MEDIA RELEASE – 23/04/2026

WestCASA says funding never more urgently required during Sexual Assault Awareness Month

As Sexual Assault Awareness Month shines a national spotlight on the prevalence and impact of sexual violence, the Western Region Centre Against Sexual Assault (WestCASA) is warning that specialist support services are being pushed to the brink, forced to stretch limited resources and, increasingly, generate their own funding just to meet urgent community need.

Across Melbourne’s west metro, WestCASA has seen sustained and escalating demand for crisis response, counselling, and advocacy.

This surge reflects both growing awareness and the courage of victim survivors coming forward, but without commensurate investment, the system is under acute strain.

Staff are working at capacity, waitlists are growing, and the organisation is being compelled to divert time and energy into securing supplementary funding streams simply to maintain core services.

WestCASA CEO Annette Vickery said the current environment is unsustainable.

“Sexual Assault Awareness Month is about visibility, but visibility without resourcing places enormous pressure on already stretched services. We are seeing more people reach out than ever before, often with complex and urgent needs, from cost of living to attend an appointment to family violence, yet the funding model has not kept pace.

We are now in the position of having to innovate just to ensure we remain open to those who need us most.”

WestCASA is calling for urgent, long-term investment in specialist sexual assault services to ensure victim survivors can access timely, trauma-informed support without delay.

Without this, the sector risks normalising waitlists and burnout in a space where early intervention and continuity of care are critical to recovery.

“Victim survivors deserve more than a system that is ‘holding on’,” Vickery said. “They deserve a system that is resourced to respond – consistently, compassionately, and without compromise.

“As awareness grows this month, WestCASA is urging Commonwealth and Victorian State Government to match that awareness with meaningful action. 

“Every call to us is a person seeking safety, support, recovery and healing.” Ms Vickery said.