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Employment conditions

The 2022 WP Survey explored the employment conditions of family violence and sexual assault specialists, including questions about type of employment, hours of work, preference for work hours, annual salary range and responsibilities at work.

Job title

The survey invited respondents to nominate their job title in open text. The responses to this question provided an opportunity to explore the nominated occupation of respondents.

The 5 most common job titles were Counsellor Advocate, Specialist Family Violence Practitioner, Team Leader, Family Violence Case Manager and Child Wellbeing Practitioner (Table 6), noting that the large majority of respondents (77%) reported a job title that was relatively less common or entirely unique amongst survey respondents.

Table 6: What is your job title in your main role? – Top five responses
Count Percentage
Counsellor Advocate 79 8%
Specialist Family Violence Practitioner 58 6%
Team Leader 49 5%
Family Violence Case Manager 32 3%
Child Wellbeing Practitioner 22 2%
Other 739 77%
Grand total 1,033
Skipped/missing question 16

Source. Question 5, WP Survey 2022 [12]

Primary responsibility

The survey asked about the job responsibilities and kinds of work performed by family violence and sexual assault specialists, including their primary responsibility. From those who responded, the most common primary responsibility was case worker and / or case management which was nominated by 17% (181 persons) (Table 7). In addition, 14% (146 persons) identified their primary job responsibility as TOD practitioner, 12% (122 persons) as team leader / supervisor, 9% (99 persons) as manager, 9% (94 persons) as counsellor advocate and 9% (89 persons) as working in intake and assessment.

Table 7: Which of the following categories best describes your primary responsibility?
Count Percentage
Case worker and/or case management 181 17%
The Orange Door practititoner 146 14%
Team leader/supervisor 122 12%
Manager 99 9%
Counsellor advocate 94 9%
Intake and assessment 89 9%
Individual counselling and/or therapeutic support 74 7%
Practice leadership and/or capacity building 65 6%
Support worker 44 4%
Other 131 12%
Prefer not to say <5 <1%
Grand total 1,047
Skipped/missing question 2

Source. Question 6, 7 and 8, WP Survey 2022

A higher proportion of people working in regions identified their primary job responsibility as a case worker or an Orange Door practitioner. A total of 43% of workers delivering services to the regions were either a case worker or Orange Door practitioner, compared to 34% of workers delivering services into metropolitan Melbourne.

Larger proportions of young people (under 35) were employed in client-facing roles. 24% of the workforce under 35 identified as case workers, compared to 17% of those 35 and over. 26% of the workforce under 35 identified as an Orange Door practitioner compared to 12% 35 and over.

Secondary responsibilities

Respondents were also invited to nominate a secondary responsibility, including potentially multiple secondary responsibilities. 95% (960 persons) of those who identified a primary responsibility also identified at least one secondary responsibility. The 3 most common secondary responsibilities were intake and assessment (358 mentions), crisis or initial crisis response (265 mentions) and case worker and / or case management (185 mentions) (Table 8).

Table 8: Which of the following categories describes any other responsibilities you might have?
Count
Intake and assessment 358
Crisis and initial crisis response 265
Case worker and/or case management 185
Individual counselling and/or therapeutic support 108
The Orange Door practitioner 102
Practice leadership and/or capacity building 101
Team leader/supervisor 96
Support worker 94
I don't have any other responsibilities 87
Other 425
Prefer not to say 5

Source. Question 6A, 7A and 8A, WP Survey 2022

Type of employment

From those who responded to the survey, the vast majority were employed on an ongoing basis with 84% (875 persons) in secure employment (Table 9). Half (517 persons) were employed ongoing and full time and 34% (358 persons) were employed ongoing part time. For those with less secure employment, 14% were employed on a fixed-term basis (144 persons) and only 2% (19 persons) were employed on a casual or sessional basis.

Combining ongoing and fixed term employees, 57% were employed on a full time basis (590 persons) and 41% were employed on a part time basis (429 persons).

Table 9: In relation to your main role, on what basis are you employed?
Count Percentage
Ongoing full time 517 50%
Ongoing part time 358 34%
Fixed-term full time 73 7%
Fixed-term part time 71 7%
Casual or sessional 19 2%
Other (Please specify) 6 <1%
Grand total 1,044
Missing/skipped question 5

Source. Question 9, WP Survey 2022

A greater proportion of people working in the regions were employed on a secure basis. 87% were employed ongoing full time or part time, compared with 82% in metropolitan Melbourne.

Young people (under 35) enjoyed job security at the same level as older workers (35 years and over), with 84% of those under 35 employed ongoing (full time or part time), the same as those 35 and over.

Organisation size also appeared to have little relation to whether respondents were employed on a secure or insecure basis. 81% of those working in other organisations were employed ongoing either full time or part time, the same as those employed in larger organisations.

