Safe Place to close

The Oxford Street Safe Place will close at the end of June because victims preferred to report violence directly to police or ACON’s Anti-Violence Project once they arrived home instead of using the drop-in centre.

ACON CEO Stevie Clayton said the volunteer-run space’s eight-month trial ran at a cost of $50,000, and savings from its closure would instead go into the agency’s other Safe Place program, encouraging businesses to become safety points against homophobic violence.

There was lots of support for the Safe Place, lots of people dropping in for information, but not a lot of people were actually using it to report violence as it happened, Clayton told Sydney Star Observer.

Most people who were consulted said they wanted it to stay, but they weren’t actually using it themselves.

However, reports of homophobic violence to the AVP’s hotline increased as the issue gained attention, she said.

The Safe Place opened in November following Clover Moore’s late-night walk up Oxford St with SSO columnist and Oxford St safety ambassador Maxi Shield.

Almost immediately after we opened it we saw more police on the streets and we’ve achieved a lot in building a better relationship with police, Clayton said.

She praised the efforts of Surry Hills Commander Donna Adney and Regional Commander Catherine Burn for reaching out to the community again.

We had no relationship with the previous commander. [Former AVP coordinator] Carl Harris came away from meetings saying they were very unproductive, Clayton said.

But now we feel it’s safe to close the space and put the money back into other programs.

A City of Sydney spokesperson said it was committed to continue working with ACON and the AVP to improve safety on Oxford St.

The AVP will now seek and train up local businesses to become safe places for people fleeing violence, and contacting police.

We want to make sure there are many more places people can be safe, rather than just the one, Clayton said.

A party to thank the volunteers will be held Saturday 28 June, and the space will close for the final time at 5am Monday 30 June.