Information Sharing and Family Violence Reforms: Guidance and Tools

About this resource

This resource is intended to support schools and services, system and statutory bodies, and education health, wellbeing, and inclusion workforces to:

• implement the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) and Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS) in their workplaces
• share information confidently, safely, and appropriately to improve children’s and families’ wellbeing and safety, and manage family violence risk
• meet their responsibilities under the Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework (MARAM)
• identify and respond to family violence in a safe and consistent way and make better reports and referrals.

CISS, FVISS and MARAM are collectively known as the Reforms in this resource. This resource is for:

• long day care, kindergarten and before and after school hours care services (referred to as services in this resource)
• government, Catholic and independent schools (referred to as schools in this resource)
• Catholic and independent system bodies that assist, manage, or govern schools in Victoria (referred to as system bodies in this resource)
• Victorian Institute of Teaching, Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, and Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (referred to as statutory bodies in this resource)
• some education health, wellbeing, and inclusion workforces (for example, Department of Education’s Health, Wellbeing, and Inclusion Workforces).

This resource is divided into 4 audience-based sections:

• Introduction
• School and service leaders
• All staff
• Staff who use CISS and FVISS
• MARAM nominated staff.

It also includes the following resources:

• Tools
• Staff supports and other resources.

How to use this resource

Each section of this resource provides tailored guidance to reflect the different roles and responsibilities of staff at your school or service. You may need to read one or more sections depending on your role.

You can download all tools and templates from this publication.

Training and support

The Department of Education (the department) offers a range of learning options on the Reforms for schools and services, system and statutory bodies, and education health, wellbeing, and inclusion workforces. This includes webinars, eLearning modules and face-to-face training.

For more information see Training for the information sharing and MARAM reforms.

If you have any further questions about CISS, FVISS and MARAM, or this resource, including support with implementation, contact the Enquiry Line:

• Email: cisandfvis@education.vic.gov.au
• Phone: 1800 549 646 from 9 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday.

Staff wellbeing support

Supporting children and families who are experiencing wellbeing and safety concerns, including family violence, can be highly stressful and challenging. Given the reported prevalence of family violence, there is also a high likelihood you may know or be someone who has experienced or is experiencing family violence.

Staff wellbeing is a shared responsibility between you, your team and your organisation.

It is important to be aware of the impacts that supporting people experiencing family violence can have on you. Signs of vicarious trauma and burnout include experiencing intrusive thoughts of a victim survivor’s situation or taking on too great a sense of responsibility. These are common responses to the challenges of this type of work.

This resource addresses issues of family violence. If you are concerned for your safety or that of someone else, contact the police, and call 000 for emergency assistance.

If you have experienced violence or sexual assault and require immediate or ongoing assistance, contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) to talk to a counsellor from the National Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence hotline. For confidential support and information, contact Safe Steps 24/7 family violence response line on 1800 015 188.

If you need to talk to someone it is recommended that you speak to your leadership team about arranging appropriate support. You can also talk to your GP or an allied health professional. Victorian government school staff can also contact the Department of Education’s Employee Wellbeing Support Services on 1300 291 071.

For more information, see Staff supports and other resources.

Overview of the Information Sharing and Family Violence Reforms

As educators, carers and health, wellbeing, and inclusion professionals, you share a common purpose – to give each child the best start to a happy, healthy, and prosperous life. The wellbeing and safety of children is essential for their learning and development, and you are well placed to support them.

CISS, FVISS and MARAM (the Reforms) build on and complement your existing child and family wellbeing and safety responsibilities and practices. The Reforms aim to improve the wellbeing and safety of Victorian children, and to reduce family violence.

The Reforms enable Information Sharing Entities (ISEs) to request and share relevant information with one another to support child wellbeing and safety and assess or manage family violence risk. Information sharing and service collaboration are vital in identifying risks early and facilitating early and appropriately targeted support. Numerous Royal Commissions, coronial inquests and independent inquiries over a decade have made this clear.

The Reforms authorise schools and services, system and statutory bodies, and education health, wellbeing and inclusion workforces to:

• respond to requests for information to promote child wellbeing or safety, and/or assess and manage risk of family violence (this is mandatory)
• request information to promote child wellbeing or safety and/or manage risk of family violence
• proactively share information to promote child wellbeing or safety and/or manage risk of family violence.

