25 November 2005

Health workers helping domestic violence victims

NSW Minister for Health John Hatzistergos said today more women are seeking assistance for domestic violence under a successful screening program by NSW Health. The Minister released a new report into routine domestic violence screening in NSW which showed a significant increase in women accepting assistance from staff in health facilities across the state, from 41 per cent in 2003 to 71 per cent in 2004.

"Domestic violence is an important public health issue, which has a significant impact on the physical, psychological and social health of many women and children in NSW," Mr Hatzistergos said.

"For this reason, NSW Health has implemented routine screening for domestic violence across the State as an early intervention and prevention strategy. These figures confirm it is a successful and sustainable strategy for identifying domestic violence and assisting women to get help," he said.

More than 10,000 women were involved in a one-month snapshot of routine screening for domestic violence in November 2004 to determine the success of the program. The results are published in the report Routine Screening for Domestic Violence Program: Snapshot Report 2.

"Sadly the snapshot shows that a significant number of women in NSW who are patients or clients of health services are living with domestic violence," Mr Hatzistergos said.

"Key findings of the report include:

· Of the 10,343 women who attended the participating services, 7,774 (75 per cent) were screened in November 2004. Almost 2,700 more women than in 2003

· The overall screening rate has increased from 70 per cent to 75 per cent

· 504 (6.5 per cent) of the women screened had experienced domestic violence in the previous 12 months

· The number of referrals to other services increased from 35 per cent in 2003 to 49 per cent in 2004

· The rate of domestic violence in 2004 (6.5 per cent) was consistent with the rate recorded for 2003 (7 per cent)

· Police notifications increased from 2 per cent in 2003 to 4 per cent in 2004

· The number of DoCS reports increased from 8 per cent in 2003 to 12 per cent in 2004

"The most common reason given for women not completing the screening was the presence of a partner or others (59 per cent).

"However, this figure had declined between 2003 and 2004 by 33 per cent, suggesting that health staff have become more effective in establishing private time with the woman in the course of the initial assessment when screening occurs.

"NSW Health will continue to support area health services to implement screening through training by the Education Centre Against Violence, information cards, screening forms, a quarterly emailed newsletter and an annual forum for service providers," Mr Hatzistergos said.

For a range of health information, go online to www.health.nsw.gov.au