Angry members of the state’s peak body for domestic violence have issued a vote of no confidence in the organisation, alleging mismanagement had resulted in the closure of a number of specialist women’s refuges.
In a letter sent to Domestic Violence NSW last week, disaffected members claimed the organisation was in chaos, asserting conflicts of interest and lack of governance.
They allege that the organisation had failed to protect specialist women’s refuges from being taken over by other groups as part of the state government’s "going home, staying home" (GHSH) reforms to homelessness services.
‘‘The DVNSW board promoted, encouraged and sanctioned the GHSH reform process that has led to the majority of women’s only services within NSW closing and or being placed with faith based services,’’ the letter claimed.
‘‘The DVNSW board has not represented the membership in an honest and transparent fashion, particularly in relation to the current status of women’s only refuges/services threatened with closure and those refuges who have, in fact, closed due to the GHSH reform.’’
Some of the state’s longest-running women’s only services were absorbed by large religious charities when the tender process was completed in June.
Roxanne McMurray, spokeswoman for the Save Our Women's Services (SOS) lobby group, which is attempting to save women’s services, said its analysis showed that three-quarters of the women’s services that remain open will be run by religious groups such as St Vincent de Paul, the Salvation Army and Mission Australia.
‘‘Our latest analysis shows that of the women’s services that appear likely to continue, 74 per cent will be run by religious organisations,’’ she said. ‘‘In the past, it was a big problem and is a large part of the reason women's refuges were set up in the first place. This is winding back the clock 40 years.’’
SOS will present a petition bearing more than 14,000 signatures supporting women’s only services to members of parliament on Tuesday.
‘‘Domestic violence rates are going up, not down," Ms McMurray said. "We don’t want women not seeking help because they can’t find a refuge run by women.’’
The manager of Marcia women's refuge in Campbelltown, Marilyn Fogarty, said her Aboriginal clients were unhappy to see the service being taken over by St Vincent de Paul.
‘‘Aboriginal women won't seek help from a religious organisation because the Stolen Generations still resonates in their communities,’’ she said.
“We know religious organisations do a lot of good work, but there is no way the government can say this refuge will be better run by a church-based group, or that they'll be able to build up the same strong links we have with the Aboriginal community.
‘‘Our clients were extremely unhappy about signing over consent to the new provider, but if they refused, they'd end up homeless. They just didn't have a choice.’’
DVNSW has been given 30 days to respond to the vote of no confidence, which will compel the organisation to hold an emergency general meeting.
DVNSW acting chief executive Moo Baulch said she could not comment on the contents of the letter but said the allegations would be investigated.
