The Federal government is establishing an Indigenous Advisory Group to provide guidance in the development of the next National Plan to End Violence Against Women and their Children. It comes after a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women leaders advocated for a separate national plan to deal with violence towards Aboriginal women and children.…
The Federal Government has opened public consultation on the next National Plan to reduce family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia. Women who have experienced violence, family safety advocates, service providers and other stakeholders will also be invited to take part in a two-day National Women’s Safety Summit to be held on 29 and 30 July.…
The Federal government is providing a new $10 million package to provide additional support to women on temporary visas experiencing family violence. This includes $6.5 million to Red Cross to provide financial assistance to this group Under the year-long pilot, due to start in May 2021, Red Cross will provide up to $3000 in financial assistance…
The Victorian Government is funding a new LGBTIQ+ Homelessness Support Service. Tenders are now open for LGBTIQ+ organisations and specialist homelessness services to jointly run the service. The tender is in response to LGBTIQ+ people being at least twice as likely to experience homelessness than the broader population, due to factors including intimate partner violence,…
Respect Victoria has launched the Pride, Respect, Equality campaign, encouraging families to support, respect and celebrate LGBTIQ+ loved ones. More than six in ten LGBTIQ+ people experience family violence from family members, with parents and siblings the most likely perpetrators. The campaign includes resources, advice, and stories from Victorian families who have faced significant challenges…
Phase 2 of the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) and Information Sharing Schemes (ISEs) came into effect on 19 April across 5,850 government and non-government organisations, covering approximately 370,000 additional professionals. The reforms now extend to health and education services including general practitioners (Information Sharing only), publicly funded hospitals, community managed mental health services,…
As a result of the Inquiry into the Family Court, the Federal Government passed legislation on 18 February 2021 that will bring together the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia (FCC) to be known as the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFC). The FCFC will become a single…
Family violence workers are being sought to participate in research being conducted by Louella Fitzsimmons, who is conducting a research project as part of a Master of Social Work at RMIT and also works at Juno. Louella plans to interview family violence workers about how they learned about coercive control, how they identify it and…
New laws to ensure the justice system can continue to operate safely, effectively and efficiently in the recovery stage of COVID-19 have passed Victorian Parliament. The Justice Legislation Amendment (System Enhancements and Other Matters) Bill 2021 makes permanent a range of temporary measures introduced in response to COVID-19 throughout the justice system and aims…
This week marked the fifth anniversary of the Royal Commission into Family Violence. The Royal Commission involved 25 days of public hearings, community conversations with more than 800 Victorians, and almost 1,000 written submissions. Victim survivors, families of those who experienced violence, experts in the field and service providers generously and courageously shared their experiences…
