Almost 2,700 arrests of family violence offenders have been made since the start of the year in a major police blitz in some of Melbourne's most impacted areas.
Between January and the start of June, these offenders have been arrested 2,700 times and charged with over 7,500 offences for a range of serious family violence incidents.
The blitz has occurred across Cardinia, Casey, Frankston, Greater Dandenong, and the Mornington Peninsula - four of these suburbs rank in the top fifteen for family violence offences in the state.
The strong focus to start the year has included dedicated operations, as well as a range of proactive checks on known offenders and victims to increase the chances of family violence being detected.
In the year ending March 2024, Casey recorded the highest number of family violence-related offences in Victoria, while Frankston ranks sixth in the state.
Dandenong is in tenth place, while the Mornington Peninsula was 13th. Cardinia ranks 25th in Victoria.
Together, these five suburbs accounted for more than 70% of family violence incidents across south-east Melbourne.
While increases in family violence offending can partially be attributed to population growth, as well as more victim-survivors feeling confident enough to come forward, blitzes such as these also contribute to further reporting and greater identification of offending that generally occurs behind closed doors.
Arrests of note include:
• A 41-year-old woman was charged over the alleged stabbing of a 74-year-old woman known to her in February. The older woman sustained non-life-threatening injuries, while the younger woman was charged with intentionally cause injury and theft of a motor vehicle. She remains before the courts.
• A 42-year-old man allegedly stabbed a 70-year-old male family member, before assaulting a 73-year-old female family member. He was charged with intentionally cause injury, recklessly cause injury, common law assault, contravene Family Violence Intervention Order (FVIO) intending to cause harm or fear, assault with weapon, and aggravated assault.
• A 42-year-old man was arrested after allegedly stabbing a woman and assaulting a teenage child, in the presence of two younger children. An off-duty nurse rendered assistance, before the victim was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. The man was arrested at the scene and charged with intentionally cause serious injury, intentionally cause injury, recklessly cause injury, common law assault, three counts of make threats to kill, and three counts of contravene FVIO intending to cause harm or fear. The alleged victim was discharged from hospital a week later with life changing injuries.
• A woman was allegedly strangled by her partner in front of her primary school aged child in March. The man was arrested the same day and was remanded to appear in court at a later date.
• A 44-year-old man was arrested after allegedly threatening his female partner with a machete, causing injuries to her hand. Following enquiries, the man - who was the subject of an intervention order - was arrested and charged with persistent contravention of an FVIO, eight counts of contravene FVIO, threat to inflict serious injury, two counts of common law assault, three counts of recklessly cause injury, assault with a weapon, and fail to stop vehicle on police direction.
In the year ending March 2024, family violence reported to police increased by three per cent, with almost 96,000 incidents recorded.
Family violence incidents recorded per LGA across Victoria's 79 LGAs in the year ending March 2024.
1. Casey - 5,564
6. Frankston - 3,010
10. Greater Dandenong - 2,613
13. Mornington Peninsula - 2,138
25. Cardinia - 1,669
Victoria Police is committed to responding to all forms of family violence, supporting victims and holding perpetrators to account.
If you are concerned about your own or someone else's behaviour support services are available. No to Violence runs a Men's Referral Service which helps men who use violence to change their behaviour and can be contacted on 1300 766 491.
If you or someone close to you discloses they are a victim of family violence, please believe them and encourage them to contact police or a support service.
Support is available 24 hours a day through Safe Steps by calling 1800 015 188 or emailing [email protected]
In an emergency call Triple Zero (000). If you can't get to a phone, ask someone else to do it for you.
Quotes attributable to Greater Dandenong Specialist Investigation and Support Inspector Rod Maroney:
"Almost half of our workload relates to family violence, and we have made an enormous number of arrests this year.
"More than 7,500 charges laid against perpetrators shows just how seriously we treat family violence.
"That is an average of 17 arrests every day, or one arrest every hour-and-a-half."
"We know that family violence knows no boundaries, however, we also know that these five municipalities are some of the state's most impacted areas.
"That's why we have put such a heavy focus on identifying this type of offending and doing everything we can to prevent further harm.
Quotes attributable to Mornington Peninsula Insp Terry Rowlands:
"While more family reports may sound disheartening, we're encouraged that it means more people can access help and police have an opportunity to intervene and prevent further harm.
"We also know the amount of proactive work that family violence detectives are undertaking each day, such as knocking on the doors of known perpetrators and victims, is identifying offending that would otherwise go undetected.
