As well as an increased focus on the family violence and sexual assault workforce, we are also looking at the entire community services workforce. To support this work, the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing established a new Centre for Workforce Excellence in 2022.
We know that community services workers have similar core competencies, follow similar education pathways into the workforce, and share similar motivations for why they do the work they do.
Rather than focusing on attracting new workers to specific service types, it is more effective to use shared strategies for the sector as a whole. In recognition of this, some actions in the second RAP will focus on working across the community services sector.
Other actions focus only on family violence and sexual assault services. These actions seek to develop more specialisation in career pathways. They also aim to remove barriers for professionals who want to move between different service types to develop in their careers.
Reforms within education, training and skills will also contribute to achieving our objectives for the family violence workforce and for building family violence capability among broader workforces.
Work during the first RAP provides a model for collaboration across community services, education and training.
For example, we included a course called Identifying and Responding to Family Violence Risk on the Free TAFE list to encourage uptake. This course is aligned with the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) Framework.
New education and skills opportunities provide further reform opportunities. This includes the Vocational Major that will allow secondary school students to study a two-year vocational and applied learning program while they are doing their Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE).
We will also need to collaborate with the Commonwealth Government, which is responsible for key areas affecting workforce supply and capability. This includes Fair Work Australia’s role in determining Industry Awards, which influence pay and conditions in Victoria’s community services sector. It also includes the proposed Universities Accord that will align the higher education system with the workforce needs of the future economy.
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