The centre, which has offices in both Horsham and Geelong, merged with Geelong-based organisation Minerva Community Services in December last year.

The new company has now changed its name to The Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre.

Chief executive Helen Bolton said the new name was reflective of the merger.

“The name is all encompassing and includes our work in the gender equality, primary prevention of violence and professional development space,” she said.

“The organisation remains committed to offering specialist sexual assault and family violence services across the Barwon, Wimmera and western Melbourne areas by taking steps to ensure that people impacted by sexual or family violence are able to start their journey towards recovery,” she said.

“It is a bold name that is relevant and states our purpose clearly.

“Through our consultation with clients, staff and stakeholders we heard that our organisation needs to be a leader and take a stand, to be easy to find when people need us.”

Ms Bolton said the name was backed by a promise statement that clients were at the centre of everything they did.

“It explains the way we feel about our clients and staff as they are at the heart of what we do,” she said. Ms Bolton said there would be a staged approach to the name change in order to gradually introduce the brand to the wider community, allowing people to recognise the new name and visual identity.

The centre is located in Roberts Avenue, Horsham.