The Statement
The Everybody Matters 10-year Statement sets out 3 strategic priorities to achieve the vision and directions required to realise a more inclusive, safe, responsive and accountable family violence service system:
- Strategic Priority 1 – Building knowledge
- Strategic Priority 2 – Building capacity and capability
- Strategic Priority 3 – Strengthening targeted services
The strategic priorities require all of us to make a commitment to innovation, collaboration and placing the voices of individuals and diverse communities at the centre of our work. The priorities address the gaps that have been identified by the Royal Commission into Family Violence in creating a system that is inclusive and responds to all people; and focus on shifting the responsibility for ending family violence from the individual experiencing and/or using family violence to government, the service system and whole of community. This will enable people with lived experience of family violence to receive the support they need to feel safe and meet their wider needs; and change the way the service system works with people who use violence to support their behaviour change and accountability for their actions.
The Blueprint
In this first 3-year Blueprint, actions are outlined against each strategic priority. These actions focus on reflecting the long-term partnership required between government, organisations within the entire service system–including prevention, early intervention and response–to bring about change. These actions are essential to achieving the 3-year outcomes which in turn leads to achieving the longer-term vision of the Everybody Matters Statement.
The Blueprint prompts government and the broader family violence service system to incorporate an intersectional lens into its work. This is essential in identifying and addressing the intersecting forms of systemic oppression and inequity reflected in our system, and in driving attitudinal and structural change in the long-term. The service system is multi-layered. No individual action will reduce the inherent discrimination or bias held within the service system and the social and cultural context in which family violence is generated.
Actions in this Blueprint have a strong focus on diverse communities. An intersectional approach provides us with a framework to better understand what the systemic barriers are and how these barriers manifest. The Blueprint seeks to balance the first stages of applying an intersectionality lens to the reforms, while maintaining a focus on the specific needs and experiences of diverse communities.
Over the next 3years, intersectionality will be further embedded across the family violence reforms as capability increases. As a result, future Blueprints will better identify, and address intersecting systemic issues faced by individuals who identify with multiple diverse communities and experience intersecting barriers to accessing services.
The Blueprint complements other work occurring across the family violence and sexual assault reforms, such as The Orange Door network and the redeveloped Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Risk Management Framework (MARAM). MARAM aims to embed an intersectional approach in all risk assessment and management tools and in operational practice guidance. The suite of family violence risk identification, screening and assessment tools under the MARAM Framework includes questions specifically relating to risks for diverse communities. Further, training on the redeveloped framework emphasises the gendered and intersectional nature of family violence, contributing to a strengthened understanding of the specific experiences of people from diverse groups.
Monitoring our progress
A monitoring plan for the Blueprint will be implemented in year 2 (2020-21). Through the monitoring plan, implementation of the actions in this Blueprint will be tracked. The monitoring plan will cover the many actions already underway. Through monitoring progress, evidence will be gathered about what works and how implementation occurs across different sectors and workforces. This evidence will inform the development of future Blueprints and the activities therein.
The monitoring plan will further define indicators for activity, intermediate outcomes, longer-term outcomes and impact. The plan will also identify appropriate measures, data sources, data collection tools and analytical approaches. FSV will seek input from other government departments, the specialist family violence sector, the broader family violence sector, representative organisations from diverse communities, and people with lived experience.
There are significant monitoring and evaluation efforts underway across government covering many elements of the family violence reforms. This monitoring plan will to the greatest extent feasible leverage existing data collection mechanisms, and aim to contain the administrative burden on implementing agencies.
Everybody Matters and this Blueprint contribute towards achieving the ten-year vision of https://www.vic.gov.au/ending-family-violence-victorias-10-year-plan-ch… https://www.vic.gov.au/ending-family-violence-victorias-10-year-plan-change. The Theory of Change that underpins Everybody Matters identifies the domains and outcomes within Ending Family Violence to which these activities contribute. The vision of an inclusive, safe, responsible and accountable system – as stated in Everybody Matters - is reflected across the system domain of the Whole of Victorian Government Family Violence Outcomes Framework. Outcomes include:
- The family violence system is accessible, and services and programs are available and equitable – prevention activities occur across all key settings and the support system is easy to navigate and services are available to people when and where they need them, at all times of the day and night
- The family violence system is person-centred and responsive – services are personalised, flexible, culturally relevant and reflect individual and family voices, need and circumstances, particularly for diverse communities and those with complex needs
- The family violence system is integrated – services work together and share information to provide a coordinated quality response to people and families, informed by dynamic risk assessment and sensitive to people’s diverse needs. The system supports effective and evidence-based prevention efforts.
Monitoring against indicators within the Blueprint (figure 2 on previous page) is expected to support reporting against the Family Violence Outcomes Framework. This will enable ongoing, systematic measurement of the impact of these interventions across government funding agencies and portfolios.
The Blueprint will be implemented by relevant departments and agencies, particularly those with responsibility for family violence reform and implementation such as FSV, Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH), Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS), Magistrates’ Court of Victoria (MCV), Victoria Police (Vic Pol), Department of Education and Training (DET), Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) and Respect Victoria (RV).
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