The Reforms have been designed to promote the wellbeing and safety of children and families by:

• improving earlier identification of issues or risks, including family violence risk, and enabling earlier support and participation in services
• increasing collaboration and supporting a more coordinated and integrated approach to service delivery across the service system
• empowering professionals to make informed decisions
• promoting shared responsibility for wellbeing and safety, and defining responsibilities for identifying and responding to family violence across the service system, including creating consistent and collaborative practice
• identifying wellbeing and safety issues and risks, and obtaining relevant information to share in relation to family violence (by applying MARAM guidance on what to look for and what questions to ask).

CISS enables ISEs to share relevant information about any person to promote the wellbeing or safety of a child or group of children.

Consent is not required from any person when sharing under CISS.

FVISS enables ISEs to share relevant information to assess or manage risk of family violence.

It is best practice to seek and consider the views and wishes of victim survivors when sharing their information (if safe, reasonable, and appropriate to do so). However, under FVISS consent is only required from an adult victim survivor or third party where no children are involved and there is no serious threat to an individual’s life, health, safety, or welfare.

Schools and services, system and statutory bodies, and education health, wellbeing and inclusion workforces have expanded permissions as ISEs to share information for wellbeing and safety. While the ISEs prescribed under CISS and FVISS are broadly similar, some services and organisations are prescribed under one scheme and not the other.

MARAM aims to build a shared understanding of family violence across Victoria’s service system. MARAM is embedded in law and establishes the foundations for a consistent statewide approach and shared responsibility for identifying and responding to family violence.

Schools and services are prescribed as MARAM Framework organisations and are required to follow MARAM when identifying and responding to family violence. Key services such as Victoria Police, family violence specialist services, Child Protection and hospitals across Victoria are also prescribed MARAM organisations. This means that everyone in the service system has the same understanding of family violence and can respond in the same way. This ensures people get the help they need and stops them from falling through any cracks in the system.

For a list of prescribed MARAM framework organisations, see Appendix 1: Prescribed organisations.

For more information about MARAM, see Information Sharing and MARAM reforms.

Wellbeing and safety for all Victorian children

There are many factors that impact a child’s wellbeing. Parental, family, and community wellbeing, as well as cultural context and intersectional identity, all have a significant impact on a child’s wellbeing. ‘Intersectionality’ refers to the ways in which different aspects of a person’s identity can expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalisation.

When these aspects or characteristics combine:

• there is a greater risk of people experiencing family violence
• people find it harder to get the help they need due to systemic barriers
• there is increased risk of social isolation.

You should reflect on your own practice and biases to ensure you can demonstrate an understanding of how this may be experienced by Aboriginal people or people from diverse communities or at-risk age groups. Where improvements can be made, you should tailor your approach accordingly to allow access to resources and support and services to respond to family violence risk.

It is important to have a shared understanding of the protective factors for children, such as engagement in education and safe housing, as well as the factors that contribute to the wellbeing and safety of the children and families in your care. You are encouraged to use your professional judgement and build and strengthen your current practice, informed by your organisation’s existing wellbeing frameworks.

There may be instances where information needs to be shared to promote the wellbeing or safety of more than one child, including cases where one child poses a risk to another. In such cases, professionals should exercise their judgement to consider and balance each child’s wellbeing and safety to achieve the best possible outcomes for each child.

You can and should also connect with other ISEs to gather or share relevant information, and to coordinate actions to support children’s wellbeing and safety.

For more information, see Understanding child wellbeing.

Cultural safety

Aboriginal peoples and families are extremely diverse in terms of their structure and dynamics. This diversity includes the concept of family, which can be much broader than for non-Aboriginal people, encompassing kinship relationships and the broader Aboriginal community. Whatever form they take, strong families are pivotal to the health and wellbeing of Indigenous communities.

In addition to the wellbeing factors listed in Figure 2, there are a range of cultural and spiritual factors that contribute to an Aboriginal person’s wellbeing.

The wellbeing of Aboriginal peoples occurs in the context of colonisation, dispossession, and the loss of culture. This has contributed to the breakdown of kinship systems and traditional law.

