Redlands DV support centre welcomes Labor election promise

Shadow Minister for Women Tanya Plibersek and Bowman Labor candidate Donisha Duff visited the Centre for Women and Co on Wednesday to make the announcement.

The funding would allow the service to expand its premises and provide more support to victims of domestic violence.

The federal election is still to be announced, but Ms Duff said the funding was long overdue.

"We know that the women of the Redlands have been significantly affected by COVID," she said.

"There are more requests for help and the numbers are showing that more women need to be supported.

"That is why we are investing in the Centre for Women and Co."

Centre for Women and Co CEO Stacey Ross said she was surprised and grateful for the commitment from the Labor party.

"We love being in the Redlands and the women that come through our doors are incredibly courageous and so resilient," Ms Ross said.

"To be able to improve our facility for anyone coming through the centre's doors would be an absolute blessing."

She said they would use the funding to build more offices within the service, enable disability access and build more spaces to offer support for DV victims.

"What we have seen is a really quick uptake of the services we provide and to have further investment to meet that demand is incredibly important," Ms Ross said.

Ms Plibersek said women's issues would be an important topic ahead of the federal election.

"The focus on equality has always been really important in Australia, and women aren't asking for special treatment in Australia, they are just asking for equality," she said.

"I think women feel frustrated by a lack of progress, frustrated by the fact that things are going backwards, but we feel this incredible sense of responsibility to hand something better to our daughters and granddaughters."