This work has come at a time of huge social change. People are looking for work that is purposeful and meaningful. They want to give back to their communities and we need to capitalise on this appetite for values-driven work.
Gabrielle Williams
Minister for Prevention of Family Violence
November 2019
Strengthening the capacity and capability of the people who work to prevent and respond to family violence is critical to the reform’s success. We recognise that the specialist family violence and primary prevention workforces are distinct, each with a specific focus and expertise. Both are part of the broader family violence system we are building with the same shared goals.
We know that to deliver sustainable long-term reform we must develop the specialist family violence and prevention workforces and grow the family violence capabilities of the broader workforces that intersect with family violence, including:
community services
health
police
courts
education
Building strength into our specialist prevention and response workforces means recruiting people with skills from a diversity of backgrounds to give us a pipeline of dedicated and skilled professionals.
We have to provide clear career pathways that develop expertise and knowledge and where people feel valued and supported, so that they stay.
It also relies on creating a system where specialist family violence and primary prevention sectors can work effectively together with the broader social services workforces.
Building from Strength: 10-year Industry Plan for Family Violence Prevention and Response (Industry Plan) is the strategy that will deliver this vision: a family violence and primary prevention workforce that is valued, skilled, empowered and supported to prevent and respond to all forms of family violence.
The Industry Plan is organised around four priorities:
building prevention and response capability system wide
strengthening the specialist workforce
workforce health and wellbeing
building a system that works together
The Industry Plan is sequenced into a series of three rolling action plans.
The first rolling action plan, Strengthening the Foundations, was launched in November 2019.
Progress has been made in delivering the plan’s 61 actions. These achievements are reflected on this page alongside the key activities that will set the course of workforce development over the next three years.
The strength of the family violence sector is undeniably its people.
We are fortunate in Victoria to have a strong base of highly skilled, dedicated and resilient family violence and primary prevention workforces who have worked tirelessly for decades helping to keep women and children in our communities safe.
The family violence sector and social workers with family violence expertise will continue to be in high demand: Victoria’s social economy is anticipated to create 60,000 new health and community services jobs in the next five years.1
As we continue to build capacity in the family violence system and develop training and career pathways, strong connections and partnerships between government and family violence prevention and response providers will be critical.
Their experience and expertise informed the long-term vision in the Industry Plan for the workforces that intersect with family violence.
In this whole-of-reform second rolling action plan we set out where government is leading workforce development initiatives and broader industry planning over the next three years and the key collaborations with the non-government sector. It is not a comprehensive summary of all workforce development activity that is happening in governments and agencies and across the sector more widely.
Progress since 2016
We are making significant progress towards creating the family violence specialist workforce and building the capability of the wider workforces that intersect with family violence.
It's like a new beginning really... for so long we were off to one side and not thought of as a legitimate part of family violence response. But it's exciting now that we're part of that multi-disciplinary team.
I actually enjoy taking a moment of time just to reflect on where we've come from. And that to me, as someone who's been in this sector for a long time, it's good for me to do that and go, 'hey, we have actually changed quite a bit already'.
No to Violence, Practice Development Manager
March 2016
Positioning family violence prevention, early intervention and response as a highly specialised employment sector with clear career pathways and professional development opportunities is critical to delivering the specialist workforce needed by the reform.
The key workforce development activities which have been delivered since the Royal Commission are grouped here into four areas.
The new Family Violence Jobs Portal was launched in May 2020 on the Victorian Government online platform. It provides a single place to search for specialist family violence roles and employment opportunities in the broader intersecting workforce.
The launch of the portal is supported by a recruitment campaign to attract job seekers and encourage them to consider family violence prevention and response as a career.
'Thinking about a career change?' - promotional video for the Family Violence Jobs Portal
The jobs portal is part of a broader strategy to build a pipeline of workers to meet demand at every level with a series of targeted initiatives to help fill critical gaps.
Fast Track Professional Development Program to increase the number of knowledgeable and skilled practitioners to take up senior level management and leadership positions in the specialist workforce and mid-level primary prevention roles.
