ROTARIAN and family safety advocate Marie Schlemme OAM is encouraging coworkers to check-in with their colleagues as part of Are You Safe at Home? Day this Saturday.
The Safe and Equal campaign is designed to break down the fear and stigma associated with talking about domestic and family violence (DFV) and provides resources to start the conversation safely.
Mrs Schlemme said it is about raising awareness of the forms and prevalence of DFV wherever possible.
“We don’t want family violence to happen here and we don’t ever want it to result in a death, so we want people to be aware of the issues and the information to get the help they need,” she said.
“There are so many forms of abuse, and it doesn’t always look like a broken arm or a black eye so people don’t necessarily recognise that someone is unsafe.
“When someone indicates they are in a situation, the first thing to do is believe them, and then hopefully lead them to help.
“The campaign provides lots of information on how to talk to people, how to handle the situation and what they can do without making things worse.
“That includes getting them to the right people, like Orange Door, Mallee Domestic Violence Service and the Family Violence Unit of Swan Hill Police – they have a very caring team that can point you in the right direction to get support.”
Colleagues and employers are well-positioned to notice indicators that someone is experiencing DFV, with regular contact in a neutral environment.
“I’d really like employers to think about Are You Safe at Home? Day too; they should pick up that something is not right but might not feel able to say anything,” Mrs Schlemme said.
“This campaign is to let people think about it and show them how to say something without the expectation of being a counsellor, so if they do think something is not right, they can provide help in accessing the right services.
“There’s a tremendous cost to small businesses if their staff is experiencing family violence, whether from absenteeism, not being able to concentrate, or the perpetrator interfering at the workplace with calls and visits, so these resources can help address that safely.”
Mrs Schlemme has been utilising conversations to tackle the misunderstanding of DFV, starting with her fellow Rotarians when she first learned the extend of the issue in 2020.
“I realised very quickly that people had a total disbelief of family violence in Swan Hill, that it doesn’t happen here, even though we know it does,” she said.
“Part of our work in Rotary has morphed into trying to have our community understand that we have a very high level of family violence here and there are places you can get help, and we’ve been using every opportunity to keep the conversation going.
“I’m very grateful for the men in Rotary and the other organisations that we work with for picking up this issue, because men have a huge role to play in all of this – older men in particular.
“They have a responsibility to work with young men, talk to their sons and grandsons about these things, teach them respect for women, carry that into their sports clubs and call out disrespect when they see it.”
Rotary Club of Swan Hill is collaborating with Inner Wheel, Lions Club, Orange Door, and Mallee Sexual Assault Unit and Domestic Violence Service with support from Swan Hill Rural City Council and the police to get support for a safe house in Swan Hill.
“We can understand why people don’t go looking for help when they experience family violence, because if they do need to be removed, possibly with children, they get put into caravan parks and motels and they have a new realm of uncertainty and fear to deal with,” Mrs Schlemme said.
“We need emergency accommodation that survivors can stay in for a reasonable period of time while they sort things out.
“At the moment we’re trying to get high level support from the State or Federal Government and emergency housing services, and then we will need to finance a house.”
According to independent documentation by Australian Femicide Watch, 24 women and seven children have been killed in Australia as of April 2025, 18 of which were in domestic or intimate partner circumstances.
Information to safely start a conversation with a colleague and other resources are available at areyousafeathome.org.au.
If you or someone you know needs support, call Orange Door at 1800 290 943.
Call 000 in an emergency.
