Translated and simple language resources on COVID-19

To assist women women from migrant and refugee communities who are experiencing family violence during COVID-19 we have created this web-page to help you find;

• Easy to understand information about COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria
• Helpful information about family violence during COVID-19
• Changes to the legal system during COVID-19
• Translated health information about COVID-19

inTouch will continue to update this page as we learn about more services so please check back here regularly.

Key resources for women experiencing family violence during COVID-19

During COVID-19 you may be at higher risk of family violence as social distancing and the rules put in place by the Government mean you are spending more time inside with people who use violence. People who use family violence may also use COVID-19 as a way to control or abuse you in different ways. For example they could;

• Stop or make it hard for you to get things you need such as food, medicine, hand sanitizer or cleaning products.
• Tell you things that aren’t true about COVID-19 to control or frighten you.
• Use COVID-19 as an excuse to control your family’s finances (money).
• Put you at risk by not following social distancing laws from the Victorian Government.
• Threaten to infect you with COVID-19 or to invite people with COVID-19 to visit your home.
• Threaten or stop you and your children from going to the doctor or hide your Medicare card.
• Say things that aren’t true about the way you look after your children, such as blaming you if children ‘misbehave’ or are upset.
• Isolate you or your children in the home by restricting your movement in the house, forcing you or the children to stay in specific spaces or rooms in the house, or disabling your mobility devices.
• Keep track of your personal communication devices such as mobile phone, email, online messaging.
• Use COVID-19 to excuse, blame or justify their abusive and violent behavior towards you and the children.
• An ex-partner may use COVID-19 to try and enter or live in your home. They may try to make you let them stay to ‘help’ you with the children.
• Breach a family violence intervention order.
• Force you to travel on public transport, making you feel unsafe.
• Tell you family violence organisations are closed or that police won’t help you during COVID-19. This is not true.

This is family violence. Domestic Violence Victoria (DV Vic) have put together some useful advice on how to recognise family violence during COVID-19 and help keep you and your children safe during this time. Click here to read this information.

Family violence is never ok. Organisations are here to help you stay safe. If you or someone you know needs support, you can get help from inTouch or reach out to one of these 24-hour services;

• Police (in case of emergency) 000
• Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre (VIC only) 1800 015 188
• 1800 Respect Counselling and Support Service 1800 737 732
• Sexual Assault Crisis Line (VIC only) 1800 806 292
• Lifeline 13 11 14

Links to important information about staying safe from family violence during COVID-19 are listed below;

Changes to the legal system

To help you understand changes to Victoria’s legal system during COVID-19 we have created these short videos.

Changes to legal service provision during COVID-19

NOTE: Information is changing rapidly in response to the pandemic and advice from your relevant government and health officials should be referred to for the most up-to-date information.

Parenting Orders During COVID-19

NOTE- Information is changing rapidly in response to the pandemic and advice from your relevant government and health officials should be referred to for the most up-to-date information.

Translated information on COVID-19

Information is being translated in to a range of languages by the Australian Government and other organisations to help you understand COVID-19 symptoms and, how to protect yourself, and travel restrictions. Links to translated information are listed below to help you find important information in your language.

Health Translations and Victoria State Government Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has information about COVID-19 which is translated into various languages. You can access these under each corresponding language listed below, otherwise you can also see the full list of languages available on the Health Translations website here or the DHHS website here.

For all Victorians, anyone 12 years of age and older, must wear a face mask over their nose and mouth when leaving home for one of the four reasons. See videos on how to make a cloth face mask at home, and how to safely wear face coverings, available in multiple languages. There is also information on wearing a face covering in different languages, see posters here and hear audio recordings here.

inTouch will continue to add more links each week so please check back here often.

inTouch will continue to update this page as more resources become available but we need your help. If you have a resource you would like to share, please email admin@intouch.org.au.