Strengthening Victoria’s family violence risk assessment and information sharing: Understanding effective capability building to support MARAM implementation through the experiences of victim-survivors. 

Are you a practitioner in Victoria working in one of the following sectors? 

This is an invitation for you to participate in this project that seeks to understand what works in ensuring workplace policy and practice align with Victoria’s Multi Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) framework. You are invited to participate in a 90-minute focus group with other practitioners from across their sector, where you will engage in a roundtable discussion to share your own experiences and insights in relation to family violence risk assessment and management. This will take place online. 

If you are interested in participating, or would like to know more about the project, please email Dr Adrienne Byrt at [email protected]

The Children’s Voices for Change project, funded by Family Safety Victoria, is seeking practitioners in Victoria who provide services to children aged 0-13 years who have experienced family violence, to complete a short anonymous online survey.

This research project uses a children’s rights-based approach to understand how children aged up to 13 years, who are victim-survivors of family violence, engage with Victoria’s family violence service system.

Please click here to learn more and to access the survey

Responses will close on Monday 24 April 2023.

Monash University this month released a report examining young Victorians’ experiences of identity abuse in the context of family violence, finding that it often occurs alongside other forms of abuse. The study is one of two pieces of work on which Family Safety Victoria engaged Monash University, as part of the Victorian Government’s Child and Young Person-focused MARAM practice guidance project.

The report reveals young people’s self-reported experiences of gender-identity and LGBTIQ+ identity abuse in family violence settings, including the significant social, emotional, educational, physical and cultural impacts of family violence.

Read report here

The fatal impact of family violence and how it contributes to young Australians’ deaths by suicide is downplayed and poorly recorded, hidden by other presenting issues such as harmful substance use, and missing from Australia’s response systems, advocate Tash Anderson and authors of this report reveal.

Family violence is the leading cause of youth homelessness and death by suicide is the leading cause of death (accounting for 38 per cent of deaths) among 15–24-year-olds in Australia. Research estimates between one and two in four children and young people grow up experiencing adult family violence.

Despite this, young people’s deaths by suicide currently sit outside the family violence narrative. In Australia there are no national or state-wide specialist responses for young victim-survivors of family violence seeking help alone; who the paper highlights are more likely to be at greater risk of suicidal ideation and death by suicide if unsupported in early childhood development.

Click here to read the report

This rapid evidence review identified evidence-informed programs that help to reduce harm and maltreatment and improve outcomes for vulnerable children aged 0-5 years.

Of the 34 programs that were rated according to evidence of their effectiveness, 25 programs were found to contribute to reducing maltreatment and improving safety for vulnerable young children.

The majority of programs (22) identified in the review are designed to improve parenting competency and family functioning. Eighteen programs aim to prevent neglect and abuse, and reduce the incidence of contact with child protection services. A number of programs (14) target harsh and/or dysfunctional discipline and punishment. A small number of programs specifically address child health, child safety and domestic violence.

The review identified common core components of these effective programs, including: engagement, building supportive relationships and social networks, building parental capacity and case management.

The review highlights a need for more high-quality research examining the effectiveness of Australian programs and the implementation of international programs in diverse Australian contexts, particularly with Aboriginal and culturally and linguistically diverse families.

Click here to read full review

Health Justice Australia are continuing their work around what secondary consultation looks like in health justice partnership, and how it can help practitioners build strong relationships across services. In their latest resource, Secondary consultation: insights from practice, they explore the experiences of secondary consultation of three frontline HJP practitioners.

Secondary consultation in health justice partnership is a valuable way for legal, health and other practitioners to share their professional expertise with one another. It is often enabled by the trust and proximity that comes from working in partnership and, in turn, helps to build and strengthen relationships between partnering practitioners.

There are protections for people affected by family violence in Victoria’s rental laws. The Family Violence Protection Tenancy Kit provides detailed information including protecting bonds and making safety modifications. 

Topics include:

Click here to read more and download the kit

The Children’s Voices for Change project, funded by Family Safety Victoria, is seeking practitioners in Victoria who provide services to children aged 0-13 years who have experienced family violence, to complete a short anonymous online survey.

Please click here to learn more and to access the survey.

Responses will close on Monday 24 April 2023.

In partnership with Swinburne University, Safe+Equal are working on a project by Family Safety Victoria (FSV), in Phase 1 of its Family Violence Research Grants Program.

Safe+Equal’s project seeks to understand what works in ensuring workplace policy and practice align with Victoria’s Multi Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) framework. MARAM underpins the coordinated response to identifying, assessing and managing family violence risk across various sectors. The project will produce insights into how workplace capability in alignment and practice can be uplifted.

Safe+Equal are seeking approximately 100 practitioners from across our target sectors:

You are invited to participate in a 90-minute focus group with other practitioners from across their sector. This will take place online. Participants will engage in a roundtable discussion to discuss their own experiences and insights in relation to family violence risk assessment and management. Your participation is completely voluntary.

If you are interested in taking part, please email [email protected] and your interest will be forwarded on to the Swinburne research team. They will be in touch to arrange your involvement in the project.

Safe+Equal have developed a suite of tip sheets to support candidates and employers to implement the mandatory minimum qualifications requirements. This template is a step-by-step guide for setting out the learning goals of new practitioners who are hired on an employment pathway and will be working towards a minimum qualification over the coming years. If employers wish, they may adapt and re-brand it to suit their own needs.

Download Development Plan here

Skip to content