According to an evaluation study released by the Same Sex Domestic Abuse Group (SSDAG), domestic violence and abuse services in Western Australia are not doing enough to support members of the LGBTI community.

Since 2004, SSDAG has been working to raise awareness and provide training within domestic violence and abuse services on how to provide for LGBTI people.

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SSDAG chairperson, Mark Ravenscroft, says that while these services have been positive and open toward undergoing training, they have not yet done enough to provide equal access to their services.

‘The established sector has been very upcoming and co-operative about receiving training,’ he said.

‘They have participated very well, they’ve looked at their policies; they’ve done all those things but have failed to actually deliver a service to anyone.’

The evaluation study used telephone interviews and questionnaires to gauge the effectiveness of SSDAG’s awareness and training program.

‘Once we’d done all the training, we then went back and did a survey of all those organisations and asked them, “who do you provide support for?”’ said Mr Ravenscroft.

‘All of them stated that they don’t provide support for gay men; all of them stated that they do provide some support for lesbians; some stated that they provide support for transgender individuals.

‘So there was a huge group of the (LGBTI) community that was left out, and that essentially says to us, there is no effective place for the entire community to go.’

While the issue of same-sex domestic abuse is still relatively hidden from the public consciousness, research shows that LGBTI people experience relatively equal levels of domestic abuse as heterosexuals.

SSDAG currently receives funding from the Attorney Generals Department under the Proceeds of Crime Grants Scheme, however their latest application was not successful and the organisation will be without funding as of December this year.

This puts SSDAG, the only representative specifically for LGBTI victims of domestic abuse in WA, in a precarious position.

The SSDAG Annual General Meeting will be held on September 30 and new members are welcome.

For more information, log onto www.ssdag.org.au

If you are experiencing domestic abuse, please call Crisis Care on: 9223 1111 or toll-free on 1800 199 008.

If you are in immediate physical danger, contact police on: 131 444

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