The Family Violence and Sexual Assault Workforce Pulse Survey (WP Survey) was conducted by Family Safety Victoria between September and October 2022.[1]
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.[2]
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.
Given that the survey method involved non-probability sampling, it is important to highlight findings represent valid characteristics of the sample but may not be representative of the wider target population.[3]
A summary of findings is provided below.
Employment conditions
- 84% of those who responded (875 persons) were employed on a secure (or ongoing) basis and 16% were employed on an insecure basis, with 14% employed on a fixed-term basis (144 persons) and 2% employed on a casual or sessional basis (19 persons).[4]
- 57% of those who responded (590 persons) were employed full time, 41% (429 persons) were employed part time and 2% were employed on a casual or sessional basis (19 persons).
- The median total annual (individual) salary was $81,000-90,000, with the majority of respondents (61%) earning a total annual (individual) salary (before tax) above $81,000.[5]
- The greatest proportion of those who responded, 28% (266 persons) worked between 35 and 38 hours per week.
- On the basis of the median measure, participants across the survey stated they worked 32 hours, but would prefer to work 25 hours per week. For those employed on a full time basis, participants stated they worked 38 hours, but would prefer to work 37.5 hours.
- The most common work responsibility was case worker and/or case management with 20% of those who responded (161 persons) describing this as their primary responsibility.[6]
- 96% (1,012 persons) of those who identified a primary responsibility also identified at least one secondary responsibility.
Workplace barriers
- The 2 most common significant barriers at work were ‘staff issues (short staffed)’ and ‘too many competing priorities’. This was followed by ‘corporate process’, ‘case loads’ and ‘administrative processes’.[7]
- 81% of those who responded (854 persons) said their employer currently had staff vacancies.
- Amongst those who identified vacancies at work, 50% (430 persons) stated staff vacancies had a ‘high’ or ‘very high’ impact on their team’s ability to meet service delivery targets, with an additional 33% stated a moderate impact (282 persons).
Career Intentions
- 31% of those who responded had less than one year's experience working in their current role and more than 60% (663 persons) were only employed in their current role for 2 years or less. In comparison, 31% (322 persons) had been employed in their current sector for 2 years or less.
- 48% (502 persons) stated they had worked in a related sector before commencing in their current role, meaning almost one in two had worked for an organisation in a related sector prior to their current role.
- 22% of those who responded (235 persons) plan to leave their current role in the next 12 months, but only 8% plan to leave both their role and the sector during this period.
- The top 3 reasons given for planning to leave a current role were ‘career prospects’ (110 mentions), ‘excessive levels of demand’ (103 mentions) and ‘insufficient income / salary’ (82 mentions).
About the participants - demographic profile
Gender and sexual identity
- 87% of those who responded (913 persons) identified as female, with 9% (91 persons) identifying as male, and 2% (24 persons) self-describing their gender identity.
- 40-44 years was the median age, with the largest age group in the sample being 30-34 years with 16% (170 persons).
- 68% identified their sexual orientation as heterosexual / other gender attracted (715 persons), with 20% (209 persons) identifying as multi-gender attracted, same sex / gender attracted or asexual and the remainder stating ‘prefer not to say’ or ‘none of the above’.
Cultural and ethnic background
- 5% identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (48 persons).
- 21% identified as first-generation migrants, meaning they were born overseas (215 persons).
- 67% identified ‘Australian’ as one of their 2 ancestries (698 persons).[8]
- 91% listed English as one of the main languages spoken at home (956 persons).
Disability status
- 10% stated they had a long-term health condition or disability that affected their participation in work (104 persons).
Qualifications
- 81% of those who responded described a Bachelor’s qualification or above as their highest level of educational attainment (848 persons).
- 38% described social work as their main field of study in their highest qualification (395 persons).
Notes
[1] Family Safety Victoria website and Centre for Workforce Excellence website, State Government of Victoria, accessed 19 December 2022. The survey was sponsored by the Centre for Workforce Excellence.
[2] The Orange Door network, What is The Orange Door webpage, State Government of Victoria, accessed 19 December 2022.
[3] In a non-probability sampling approach, each person selects themselves (or opts in) for inclusion in a survey. This means that unlike probability sampling, the chance of anyone from a target population being included is not equal. This approach is often adopted when it is impossible or impracticable to draw a random sample, as is the situation in this case given the contact details of all (or many) family violence and sexual assault workers are not available to government because most workers are employed by community services organisations.
[4] Insecure employment commonly refers to types of employment that are based on casual, fixed term and other kinds of insecure arrangements. Secure employment includes both full-time and part-time ongoing employment in this survey, noting that the principle was introduced as an objective to the Fair Work Act 2009 by the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs Better Pay) Act 2022.
[5] The median is the middle number in an ordered list of values. In comparison, the average involves the sum of values divided by the total number of amounts. Median is used in this instance because it is less likely to be skewed by low or high outliers.
[6] In the survey, participants were asked, “Which of the following categories best describes your primary responsibility?” Many who responded to this question also nominated their primary work responsibility as their job title.
[7] In the survey participants were asked, “Which of the following are currently the most significant barriers that prevent you performing optimally at work?”
[8] The concept of ‘ancestry’ seeks to more inclusively describe the cultural identity of people from diverse migrant and ethnic backgrounds, for instance, by including second and third generation migrants or migrants who are ethnic minorities in their nation of origin. Prior to the notion of ancestry, birth nation or language spoken at home were common methods of identifying cultural and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Similar to the ABS Census, the WP Survey did not assume cultural identifications are singular, and provided an opportunity for participants to nominate up to 2 primary ancestries.
Updated