Now three months into lockdown and with measures easing, a huge local canary in the coal mine has confirmed the Goulburn Murray district saw a staggering increase in mental health issues and family violence.
The rise has thrown into sharp relief how much of a black spot Echuca is on the Victorian crisis support map.
Scott Thomson is the area manager for Sureway Employment and Training in the Goulbourn Murray and Riverina.
The employment agency’s clients are some of regional Australia’s most vulnerable — the unemployed and those with a disability — and those same clients were the ones most under stress during COVID-19.
Mr Thomson said the service’s councillors were seeing a significant increase in mental health and domestic violence issues among existing and new clients.
When asked if he could put a number on the increase, he said it was “very hard to quantify because we are dealing with such huge numbers of people”.
“What we are seeing is a huge increase in mental health support requests, most of it driven by COVID-19 anxiety, the stress of home schooling and unemployment,” Mr Thomson said.
In regards to domestic violence, Mr Thomson said both parents being at home on one wage or no wage, and kids being home, were major drivers among smaller factors such as kids not being able to play outdoors.
In the short term, the easing of restrictions and returning to work and school would see the numbers drop, Mr Thomson said.
Looking further ahead, he hopes the Federal Government’s promise to construct a Headspace in Echuca-Moama will be honoured because the twin towns are a blackspot in Victoria’s support network.
“Addressing these issues is all about tapping into your local networks and services, and for Echuca we are finding it’s treated as an outreach site for Bendigo and Shepparton and there isn’t enough in the town itself,” Mr Thomson said.
Crime figures from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research showed that from March 2018 to 2020, domestic violence jumped 16 per cent in the Riverina and 14.8 per cent in the Murray — the largest increases in regional NSW.
● If you are struggling with your mental health, call Lifeline Australia on 131114, BeyondBlue on 1300 224 636 or Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800.
If you are experiencing violence in the home or from family members the following resources are there for you:
Call 1800 884 292 for Bendigo’s Centre for Non-Violence.
Call 1800 015 188 (Victoria) or 1800 65 64 63 (NSW) for confidential support and crisis accommodation.
Men's Referral Service on 1300 766 491 provides counselling for men who use family violence.
1800RESPECT for help and referral.
In an emergency, call 000.
