Council makes the call to back lifeline for domestic violence victims

On average, local police respond to eight incidences and make more than two convictions of domestic violence in Lake Macquarie each day.

Labor mayor Kay Fraser said she hopes the council's support of not-for-profit DV Safe Phone, which collects, cleans, repairs and redistributes old mobile phones to victims could help tip the scales.

"I'm wholeheartedly supporting this motion, it's really important when we think about it," she said at Monday night's meeting.

"I wish we weren't here and we didn't have to talk about this, but unfortunately we do.

"Lake Macquarie police have had over 800 domestic violence offences in the last year, those numbers are horrific.

"I think from memory a woman loses her life every five days from domestic violence, every time we turn on the TV or radio we hear of someone else losing their life ... anything we can do to protect vulnerable women and families from domestic violence is a great thing."

DV Safe Phone recognises that having a mobile phone is a key component to staying safe, and victims of domestic violence can have their phones damaged, taken, tracked or left behind if escaping a dangerous situation.

Under the 12-month trial, any organisation that provides services to people experiences domestic or family violence can register with DV Safe Phone to receive a bundle of five or 10 working phones free of charge and with no strings attached.

Services can ask for more bundles, with no limit on the number of requests they can make each year.

According to the council, a number of local service providers are currently registered with a program delivered by WESTNET and Telstra where clients can be given a new mobile phone with credit.

However, that program requires organisations to fill out paperwork to register the phones with the client, while DV Safe Phone allows mobiles to be provided to anyone without paperwork and documentation.

The council will provide collection boxes for old phones at Charlestown Library, Cameron Park Community Centre and Morisset Multipurpose Centre as well as the Swansea Centre.

Members of the public can drop off their old, working phones, which will then be cleaned, reset and redistributed by DV Safe Phone.

The idea originally came to the council from Toronto resident Angela Finney, and Labor Cr Adam Shultz said it's a fantastic example of community advocacy.

"We don't have a monopoly on good ideas, this was born out of the community," he said.

"Reading through the report, it's not lost on I believe any of us in that there's two convictions of domestic violence made in Lake Macquarie on a daily basis.

"Having access to a mobile phone is a key component of being able to stay safe - phones can easily get lost, damaged, they can also be tracked by people who are perpetrating this kind of violence.

"So having access to a DV Safe Phone could be the difference between life and significant injury for someone."

The council also contacted Penrith City Council, which has had success with the initiative - their local police station is now signed up to DV Safe Phone.

Each box costs $85 to purchase and it costs about $17 to send the donated phones to DV Safe Phone up to 5kg.