Enhanced Pathways to Family Violence Work Project to host university students on placements in specialist family violence and non-specialist community service organisations.
Enhanced Pathways has been positive in our area in drawing students via placement into staffing, in specialist services particularly.
Senior family violence practitioner
Rolling Action Plan consultation workshop
August 2020
CASE STUDY – Family Violence Case Manager
Amber obtained a work placement in family violence response with the Salvation Army as part of her social work degree.
The placement led directly to a job.
Amber is now employed by the Salvation Army as a family violence case manager.
Family Violence Case Manager: Amber's story
Opportunities for leadership development are also available for senior practitioners in the specialist workforce and in workforces which intersect with family violence.
The Leadership Intensive Series was developed with funding from the Industry Plan and delivered by the Future Social Service Institute.
It brings together public sector leaders, academia and the social service sector, and provides a platform for greater collaboration across the family violence service sector.
So far 15 programs have been delivered to 330 sector leaders.
CASE STUDY – Senior Practice Adviser
Jaya is a Senior Practice Adviser with the national primary prevention not-for-profit Our Watch.
She reflects on how participation in the program encouraged her to think differently about leadership.
Senior Practice Advisor: Jaya's story
The reform is partnering with government and non-governmental organisations to deliver tailored accredited and non-accredited training to:
the specialist family violence workforce
the primary prevention workforce
broader workforces that intersect with family violence across Victoria
New accredited courses for the broader workforce
As we continue to roll out the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Framework (MARAM), we are providing change management support to train workers and build skills in family violence prevention.
To date more than 23,000 professionals have been trained in Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Framework (MARAM) and information sharing.
In partnership with the Department of Education and Training and relevant sector organisations, we have developed two new family violence accredited training courses.
The courses include foundational family violence knowledge and cover MARAM responsibilities for screening and identification and brief and intermediate risk assessment and management.
The courses are available to all workforces, regardless of their MARAM prescription. They are delivered through registered training organisations including dual-sector universities and TAFEs and supported by training resources developed by leading family violence and cross-sector experts.
Training resources are and will be contextualised to a range of workforces including:
alcohol and drugs
disability
mental health
hairdressing
young people
and those supporting diverse communities
You see the ripple effects in your community. It’s not a shame thing, it’s just to try to get those families the right support that they need and doing that in a safe environment without being judged.
I want to make sure our mob get... supported all the way through… with the right avenues.
Participant, Family Violence course
TAFE Gippsland and Gippsland and East Aboriginal Co-Operative
Through the VET Development Centre, the Department of Education and Training has delivered professional development to upskill trainers in MARAM and family violence training delivery. This includes building trainer knowledge and skills in working with Aboriginal communities and LGBTIQ+ groups.
Regional capacity building
Women's Health Services have been funded to deliver the Workforce Capacity Building prevention program to regional partners.
In 2019 Women’s Health Services delivered training to 7,099 participants across Victoria.
Modules include:
gender equity
bystander action
healthy masculinities
intersectional perspectives on family violence
MARAM Collaborative Practice training
Family Violence Regional Integration Committees are supporting delivery of MARAM Collaborative Practice training within their regions.
This training supports local services to build a shared understanding of family violence and collaborate across agencies to respond to family violence risk.
Hospital workforce
The Strengthening Hospital Responses to Family Violence project equipped frontline hospital staff with the skills to identify and respond to family violence.
Since the program commenced 66,162 staff have received training, equating to 57 per cent of the Victorian hospital workforce.
The program has been updated to align with the MARAM framework.
Cross-sector training
The Safer Families training program, run by Women’s Legal Service Victoria, is for lawyers working in community legal centres. The program:
builds the skills of community legal practitioners to deliver family violence legal assistance
enhances lawyers’ capacity to assist with broader family violence legal needs
reduces risk and prevents escalation and complexity of legal issues
Family Safety Victoria has also funded Women’s Legal Service Victoria to deliver their Critical Legal Issues Map training for specialist family violence practitioners.
