Photo: The Guardian

The new centre at Werribee will provide survivors, many of who have also experienced family violence, a safe place to report crimes and receive the help they need without having to repeat their distressing story to numerous services.

Minister for Families and Children Jenny Mikakos today visited the site of the Wyndham Multi-disciplinary Centre, which is due to open in mid-2018, to check the progress of the building.

The centre will be home to a Victoria Police Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team (SOCIT), Family Violence Team members, and forensic examiners, as well as Child Protection Practitioners, sexual assault counsellors, and a community nurse.

Survivors will not have to move from service to service, nor building to building. Instead, the next steps in their journey will be down the hallway or in the next room.

Better integration and co-location of services mean survivors experience more timely and accessible responses, and increased sensitivity and privacy. Survivors are also kept appraised of the legal status of their cases while engaged with other service providers.

The Victorian Budget 2017/18 allocated $2.5 million to support the establishment of the centre, which will be the seventh of its type in Victoria.

The other centres are in Dandenong, Seaford, Geelong, Mildura, Morwell and Bendigo.

The funding for the centre was part of the Andrews Labor Government’s commitment to respond to increased demand for services as a result of the Royal Commission into Family Violence.