2021. Full Stop Australia has called on the NSW Government to invest an additional $1.4 million in the 2022/2023 budget to ensure the Helpline can answer every call. Chief Executive of Full Stop Australia Hayley Foster said if the campaign’s goals are met “everyone affected by sexual violence (could) receive the support they need when they need it”. “It is not OK that when someone affected by sexual violence calls the NSW Sexual Violence Helpline in a time of need they get a voicemail,” she said. “This is devastating for a victim-survivor of sexual violence.” The Helpline “is not a luxury”, she said. “It is an essential service. We are calling on the NSW Government to adequately fund the NSW Sexual Violence Helpline in the 2022 Budget.” Full Stop Australia has established an online campaign allowing supporters to send an email backing the funding push to their local Member of Parliament at https://fullstopaustralia.good.do/nswsexualviolencehelpline/nsw-sexualassault-helpline/. Full Stop Australia has established an online campaign allowing supporters to send an email backing the funding push to their local Member of Parliament at https://fullstopaustralia.good.do/nswsexualviolencehelpline/nsw-sexualassault-helpline/. “We hope that the community of NSW shows the government how significant this issue is for them,” Ms Foster said. “Everyone in NSW impacted by sexual violence deserves to be supported.” By Paul FOGARTY
