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By Belinda Nolan

9th March 2010 11:05:13 AM

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THE Brimbank Family Violence Unit has been reinstated after a month-long campaign to save the vital service.

But the future of the specialised unit continues to hang in the balance as police debate whether to scrap it indefinitely.

In January, Star exclusively revealed the unit had been shut down and its officers returned to regular duties in a controversial shake-up of Brimbank’s policing structure.

The revelations sparked outrage in the community, with family violence experts warning the decision could prove disastrous for the municipality, which has one of the highest reported rates of domestic violence in the state.

Following a community campaign, Brimbank Police have agreed to restore the unit for the next two months, pending a further review.

Brimbank Police Inspector Michael Grainger last week confirmed the unit was up and running but would not speculate on whether the decision would be permanent.

“The good news is we’ve got staff re-committed to a family violence team and we’re extending the review for another two months to look at the situation more deeply,” Insp Grainger told Star.

But the police chief would not confirm how many officers had been reassigned to the unit.

“I’m not in the business of disclosing those sorts of details,” Insp Grainger said.

“What I can say is that there will be a sergeant overseeing a team of police and that our focus moving forward will be on educating our staff and looking at ways we can improve our response to family violence.”

Family health experts have welcomed the decision but continue to be concerned by the unit’s shaky future.

“It’s certainly great news but we still need to push for the fact that they have to be gazetted positions,” said Family Violence regional integration coordinator Maureen Smith. “There are no guarantees because unlike the sexual assaults unit, family violence does not receive specialist funding. Unfortunately that means that the future of the unit will depend on resources and if the officers need to be put back into general policing, that’s what will happen.

“So at this stage, it’s all pretty tentative and that is concerning.”

Insp Grainger said the situation would be reviewed in two months.

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