The Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) Framework was established in legislation in 2018. It responds to the first two recommendations of Victoria’s Royal Commission into Family Violence (2016).
MARAM ensures services effectively identify, assess and manage family violence risk. It covers all aspects of service delivery. This includes:
- early risk identification
- screening
- assessment and management
- safety planning
- collaborative practice
- recovery.
MARAM aims to:
- create a shared understanding of family violence and perpetrator behaviour
- increase the safety of people experiencing family violence
- keep perpetrators in view and accountable for their actions
- provide guidance to organisations on aligning to MARAM to ensure consistent service delivery
- ensure the family violence response accounts for diverse experiences. This includes:
- Aboriginal communities
- diverse communities and identities
- children
- young people
- older people
- different family and relationship types.
MARAM is being implemented alongside two other reforms. These are the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS) and the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS).
Family Safety Victoria leads the implementation of MARAM and the FVISS. The Department of Education leads the implementation of the CISS.
Organisations are prescribed under the regulations as MARAM Framework organisations and/or Information Sharing Entities (ISEs).
Under the Family Violence Protection Act 2008, framework organisations must ensure their policies, procedures, practice guidance and tools align to MARAM.
Section 193(2) of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 requires that we table an annual report in parliament. This report sets out the progress of MARAM implementation.
This document is the sixth report since the legislation came into effect. It covers implementation activities from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024.
Family Safety Victoria (FSV) oversees implementation across the Victorian Government. It does this through governance, reporting and annual surveys. FSV also supports the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing across its various workforce portfolios.
Each department tailors its policies, resources and training to the needs of its workforce. This includes communication about the reforms and responses to barriers the workforces face.
There are 4 strategic priorities for implementing MARAM across government:
- leadership
- collaboration
- capability
- continuous improvement.
This report is structured in 4 sections that represent each of these priorities.
Appendices 1–4 provide more context for the reforms, legislation and information sharing governance structure.
Appendices 5–6 set out the work of each portfolio.
Appendix 7 gives a summary of the results of the 2024 MARAM Annual Survey. This sets out the current state of MARAM alignment across the Victorian Government.
This report highlights FSV’s work in 2023–24 to implement the MARAM reforms.
FSV works within the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing as reform lead. It also works across all portfolios.
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