Implemented
Who is leading the change
Family Safety Victoria
The Victorian Secretaries Board ensure that proposed upgrades to key Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, Victoria Police, Corrections Victoria and Department of Health and Human Services information technology systems equip these systems to:
- share information for the purposes of risk assessment and management in individual cases of family violence
- permit the use of system data for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of outcomes from implementation of the Commission’s recommendations and the recommended Statewide Family Violence Action Plan
- participate in the Central Information Point.
The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, Victoria Police and Corrections Victoria worked together to identify opportunities for the uplift of IT systems for better integration and response to family violence information sharing, including with the Central Information Point (CIP).
To support better information sharing for the purpose of family violence risk assessment and management, technology upgrades were required across key IT systems and databases within the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, Victoria Police and Corrections Victoria. System and database upgrades were required to:
- support participation and information sharing in the establishment and continued operation of the CIP.
- for information sharing as part of the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (under new provisions of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008), and
- to support the collection and use of data for evaluating the effectiveness of relevant reform initiatives.
The following actions have been taken by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, Victoria Police and Corrections Victoria, as well as the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC), to facilitate the implementation of this recommendation.
- The Central Information Point was established in April 2018 by FSV in partnership with the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, Victoria Police and Corrections Victoria, and in consultation with DPC. An interagency governance group was established to provide collective leadership and drive the uplift of necessary IT systems and databases to support data sharing with the CIP and for family violence risk assessment and management purposes. This included complex system integration work to facilitate partial automation of data between partner agencies and the CIP (and has resulted in increased operational capacity and outcomes by reducing manual processes and administrative burden).
- The Whole of Victorian Government (WoVG) Application Programming Interface (API) Gateway was established by DPC and is used to facilitate secure and efficient information sharing between the CIP and partner agencies. The WoVG API Gateway and support services, managed by DPC, is also available to all government departments and agencies.
- Partner agencies also undertook development work to upgrade or enhance their IT infrastructure to support internal processes for responding to information requests under the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme. This work has resulted in better information sharing processes for family violence risk assessment and management purposes.
- A new Client Relationship Management (CRM) system for The Orange Door network was also developed and supports consistent statewide delivery of integrated family violence and child wellbeing and safety intake services across The Orange Door network. The CRM is integrated with the CIP, the L17 Portal and the new Tools for Risk Assessment and Management (TRAM) system. Integration with these services and tools allows for better information sharing and referral processes.
- The L17 Portal was developed to provide a statewide referral portal for Victoria Police family violence incident reports (known as L17s). The L17 portal is integrated with or available to specialist intake services, such as Child Protection and The Orange Door. The WoVG API Gateway is also used to facilitate data sharing with the L17 Portal.
- The TRAM platform hosts the online Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) risk assessments tools. TRAM is integrated within The Orange Door CRM, and the MARAM tools have also been integrated with the Specialist Homelessness Information Platform to support specialist family violence and homelessness services to undertake family violence risk assessment and management. TRAM supports consistent family violence risk assessment practice, aligned to MARAM, and is also available to the Victim Support Agency (Victims of Crime Helpline), the Family Violence Restorative Justice Service, and other selected services.
Implemented.
Updated