According to a survey of over 800 readers: - Nearly a third of residents in the area do not feel safe in their own neighborhoods, citing issues like family violence, drugs, and alcohol as fears. - The number of calls for police help in the area has tripled in the past few years, with police attending an "incident of harm" every four hours on average. Rates of aggravated burglary and property crime have also increased significantly. - Over a quarter of respondents said they or someone they knew had experienced a drug or alcohol-fueled assault in the past year. The poll suggests rising crime rates and feelings of safety are major issues of concern for local residents.

1. GEELONGADVERTISER.COM.AU THURSDAY MAY 12 2016 NEWS 03
V1 - GATE01Z01MA
Almost a third of residents
do not feel safe in their own
neighbourhoods. Respondents
cited family violence, reports
of which have risen by 30 per
cent, drugs and alcohol as the
biggest fear factors.
This is a marked difference
from 2010, when 48.4 per cent
of Barwon people said they felt
We don’t feel safe on streets, say residents
Violent crime explosionsafe walking alone after dark in
their local area, according to
the Social Atlas of Australia.
The poll reflects recent
police statistics that show calls
for police help in Geelong had
tripled from 33,000 in 2012 to
90,000 in 2015, with officers
attending an “incident of
harm” every four hours.
Aggravated burglaries have
climbed dramatically in the
past 18 months and property
crime has risen 33 per cent in
the latest financial year.
In our survey:
A READER claimed to have
been “assaulted by a group of
refugees while in town”, and
another cited an assault by a
bikie gang.
A WOMAN said she had been
“confronted by an ice affected
adult on a V/Line train”. Her
attacker was, “angry, insulting
and threatening”.
TWENTY-seven per cent of
people said they or someone
they knew had experienced a
drug or alcohol-fuelled assault.
Chris Mackey, principal
psychologist at Chris Mackey
and Associates Psychology
Services, said people were
more likely to be aggressive if
they felt alienated from others.
Violent behaviour could
lead to further social exclusion.
“They will tend to lose
friends and other relationships
as a result of alienating others
through the aggressive behav-
iour,” Dr Mackey said.
The risk for violent behav-
iour was higher among youths.
“Our brains do not fully
mature until around the
mid-20s, before which time
people are more at risk of act-
ing impulsively,” he said.
Key factors to help victims
overcome their assaults were
acknowledgment and accept-
ance, maintaining routine and
social support.
“Stay well connected with
social networks, enjoy
relationships with family,
enjoy relationships with
friends, and do activities you
like doing,” Dr Mackey said.
“There are a lot of advanta-
ges in a regional setting for
people to feel connected in
their community.”
Anyone experiencing personal
difficulty should contact Lifeline
on 13 11 14
KAITLYN WILSON
UP to 13,000 Geelong people
have been exposed to an
assault in the past year, the
Geelong Advertiser’s “Fair Go”
survey has found.
The poll of more than 800
readers found one in 20 people
had witnessed assaults, includ-
ing a mother who said her son
was “king hit late one night in
the CBD”. Another reader said
a “brother was beaten up by a
pack of drunk kids and couple
of old men”.
ELIZA SUM
Bread fanciers are using their loaves
ARTISAN bread is no stranger to
the tables of Geelong with its
popularity defying drops in bread
sales across the globe.
In the UK consumers have
sliced 50 million loaves of bread
from their supermarket shopping
carts in the past year.
But La Madre co-owner and
Baking Association of Australia
state committee member Tez
Kemp said his Bell Park sourdough
bakery was going strong.
“The dropping sales can be
credited to supermarket bread and
that kind of thing, but what we’re
experiencing is continual growth in
the artisan style of bread,” he said.
“Whether it’s cafes we’re supplying
or catering companies and hotels,
there’s still huge demand.”
He said changing dietary habits
prompted consumers to make
wiser decisions about their choices.
“From our particular point of
view, people don’t eat as many
carbs as they used to, or they’re
more conscious of what they’re
eating, so there are more people
eating better quality bread,” Mr
Kemp said.
“People who are eating bread
want to eat the good stuff.”
Mr Kemp and his wife Anna
Spurling this year mark their 10th
anniversary since taking over the
bakery in 2006.
YUM: Bread lover Stephen
Nardi indulges his passion
at La Madre bakery.
Picture: MITCH BEAR
AMA to demand new government ends Medicare freeze
DOCTORS will enter the fed-
eral election campaign today,
demanding the major parties
end the six-year freeze on
Medicare rebates and increase
spending on public hospitals.
The move by the Australian
Medical Association coincides
with its own election stoush.
AMA president Professor
Brian Owler’s two-year term
ends this month and one of the
two candidates for his job says
the leadership is too left-wing.
Today the AMA will warn
patients they will have to pay
to see a doctor, have a blood
test or a scan unless the new
government removes the
freeze on Medicare rebates.
“The freeze on MBS indexa-
tion will create a two-tier
health system, where those
who can afford to pay for their
medical treatment receive the
best care and those who can-
not are forced to delay their
treatment or avoid it altogeth-
er,” says the peak doctors’
group in its election manifesto
to be launched today.
Elective surgery queues
would reach “dangerous lev-
els” unless hospital funding
were increased.
The AMA also wants a
national program to encourage
exercise.
Campaigning to replace
Prof Owler in the top job are
vice-president Steve Parnis,
who says the AMA should not
take sides in politics, and West
Australian obstetrician Dr
Michael Gannon, who wants it
to work more closely with the
Turnbull Government.
He described the Medicare
freeze as a “dagger in the heart
of general practice”.
EXCLUSIVE
SUE DUNLEVY