Hours employed, worked and preferred

46% (474 persons) of those who responded to the survey stated that they were employed full time between 35-38 hours. A further 34% (347 persons) stated they were employed between 20-34 hours and 5% (56 persons) were employed between 1-19 hours (Table 10).

In comparison, 28% (272 persons) stated they worked between 35-38 hours, 21% (198 persons) stated they worked 39-44 hours and 9% (91 persons) stated they worked between 45-59 hours. Almost half (445 persons) stating they would prefer to work part time, between 20-34 hours, with 34% stating they would prefer to work 35-38 hours.

Table 10: In your main role, in an ordinary working week, how many hours: were you employed; did you work; and would you prefer to work (including unpaid)?
Hours Employed Percentage Worked Percentage Preferred Percentage
0 <5 <1% 17 2% 8 <1%
1 to 19 56 5% 74 8% 49 5%
20 to 34 361 35% 261 27% 452 48%
35 to 38 460 45% 268 28% 313 33%
39 to 44 89 9% 198 21% 69 7%
45 to 59 <5 <1% 91 9% 7 <1%
60+ 54 5% 50 5% 52 5%
Other <5 <1% 6 <1% <5 <1%
Grand total 1,031 965 951
Missing/skipped question 18 84 98

Source. Question 10, WP Survey 2022

For respondents who worked full time (ongoing or fixed-term), nearly half worked 39 hours or more per week (49%), with 29% working 39-44 hours per week and more than 1 in 5 (21%) working more than 45 hours per week (Table 11). In comparison, 74% of respondents indicated they would prefer to work 38 hours or less per week, with almost one quarter (24%) indicating they would prefer to work between 20 and 34 hours.

Table 11: In your main role, in an ordinary working week, how many hours: were you employed; did you work; and would you prefer to work (including unpaid)? (full time only)
Hours Employed Percentage Worked Percentage Preferred Percentage
0 <5 <1% 10 2% <5 <1%
1 to 19 9 2% 20 3% 10 2%
20 to 34 14 2% 12 2% 143 24%
35 to 38 433 73% 206 35% 280 47%
39 to 44 84 14% 172 29% 60 10%
45 to 59 <5 <1% 81 14% <5 <1%
60+ 36 6% 38 6% 37 6%
Other <5 <1% 5 <1% <5 <1%
Total 590 590 590
Missing/skipped question 11 46 53

Source. Question 10, WP Survey 2022

Salary range

The annual (individual) salary income band with the largest number of responses was $81,000-90,000 with 23% (238 persons), followed by 20% (204 persons) stating $91,000-100,000 and 13% stating $71,000-80,000 (Table 12). The median total annual (individual) salary was $81,000-90,000 with the majority (61%) of respondents having a total annual (individual) salary (before tax) above $81,000.

Table 12: In your main role, what is your total annual (individual) salary (before tax)?
Count Percentage
Less than $30k 17 2%
$30k to $40k 25 2%
$41k to $50k 44 4%
$51k to $60k 60 6%
$61k to $70k 86 8%
$71k to $80k 139 13%
$81k to $90k 238 23%
$91k to $100k 204 20%
$101k to $110k 116 11%
$111k to $120k 31 3%
$121k to $130k 19 2%
$131k to $140k 12 1%
$141k to $150k 8 <1%
More than $150k <5 <1%
Prefer not to say 40 4%
Grand total 1,042
Missing/skipped question 7

Source. Question 11, WP Survey 2022

The median income band was $81,000-$90,000. This was irrespective of whether survey respondents delivered services into metropolitan Melbourne or regional Victoria, were young or old, or were employed on a secure or insecure basis.

When focussing only on those working full time (ongoing or fixed term), the largest number of responses was $81,000-90,000 with 28% (163 persons) (Table 13). However, the median total annual (individual) salary (before tax) was higher at $91,000-100,000 for those working full time.

Table 13: In your main role, what is your total annual (individual) salary (before tax)? (full time only)
Count Percentage
Less than $30k <5 <1%
$30k to $40k <5 <1%
$41k to $50k <5 <1%
$51k to $60k 6 <1%
$61k to $70k 26 4%
$71k to $80k 48 8%
$81k to $90k 163 28%
$91k to $100k 160 27%
$101k to $110k 102 17%
$111k to $120k 26 4%
$121k to $130k 15 3%
$131k to $140k 10 2%
$141k to $150k 8 <1%
More than $160k <5 <1%
Prefer not to say 13 2%
Total 587

Source. Question 11, WP Survey 2022

Notes

[12] Inside the ‘other’ category, many job titles were reported a small number of times, including 333 unique job titles reported only once each. This suggests the sector adopts a wide range of job titles across different organisations. This also indicates that the primary responsibilities of staff may not always match their formal job title.

Updated