Practice Lead Community of Practice

Safe and Equal are recommencing the Practice Lead Community of Practice (CoP). This CoP is intended for practice leaders, or anyone undertaking similar duties, who are responsible for supporting MARAM best practice. The renewed focus of the CoP will be implementing recent or upcoming MARAM work.

Please see the flyer which includes further information and a member registration link. Contact the facilitator with any further questions.

Download the flyer here Facilitator and contact: Liz Yared, Practice Development Advisor (MARAMIS), elizabethyared@safeandequal.org.au.

Former Federal Labor MP Emma Husar is running a campaign to get a Royal Commission into the Family Courts, with a particular focus on how Section 121 of the Act, which mandates that people can’t speak publicly about proceedings, negatively impacts victim survivors, particularly children, and is a form of systems collusion with perpetrators. 

The survey is asking for anonymous stories of people’s experience with the system which you can find here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/2D2XSRF and her email for this work is fdvlawreform@gmail.com.

(Source: Experts by Experience e-Bulletin, June 2023)

This July, Everybody’s Home is launching the People’s Commission into the Housing Crisis, a platform for everyday people to share their housing experiences on a nationwide scale.

Organisations can Take the Impact Survey to help Everybody’s Home better understand what the housing crisis looks like for frontline service providers and their clients. Multiple people from the same organisation are welcome to take part. The survey is anonymous and should only take 2-3 minutes to complete.

As the housing crisis escalates, the impact on those seeking housing as a result of family violence continues to be a major issue.

For more information on the People’s Commission, visit the Everybody’s Home website and follow the campaign on Twitter.

(Source: Council to Homeless Persons eNews, 15.6.23

Safe and Equal are supporting businesses and workplaces to meet their OH&S and Fair Work obligations in relation to domestic and family violence.

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, employers must provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risks to the health of employees. This includes putting in measures to eliminate or control the risk associated with family violence in the workplace.

Organisations can work with Safe and Equal to meet their OH&S and Fair Work obligations by, for example:

Helping staff understand why family violence is a workplace issue
Developing appropriate workplace policies and procedures
Providing staff with training to raise their awareness, understand effects in the workplace and how to manage risks
Ensuring information is handled correctly
Consulting workers about work arrangements and managing risks to health and safety
Ensuring staff supporting those who are experiencing family violence are aware of the support options available to them
Providing a safe, secure and accessible reporting mechanism within the workplace.

To find out more about how Safe and Equal can assist, contact Robyn Stone, Business Partnerships & Engagement Advisor, at robynstone@safeandequal.org.au.

(Source: Safe and Equal Members Update, 31.5.23)

The NIFVS team have developed a new webpage, Criminalised Victim Survivors, with resources to assist practitioners respond to victim survivors who have been criminalised. Victim survivors who have experienced criminalisation, may encounter discrimination in the family violence service system, which can impact on their risk and access to safety and support.

Recently, Flat Out and Safe & Equal developed a resource, Providing safety and support for criminalised victim survivors about what to take into consideration when supporting a criminalised victim survivor.

Flat Out launched the resource with a recorded panel discussion: Resisting Systemic Collusion with Criminalised Victim Survivors.

Within the federal budget 2023-24, a further $326.7 million will be funded across four years (with $19.4 million per year ongoing) to deliver women’s safety initiatives under the National Plan, including:

$159 million over two years from 2023–24 to extend the Family and Domestic and Sexual Violence Responses National Partnership Agreement with state and territory governments and to continue to address service gaps to and support frontline service delivery
$38.2 million to extend the current Escaping Violence Payment and Temporary Visa Holders Experiencing Violence Pilot to January 2025.

The Federal Government committed $194 million over five years to support the dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan under the National Plan which is still in development, including:

$145.3 million over four years from 2023–24, including a provision of $128.6 million in the Contingency Reserve, to support activities which address immediate safety concerns for First Nations women and children who are experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, family, and domestic and sexual violence
$23.2 million over four years from 2023–24 to support families impacted by violence and at risk of engaging in the child protection system, through programs aimed at early intervention and recovery and supporting families
$17.6 million over two years from 2023–24 to deliver on family safety initiatives under the Action Plan
$7.8 million over four years from 2022–23 (and $4.0 million in 2027–28) to support the development of a standalone First Nations National Plan for Family Safety.

Safe and Equal stated that despite these commitments, much more needs to be invested into women’s safety initiatives including a commitment from both state and federal government to long-term, adequate funding for specialist family violence services, who continue to grapple with increasingly unsustainable demand and limited resources.

(Source: Safe and Equal Member Bulletin, 12.5.23)

The Family Violence and Sexual Assault Workforce Pulse Survey (WP Survey) was conducted by Family Safety Victoria between September and October 2022.

The WP Survey explored the employment conditions, workplace barriers and career intentions of specialists employed by family violence and sexual assault organisations, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCO) and The Orange Door network (TOD) in Victoria.

The final sample is composed of 1,049 (completed and partial) responses, representing an estimated 35% of the total family violence and sexual assault specialist workforce.

(Source: Family Safety Victoria, 10.5.23)

Family Safety Victoria (FSV) invite and encourage you to participate in the evaluation of the LGBTIQA+ Family Violence Reform Initiatives. FSV has engaged ARTD Consultants to independently conduct a process and impact evaluation. ARTD is seeking insights about the design, implementation, and impact of the Rainbow Tick accreditation and to share your ideas on key lessons for improvement.

ARTD is undertaking a sector-wide survey seeking to capture the views of those who have completed Rainbow Tick accreditation, those who are underway with accreditation, and those who have not begun accreditation and the reasons for this. To complete the survey please click here: https://artdconsultants.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8CgSmKuf8ApRxs2 ‘

For more information, please contact FSV’s project manager, Imogen Hopper at inclusionandequity@familysafety.vic.gov.au or ARTD Project Manager Rachel.Aston@artd.com.au.

(Source: Safe & Equal Member Bulletin, 27.4.23)

The Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights (AMWCHR) offers face-to-face and online training workshops to organisations and providers looking to develop their understanding of the Muslim community in Australia, build their knowledge of the basics of the Islamic faith and explore ways to enhance their work practices to be inclusive and responsive to Muslim communities.

AMWCHR brings over 30 years of experience advocating, researching, publishing, and informing policy decisions and reform initiatives. They are now offering paid training and consultation to increase sector capacity to recognise and respond to the needs of Muslim women, children and families.

AMWCHR is currently offering training workshops in the following areas:

Insights into working with Muslim migrant communities
Responding to Family Violence in Muslim communities
Working with victims of Early and Forced marriage in Muslim communities.

To book training, please contact AMWCHR on 03 9481 3000 or email reception@amwchr.org.au to receive their brochure.

Workers in the family violence prevention and disability sectors will be better equipped with the skills to prevent violence against women with disabilities thanks to a funding boost to Women with Disabilities Victoria.

The state government will invest $1.8 million to support the expanded delivery of its Gender and Disability Workforce Development Program, which gives workers the skills to prevent violence against women with disabilities.

Since it began in 2017, the program has offered training and professional development to more than 900 participants from disability, social services, local government, prevention and carer workforces.

(Source: Premiers media release, 10.5.23)

The NIFVS partnership acknowledges Victorian Aboriginal people as the Traditional Owners of the land on which we provide our services. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and recognise the ongoing living culture of all Aboriginal people. We express commitment to Aboriginal self-determination and our hope for reconciliation and justice.