The Royal Commission into Family Violence found organisations working with victims and perpetrators of family violence collect a wide variety of information to:
- keep victims safe
- hold perpetrators to account
The Commission also discovered that:
- important information wasn't being shared effectively between organisations
- failure to share crucial information with frontline workers can have catastrophic consequences for victims of family violence
As a result, the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (Scheme) was created by Part 5A of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008. The Scheme supports effective assessment and management of family violence risk.
Under the Scheme, Information Sharing Entities or ISEs (key organisations and services) can share information related to assessing or managing family violence risk. The Scheme supports ISEs to:
- keep perpetrators in view and accountable
- promote the safety of victim survivors of family violence
The Scheme doesn't interfere with existing information sharing legislation, like privacy or child protection legislation.
Changes have also been made to Victorian privacy legislation so information can be shared to reduce or prevent a serious threat to someone's life, health, safety or welfare.
Who can share information under the Scheme?
Information can only be shared under the Scheme by ISEs. The Ministerial Guidelines for the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme provide guidance on which organisations and services are prescribed and should be referred to any time information is shared under the scheme.
Download the Ministerial Guidelines for more detail about the scheme:
The Guidelines have been updated to reflect new ISEs which commenced in the Scheme on 19 April 2021.
You can also download the Family Violence Protection (Information Sharing and Risk Management) Regulations 2018(opens in a new window) where the specific function of ISEs are listed.
Many of the authorised organisations under the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme are also prescribed under the Child Information Sharing Scheme.
On 19 April 2021, the Scheme was extended to new ISEs including General Practitioners, publicly funded hospitals, community managed mental health services, community health services, Ambulance Victoria, state-funded aged care services, schools and early childhood services. You can download the Family Violence Protection (Information Sharing and Risk Management) Amendment Regulations 2020 or access the list of ISEs for further information on prescribed ISEs.
List of authorised organisations and services
All organisations and services prescribed as Information Sharing Entities (ISEs) can access the online ISE list. The online ISE list is a database that can be used to identify other organisations and services prescribed under the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme and the Child Information Sharing Scheme.
ISEs are prescribed under:
- the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme as specified by the Family Violence Protection (Information Sharing and Risk Management) Regulations 2018
- the Child Information Sharing Scheme as specified by the Child Wellbeing and Safety (Information Sharing) Regulations 2018.
ISE list user guide (online version)
More Information
For more information and support on information sharing and MARAM, visit: Frequently asked questions about information sharing and MARAM.
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