Blue Mountains City Council will establish a Mayoral Reference Group for family and domestic violence, chaired by Ward 4 Labor councillor Suzie van Opdorp.
At the February 22 council meeting, Labor mayor Mark Greenhill pointed out a number of sobering statistics about domestic and family violence in Australia.
"On average in Australia, one woman every week is killed by her current or former partner, someone who once professed love for her," he said.
Cr Greenhill added that one in three women in Australia have experience physical violence since the age of 15, that one in five Australian women has experienced sexual violence, and that on average in Australia, police attend a family violence incident every six minutes.
Closer to home, in the Blue Mountains there are 200-300 reports to police of family or domestic violence per year.
"When Suzie was elected I immediately decided to create this role because of her extensive experience and deep compassion," said Cr Greenhill ."I want our council to make a difference in this space and Suzie is the perfect person to lead this committee. We are very lucky to have her."
Cr van Opdorp thanked the mayor for the appointment.
"I am very excited about the mayor asking me to act as his representative on the group. The mayor and the council have demonstrated a long-standing commitment to the prevention of domestic and family violence (DFV) and I am really pleased about this latest initiative which will produce some practical results.
"I have a 40-year history of working in the areas of sexual assault, child protection, women's health, domestic violence and mental heath. In past roles I managed the women's health centres in Penrith and the Blue Mountains and also the Katoomba Women's Refuge."
Cr van Opdorp added that the new group will work in partnership with local bodies including the Coalition Against Violence and Abuse (CAVA), Blue Mountains Women's Health and DV West."
