Vic ALP promises family duress cards
Two hundred Victorian women in very high-risk family violence situations will receive emergency alarm duress cards, under a Labor election promise.
The cards, which can stream live audio and video to a call centre, are equipped with an alarm and can act as a "call for help", Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said on Thursday.
Women can wear the card and send an emergency alert to a call centre and police, as well as collect evidence of potential crimes, he said.
"If she were approached, if she was attacked, if she is being terrorised by her partner or former partner she is able to cry for help, send that message, but also be in the process of collecting evidence," Mr Andrews told reporters.
He said the deterrence factor had been proven.
In addition, Labor has pledged to give women in high-risk situations CCTV cameras for their homes.
Mr Andrews said the measures were about prevention.
Safe Futures Foundation chief executive Janine Mahoney said the deterrent powers of the duress card and CCTV footage were significant.
"We believe that seven out of 10 men, if they think they'll get in trouble, won't do it, anecdotally," Ms Mahoney told AAP.
Safe Futures Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, is currently trialling the duress cards with a small number of women in Melbourne's outer suburbs.
Ms Mahoney said the cards were originally commercially developed as a device for lone workers but were proving effective in family violence situations.
"Evidence would deter a lot of men because they don't want to be charged with a crime," Ms Mahoney told reporters.
Ms Mahoney said the cards retail for $600 and cost $40 per month to monitor.
She said an interim evaluation of the trial found that women felt safer and breaches of intervention orders had ceased.
Labor has also promised to reinstate the family violence death review, a program run out of the Victorian Coroners Court aimed at reducing deaths from domestic violence, and conduct a safety audit of all the magistrates courts in the state.
