Integrated domestic violence services: A case study in police/NGO co-location

Abstract

Australia's National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, launched in 2010, has emphasised the need for integrated responses across government agencies, specialist domestic and family violence services and the justice system. This article presents an evaluation of an integrated, community-based domestic and family violence response service that uses a rare model of co-location in a police station, and assesses its suitability as a model service for the future. The evaluation reveals that there are many positive aspects of such co-location and the authors argue that this model should be more widely trialled in Australia.