Development of Services - 1990's

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By 1990 the 13 Centres Against Sexual Assault in Victoria provided a range of services for adult and child victims of sexual assault. Two new centres came into being in the 90's. The Upper Murray Centre Against Sexual Assault in 1992 and Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault in 1995. The existing Centres had commenced meeting informally in 1986 adding new Centres as they were established. The Victorian Centres Against Sexual Assault Forum was formally established in 1992 and was registered as an Incorporated Association in 1994. This organization now operates as a peak body for the fifteen Victorian Centres Against Sexual Assault lobbying government and other organizations, formulating field positions on a wide range of issues and developing links with a large number of relevant organizations.

The existence of sympathetic bureaucrats and the difficulty of opposing the extension of services for rape victims without being seen to be in favour of rape have enabled the field to keep expanding. Although there have been challenges from other organizations wishing to offer some of the services provided by sexual assault services, the field has remained remarkably cohesive moving away from a purely rape crisis model to a more integrated service model in response to the changing needs of victim/survivors. Pushed by CASA's, governments have responded to the additional categories of victims that have come forward such as female victims of childhood sexual assault, children and young people and male victims of recent and past sexual assault.

In 1991 - 1995 in a $12 million campaign package to look at the culture of violence in Australia, $3.48 million was made available from the Federal Office of Status of Women to set up a national community education program on rape (Kaplan, 1996). In 1992 the National Women's Health Program provided funding for CASA's to fill gaps in services for predominantly rural and disadvantaged women. In 1994/1995 many CASA'S secured additional funding through the Community Support Fund to establish or expand services for young women and children, Suicide Prevention funds were provided for both male victims and young women survivors who self harm. In 1998 funding was made available to some CASA's to provide an after hours service for victims of family violence.

CASA's have continued to diversify making their services more accessible and relevant to a wide range of victim/survivors of sexual assault and their family and friends. There are inequities in funding and there are areas, such as women from rural and remote areas, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island women and men and women from non English speaking background, which need extra funding but CASA's have a wide range of services across the State allowing victim/survivors access.

Continuing in the tradition that was established by the original Rape Study Committee links have continued to be forged with a variety of organizations to assist victims in obtaining a service. The Rape Law Reform Evaluation Project developed the Police Code of Practice in conjunction with CASA's and Victoria Police in 1992 and reprinted in August 1999 following an evaluation of the original guidelines. Standards of practice for the field were commenced in 1992 and finalized in 2000. A project was completed in 1997 in conjunction with the Family Planning Association of Victoria to improve access to CASA's for people with an intellectual disability.

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