Karlie Brady

Journalist

The Douglas Shire is another step closer to having a domestic violence emergency accommodation shelter after Council resolved to enter into a funding agreement with the Federal Government at this week’s Ordinary Council Meeting.

In September last year, it was announced that the Australian Government would award Council $760,400.00 to build the shelter as part of the Safe Places Emergency Accommodation Grant.

Under the funding agreement Council will enter into an arrangement with a domestic violence service provider to manage and maintain the buildings for a period of at least 15 years.

The Douglas Shire has one of Queensland’s highest rates of reported domestic and family violence yet has no crisis or supported accommodation service.

The current practice of referring women to refuges in Cairns or further afield necessitates them leaving family, friends, jobs and schools in order to receive help, which is ineffective and hinders recovery.

Councillor Abigail Noli moved the motion at Wednesday’s Council Meeting saying this was the “final hurdle” in a project she is passionate about.

“When I became a councillor in 2014, one of the things that I did was get involved in a community access network group and I was quite shocked to hear about the amount of domestic violence happening in our community,” she said.

“I will say I was completely ignorant of the amount that there was, and probably a lot of the community doesn’t realise just how much domestic violence occurs here.

“From 2014 it became something that I, in collaboration with other counsellors, decided to really try to tackle.

“I am very happy that today it is there,” she said.

Douglas Shire Mayor Michael Kerr said the shelter is long overdue.

“This has been something that councillors have been pushing towards for years,” he said.

“We knew that there was an issue, we have done a lot of work with the police and different domestic violence groups, we knew that it was necessary.

“We have the piece of land that council has chosen, we've now got the funds to build the refuge, and today we passed the motion so that staff can tee up all the different groups that are required to manage the facility.

“Finally, we are going to have a facility here in Douglas so that women, particularly with children, who suffer domestic violence don't get shifted down to Cairns, where they can't go to their regular schools or be close to friends and relatives,” Mayor Kerr said.

No time frame for the commencement of the project was given, however Mayor Kerr said it would happen as quickly as possible.