Family violence jobs - for employers

Potential candidates are:

• Social work students or graduates.
• 'Career changers’: professionals in other areas seeking a career change – especially people working in government, justice, health promotion, counselling, Alcohol and other drug treatment services, mental health, homelessness, disability and aged care.
• People already working in the family violence sector who are looking for a different role or to progress their career.
• People with lived experience.
• People who identify as part of a diverse community, including CALD, Aboriginal, disability and LGBTIQ individuals and communities.

People with low knowledge of the sector

People who see the sector from the ‘outside in’ include people who are studying or working in the health and community services fields who have no personal experience of family violence, and no other trigger to investigate or consider how the family violence sector might work.

They are typically interested in and sympathetic to the topic of family violence once raised, and can be intrigued by the idea that they are needed and wanted by the sector. However, they will not seek out information on the sector as a potential employer.

People who are familiar with the sector

People working in the family violence sector or in roles that involve cooperation with family violence services are more aware of the sector and how it works.

Social work students, and especially those that have undertaken a placement in a family violence service or studied a special family violence subject are also more aware.

These people are more interested and engaged in the sector. However, they don’t always know or have confidence in their skills and ability to contribute.

The work sounds difficult and specialist, and people can easily doubt that their skills and experience will readily translate into family violence worker roles.

What about people with lived experience?

• People who have personal experience of family violence are more aware of the sector and the work.
• Those with personal experience are highly motivated, but want to be reassured that they will be supported.
• People working and studying outside of the sector without personal experience find it harder to imagine family violence work.

• Their values: social justice, equality, feminist, women’s rights.
• The opportunity to be part of, or contribute to, change.
• Having a job that has purpose and helps to make a difference.
• Doing work that is challenging and difficult – but also meaningful, important and rewarding.
• Many people relish the idea of dealing with complexity and uncertainty.
• Many want to work directly with women and children in need, and believe that a potentially fast-paced environment that involves judging and dealing with risk will suit them.
• One of the benefits of the sector is the diversity of its roles and that there are roles to suit many interests. For some people, the opportunity is about the intellectual challenge of policy and advocacy, others jump at the idea of working at the coalface, and many like the thought of working with young people in a primary prevention setting.

• A lack of knowledge of the sector and the roles, functions, jobs and employers.
• Fear of the work - perceptions of crisis, risk and danger.
• The sector appears daunting.
• University students worry that their age and lack of life experience will mean they won’t be able to do a good job, or that their clients will judge them.
• People with qualifications and experience in social work, community development, counselling, psychology and legal work don’t necessarily believe that their training and experience in other sectors (even if directly related) will be enough. They aren’t sure whether or not the family violence sector will be interested in hiring them and they need signals that they are wanted and valued.

• That there is a family violence sector; that it has a range of employers, functions and roles; and that a diverse range of people, especially people who are culturally competent, are needed.
• The Victorian Government is investing in the sector following the Royal Commission, with more positions and increased training and development.
• Those who are least connected to the sector want to understand the size of the problem and the nature of family violence. Creating understanding and a sense of urgency is a key step in bringing the issue (and hence the work) closer for ‘outsiders’.
• The sector offers training, theoretical frameworks, supervision and support.
• People want to know what qualifications are required by the sector. When people understand the sector and roles, they understand that social work, community development, counselling, psychology and legal qualifications will be helpful.
• People with qualifications and experience in social work, community development, counselling, psychology and legal work want to understand what family violence-specific training they will receive to enable them to move into the sector.
• That they hold the required skillsets and character traits: empathy, understanding of risk, openness to learning, comfort with uncertainty and change, being a good listener and communicator, being able to maintain professional boundaries, being self-reflective, and being optimistic yet realistic.
• Knowing that support exists help people to feel safe about moving into the sector. People want to know that they will be supported in their roles – including through training, frameworks, supervision and debriefing, and a thoughtfully constructed workload.
• That working in family violence is a chance to change the story for families, either through prevention or response work.
• That the ‘intensity’ of the work will be balanced by support and a manageable workload.
• Current family violence workers believe the campaign should have a broader educative role: facts about family violence, links to resources and evidence such as Our Watch’s Change the Story, and background information about the Royal Commission and Victorian Government investment. This will help to build the knowledge of outsiders who may have the right qualities but lack the knowledge to seriously contemplate a job in the sector.
  