Developed in collaboration with the sector:
the training and resources support early identification of legal needs so practitioners can make effective referrals for clients
the course aims to reduce risk, prevent escalation and complexity of legal issues and reduce trauma for those experiencing family violence
Public service workforce family violence training
The Department of Justice and Community Safety has developed and delivered Foundational Family Violence Training to more than 3,000 staff. Training continues to be delivered remotely in 2020, ensuring:
participants can confidently recognise, respond to, and refer cases of family violence
best practice advice is provided on how to respond as a bystander to sexist language, harassment and gender inequality
Training materials from this course are being shared with other departments to improve whole of Victorian Government training for staff on family violence response.
Within the space of a few weeks over March and April almost the entire family violence workforce adjusted to online and remote service delivery and working from home.
Family Safety Victoria worked with the peak family violence organisations Domestic Violence Victoria, No to Violence and SASVic (previously Victorian Centres Against Sexual Assault Forum) to support the transition, convening a series of COVID-19 and family violence online forums focused on:
enabling service continuity
workforce requirements
managing occupational health and safety
Family Safety Victoria developed additional COVID-19 response resources to support the workforce, including updated MARAM practice notes and guidance.
Training
Remote technology meant that workshops and training could continue to be delivered during COVID-19. The shift to online delivery for most courses has allowed those living in regional and remote areas of Victoria to access professional development opportunities as readily as the rest of the workforce.
Our family services and specialist family violence services have come together to collaborate much more during COVID-19.
Senior family violence practitioner
Rolling Action Plan consultation workshop
August 2020
Delivery to 2023
This high-level overview of the main workforce development activities for the next three years focuses on highlighting key actions from the first rolling action plan, Strengthening the Foundations.
Additional workforce development activity supporting the reform is reflected in the web pages for each priority and in the page showcasing Victoria Police reform delivery.
This overview of our planned workforce development activities to 2023 is grouped into three areas.
Activities
Accredited family violence prevention and response courses for the specialist family violence workforce and broader workforces that intersect with family violence:
Intermediate Risk Assessment and Management of Family Violence Risk (22651VIC) will be ready for delivery in 2021
Comprehensive Risk Assessment and Management course to be developed
Primary Prevention Contributors and Practitioners courses to be developed
July 2020-2022
DET FSV
Fast Track Professional Development Program to support the rapid development of practitioners in prevention and response roles:
Early 2021 - delivery of first round of prevention and response programs
Mid-late 2021 - delivery of second round of prevention and response programs
Mid 2022 - delivery of third round of prevention and response programs, and program complete
2021-2022
FSV
Building the family violence and sexual assault support workforce by accelerating training pathways
$8.1 million over three years will support coordination of up to 240 traineeships across the state
2020-2023
FSV
Minimum qualifications introduced for the Specialist Family Violence Response workforce:
Begin 5-year transition period for existing specialist family violence workforce to upskill where required
Support officers and grants available to support transition
Pathway Graduate Certificate course developed to provide a training-based pathway to minimum qualifications with delivery to commence in 2022
2021-2025
FSV
We are creating an evidence base that will:
inform how we build workforce capability
ensure training is fit for purpose and accessible
support recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce that is representative of our community
We will evaluate and monitor Strengthening the Foundations by focusing on long-term prevention and response capability and capacity across a strong and connected system where activities are driven by the needs of the workforce.
The implementation of minimum qualifications for specialist response practitioners is an example of how we are considering the needs of the workforce as we transition to a new, more professional structure.
We will have supports for existing employers and workers.
There are grants available for upskilling and a 5-year transition period.
The model has been designed in collaboration with industry.
