Need help?
Emergency
Call 000 and speak to the police if you or someone you know is in immediate danger.
About Family Violence
Family violence is not one particular experience. It may include a number of different forms of abuse, control and/or violence.
For example, a partner or relative may:
- Stop you from seeing your family and friends
- Constantly check up on what you’re doing
- Control family finances
- Threaten to disclose your sexual orientation or gender identity
- Humiliate you and/or your children by being verbally abusive
- Hurt, or threaten to hurt, you and/or your children with physical violence
- Sexually abuse you and/or your children.
How we can help
Berry Street provides specialist family violence services to women, LGBTIQ+ people and children who have experienced any form of family violence. This includes intimate partner violence, child abuse, elder abuse, carer abuse, parental abuse, sibling abuse, child to parent abuse and abuse within kinship relationships.
Our specialist family violence services are free and available to:
- women, LGBTIQ+ people and children who live or work within Melbourne’s Northern suburbs or the Central Highlands in Western Victoria
- women, LGBTIQ+ people and children who are seeking assistance, information or support in relation to family violence
- relatives or friends who are seeking information and support
- workers from agencies who are seeking further information or a secondary consult about family violence.
We can provide information about and access to other services, such as:
- after hours family violence crisis support
- legal services
- housing, including refuges and emergency housing
- therapeutic support
- children’s support services
- counselling
- Community Health Centres
- risk management program for women, LGBTIQ+ people and children at high risk.
We help victim-survivors of family violence in Melbourne's Northern suburbs and Western Victoria
Our specialist family violence services are free and available to women, LGBTIQ+ people and children.
Find out more about our family violence services and how to get in touch:
Service profile
To find out more about how we deliver family violence services and to read our service charter, go to our service profile.
Rainbow Tick
Recognised nationally, Rainbow Tick is for organisations seeking to provide a safe and inclusive workplace and services for the LGBTIQ+ community.
At Berry Street, we strive to be truly inclusive of all LGBTIQ+ people and are working towards Rainbow Tick accreditation for our family violence services.

Our impact
- We supported 29,337 people through our family violence support services over the 2017-18 financial year.
- Every month we receive over 1,200 family violence referrals from Victoria Police to assist women, LGBTIQ+ people and children.
- The number of family violence referrals we receive, including police and self-referrals, continue to increase.
Learn more about how we support women, LGBTIQ+ people and children to be safe and free from violence below.


Emergency and support services
If you or someone you know is experiencing violence, the following services provide help and support:
Emergency
Call 000 and speak to the police if you or someone you know is in immediate danger.
Nationwide 24-hour services
1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732
Centre Against Sexual Assault: 1800 806 292
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Victoria-wide services
Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre (24-hour service): 1800 015 188 or (03) 9322 3555
Sexual Assault Crisis Line (24-hour service): 1800 806 292
Men's Referral Service (24-hour service): 1800 065 973
Visit the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency website.
Specialist support
In Touch Multicultural Centre against Family Violence: (03) 9482 5744 or (03) 8413 6800
Elizabeth Morgan House Aboriginal Women’s Service (Melbourne): (03) 9482 5744
Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative (Western Victoria): (03) 5331 5344
W/Respect: 1800 LGBTIQ (1800 542 847)
Thorne Harbour Health (for LGBTIQ+ people): 1800 134 840