• In your recruitment communications, avoid explicit messages that the sector is growing because family violence rates are growing; this can sound alarming.
• Rather than appealing to a potential applicant’s career ambitions (e.g. explicitly citing career advancement, personal growth) it can be more effective to imply personal growth and advancement by calling out the skills, qualifications and experience needed to do the work well.
• Your job advertisements should refer to the motivations of potential workers, including:
  • their values (social justice, equality, feminist and women's rights)
  • the opportunity for them to be part of, or contribute to, change
  • the diversity of roles within the sector
  • their potential to work in a career that is meaningful, challenging and rewarding

• We need to go to them to prompt interest and awareness. They will not likely seek out information about the sector as a potential employer.
• We should signal the sector’s gendered lens. However, be careful not to exclude the LGBTIQ+ community or men, or deter potential candidates who hold social justice values but who have had less exposure to understanding the gendered nature of family violence.
• Avoid using the terms ‘family violence response worker’ and ‘family violence prevention worker’ as a first point of introduction to family violence work. These communicate to ‘insiders’ – people who are already familiar with the sector.
• Highlight the diversity of opportunity, and there are roles to suit many interests and backgrounds.
• Make it clear when and where men are able to contribute.
• Call out when you’re interested in people with qualifications from other sectors to consider a role (e.g. social work, psychology, legal, cultural, community development).
• Outline what sector-specific training is typically provided.
• Highlight the way in which people from other sectors are highly valued because of the knowledge they bring about the related services they need to work well with.
• Highlight salary packaging and portable long service.
• Emphasise that teamwork is a core part of any role.
• Highlight the nuances of the job (no two days will be the same) and the way in which roles are challenging but worthwhile.
• The sector is highly skilled and professional, undergoing change and increasing investment, and filled with people who are working to ensure the safety of families.
• Make it clear that you welcome and value people with different backgrounds.
• That the sector offers opportunities for people who have the right qualities and want to transfer their skills to meaningful, challenging and rewarding work.
• Telling the stories of the people who work in your organisation can inspire and encourage others to consider a career in family violence / a role with your organisation. Show a range of people – men, Aboriginal people, CALD people, people with disability – undertaking a diverse range of roles.
• Highlight the positive aspects about the work, for example that it’s never dull, rewarding, the roles and workplaces are unique and varied, there’s potential to have an impact and effect lasting change, you will personally and professionally grow, it enables you to critically think about how you live your life, you’ll work with/be exposed to a wide range of people with diverse skills and experiences, and you will be part of change.

• Once family violence sector roles are explained to people with low knowledge about the sector in more detail, prevention roles are typically seen as more accessible than response roles. Prevention roles don’t rely on case work/social work skills, and allow for easier translation between people’s current skillset and experience and family violence work.
• Prevention roles are less associated with danger (to oneself, and the danger that unskilled practitioners might expose clients to).
• Prevention roles feel like an easier entry point into the sector for people lacking direct or tangential experience. However, it is also important that prevention roles clearly articulate the sophisticated and complex change management skills and experience required to drive stuctural change.
• To some people, the idea that prevention roles offer the chance to more holistically prevent family violence is very compelling.

• The complexities of men’s behaviour change programs and work are not well understood.
• People imagine these roles potentially involve working with violent or angry men, and this can be triggering for victim survivors, or create fear for people that they will be working with men who are reluctant and unwilling to change.
• Many people don’t tend to see the skill involved in working in these services.
• These specialist roles could be positioned as an exciting opportunity for experienced psychologists, counsellors and social workers.