Further activities that will support evidence-based decision-making include:
Activities
Analysis of 2019 Workforces Census
2020 - Publication of census findings for primary prevention workforce
2021 - Publication of census findings for specialist and broader workforces
Current-Early 2021
FSV
Deliver a new Best Practice Education model that:
provides an evidence-base to inform the delivery of high-quality family violence accredited training
supports expert-informed high-quality and safe training practices
provides professional development for existing trainers
supports the growth in supply of trainers across the TAFE system
developed in collaboration with the family violence sector and Aboriginal workforce experts, ensuring Aboriginal cultural safety and contemporary family violence expertise sits at the heart of accredited family violence training
2020-2021
DET
FSV
Job Role Design
undertake research in job role design in the specialist sectors
develop options for current and future system requirements
The research may inform a range of products that support future specialist family violence job-role enhancements
Insights will be critical to informing innovative approaches to organisational performance in the specialist family violence sector, potentially providing the basis for:
workforce planning
organisation design
health, safety and wellbeing
career and succession planning
2020-2021
FSV
The people who work in the specialist response and primary prevention sectors are our most valuable assets in building a future where all Victorians can live free from violence.
We recognise that although the work is fulfilling and rewarding it can also be stressful, emotional and fatiguing. The pressures of working remotely during COVID-19 and increased complexity of cases has impacted the workforce.
Activities
Prioritise the health, safety and wellbeing of the workforce and develop the Family Violence Health, Safety and Wellbeing program
This program is for specialist family violence organisations to provide positive and supportive work environments
Mid 2021
FSV
Our proactive approach for the next few years will be supported by several priority actions:
research into best-practice clinical supervision models
online health, safety and wellbeing resources for workers
peer support strategies to better connect and support workers
workplace strategies for the broader workforces that intersect with family violence
Connecting workforce development across the reform
The ongoing delivery of connected reform activity further strengthens the broader workforces that intersect with family violence. For example:
MARAM
The continued rollout of MARAM with Phase Two commencing in 2021 to a further 5,855 organisations and services across the health and education sectors.
Victoria Police
Victoria Police delivery of family violence training statewide to officers at every rank through the establishment of Family Violence Centre of Learning, a purpose-built facility at the police academy in Glen Waverley.
Reform-wide priorities
Activities to strengthen the family violence workforce have been designed from the outset to consider intersectionality, Aboriginal self-determination and lived experience.
The MARAM principles provide professionals and services across different workforces with a shared understanding of family violence and facilitate consistent, effective and safe responses for people experiencing family violence.
The first of the industry rolling action plans was developed with a gendered and intersectional lens to embed intersectionality in workforce development.
Under Action 3.8 of Strengthening the Foundations, we are reducing workforce entry barriers to increase workforce diversity, working towards achieving a workforce that reflects the community.
Intersectionality Capacity Building Project
This project supports organisations to embed an intersectionality framework and recruit and develop an inclusive, diverse workforce. It is:
funded through the Industry Plan
an action in Everybody Matters: Inclusion and Equity Statement,which outlines the 10-year vision for a more inclusive, safe, responsive and accountable family violence system
The government’s reform delivery is providing funding to the specialist family violence and broader sectors to embed an intersectional approach into their service delivery. For example:
No to Violence is Australia’s largest peak body for organisations and individuals who work with men to end family violence.
Project funding from the Department of Education and Training through the Workforce Training Innovation Fund to develop new practice frameworks by the end of 2020.
Delivering content and online learning opportunities to better equip the family violence workforce with the skills and knowledge to apply an intersectional approach in their service delivery.
Funding from the Department of Health and Human Services to design and deliver a training program for the Department’s disability workforce to recognise and respond to family violence.
Significant work to prevent violence against immigrant and refugee women.
Provided cross-cultural and intersectional training for the family violence prevention workforce and access to multilingual communities.
Future workforce activities will be guided by the forthcoming Aboriginal Family Violence Industry Strategy which is being developed through the Dhelk Dja Partnership Forum.
Lived experience is central to the design and delivery of training initiatives and pathways to minimum qualifications for family violence practitioners. It informs the family violence workforce reform through the Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council’s representation on Family Safety Victoria advisory bodies.
