Women and children escaping family violence will now have access to a new secure refuge in regional Victoria that will keep them safe, while also providing the crucial transitional support services they need. Premier Daniel Andrews today joined Member for Bendigo East Jacinta Allan, Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards and family violence workers to officially open the new $3 million Annie North Women’s Refuge.

THE idea for a cluster women’s refuge in Bendigo has been around for 15 years. Annie North chief executive officer Julie Oberin first saw the model operating in Adelaide and could immediately see the benefits it could bring to central Victoria.

“The last visitors had to be blindfolded,” the duty manager at the Annie North Women’s Refuge and Domestic Violence Service in Bendigo said, with an apologetic smile. We were about to visit their traditional high-security communal refuge, where safety is also assured by the security code at the door, the screens on the windows and the anonymous suburban house location. All the women and children come from outside the area and are asked to keep their new location confidential.