The BPIFVP was honoured to collaborate in June with some wonderful minds at RMIT on the very topical issue of AI. We discussed how AI systems function and why the technology is evolving at such an accelerated pace, and particularly for our sectors, how AI is being weaponised in cases of family & sexual violence, such as through deepfakes.

Find out more here

On the 26th of March 2026, the Bayside Peninsula community came together for a first-of-its-kind forum focused on strengthening our collective response to non-fatal strangulation (NFS), a serious and often invisible form of family & sexual violence with a high risk of lethality.

Led by the Bayside Peninsula Integrated Family Violence Partnership (BPIFVP), the forum brought together police, ambulance, forensics, education, family and sexual violence specialists and community service sectors in a coordinated effort to strengthen early identification and response to NFS. Specialist training, typically only available within Victoria Police, was delivered with support from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM) and adapted for frontline community workers. Our entire panel of experts brought deep expertise and experience, and played a critical role in building shared knowledge, consistent language, and cross-sector understanding.

This day was not just about building knowledge; it was about building connection and a shared understanding, highlighting the urgency of an increasing issue across our community. It created space for building relationships across sectors that must work together if we are to respond effectively. Police, Ambulance, medical professionals, community practitioners and educators each hold a piece of the response, and it is only through integration that we strengthen outcomes for victim survivors.

Access BPIFVP Non-Fatal Strangulation Resource here

We were joined by the fabulous Elena Campbell at our third Bayside Peninsula Community of Practice discussing challenges we face in responding to children and young people experiencing family, sexual and intimate partner violence.

The complexities of children and young people’s experiences are deep and we need to navigate the nuances of their age, trauma, family dynamics, and more. But this cannot be a barrier to providing support. We need practitioners who are well supported to confidently engage with children and young people, and we need clearer referral pathways and entry points to appropriate services.

Read more about Elena’s Work here

In August we launched our NEW Strategic Plan for 2025-2028.

This Plan is eight months in the making and is a true collaborative effort of all our Partnership members. Our amazing consultant, Lisa Abbott brought our collective ideas, vision and goals together in a co-design partnership with our Lived Experience Advisor, Katie. In her consulting role, Suze Radford shared invaluable First Nations insights and wisdom to ensure that our local communities would be central to our work and the Strategic Plan. Our graphic designer Kim East then worked her creative magic on our words and vision to produce a beautiful document that will be front and centre of our work over the next three years.

Read our plan here