To redress personal and systemic biases, all workforces engaged in risk assessment and management should participate in ongoing cultural awareness, trauma-informed practice and family violence training.

Organisations and services should promote cultural safety and recognise the cultural rights, kin and community connections of children from Aboriginal and diverse communities. They should actively value and respect a child’s identity as a core aspect of their wellbeing and safety.

The department has developed resources to help schools, services and other organisations discuss the information sharing reforms with Aboriginal families. You can view them at Child Information Sharing – caring for all Koorie children in Victoria.

Family Violence

The Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) defines family violence as behaviour that:

• is physically, sexually, emotionally, psychologically, or economically abusive
• is threatening or coercive
• is controlling or dominating
• causes fear for the safety or wellbeing of that family member or another person
• causes a child to hear, witness or otherwise be exposed to the effects of any behaviour referred to above.

Family violence is deeply gendered. While people of any gender can be perpetrators or victim survivors of family violence, overwhelmingly the perpetrators are men, who largely perpetrate violence against women (who are their current or former partner) and children.

Addressing family violence requires a whole-of-community response and a coordinated system working together to support adult and child victim survivors, address risk and safety needs, and promote perpetrator accountability.

Working collaboratively to support wellbeing and safety

Family violence and diverse communities and at-risk groups

The Royal Commission into Family Violence found that for diverse communities and at-risk groups, family violence is less visible and understood than for other parts of the Australian community. Many also face additional barriers to reporting, as well as seeking and obtaining the help they need to be safe and recover from violence due to structural inequality and discrimination based on background, identity, and culture¹.

While there can be similar dynamics to family violence across all communities, people from Aboriginal and diverse communities may also experience family violence differently. They may face barriers to reporting and finding appropriate responses and support. Barriers may result from:

• language
• visa status
• experiences of discrimination
• historic and ongoing systemic oppression
• fear of reprisals or exclusion or isolation
• concerns about their safety.

The level of risk for family violence can also change over time. For example, women are at greater risk of family violence during pregnancy or after separation from their partners.

These dynamics mean that there are additional considerations when sharing information about diverse communities and at-risk groups. Professionals are advised to seek guidance and support, including from specialist services, as needed.

For more information, see:

• Child Safe Standard 5: diversity and equity
  • Early childhood services – diversity and equity
  • Schools – diversity and equity guidance.
• Child Safe Standard 1: culturally safe environments for Aboriginal children
  • Early childhood services – culturally safe environments for Aboriginal children
  • Schools – culturally safe environments guidance.

Existing child wellbeing and safety obligations

Existing child wellbeing and safety obligations continue to apply.

The Reforms expand circumstances in which confidential information (including personal, health and sensitive information) can be shared between prescribed professionals. The Reforms complement these obligations and work alongside them to support a more complete system of support for the wellbeing and safety of children.

Safeguards for the Reforms

A range of safeguards and protections exist under the Reforms to ensure that professionals can safely, confidently and appropriately share information.

Further reading

This resource complements training and should be read in conjunction with the Child Information Sharing Scheme Ministerial Guidelines, Family Violence Information Sharing Guidelines and MARAM Framework, as well as other resources relevant to CISS, FVISS and MARAM.

• Child Information Sharing Scheme Ministerial Guidelines
• Family Violence Information Sharing Guidelines (Go to 'Familiarise yourself with the Ministerial Guidelines')
• Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework (MARAM)
• MARAM Foundation Knowledge Guide and MARAM practice guides and resources
• Information Sharing Entity list search (ISE List)

Footnotes

1. Everybody Matters – Inclusion and Equity Statement – Victorian Government 2018.
2. See Complaints in the Staff who Use CISS and FVISS section.

Implementing information sharing and MARAM

The department recognises that reform implementation has no one-size-fits-all approach. There is great diversity across Victorian schools and services, system and statutory bodies, and education health, wellbeing and inclusion workforces.

As a school or service leader, you will determine what systems and processes are best suited to your organisation to support the implementation of the Reforms. This includes identifying employees who have information sharing responsibilities, as well as MARAM nominated staff. The MARAM Framework diagram in the All staff chapter outlines the MARAM responsibilities for schools. Please see How to allocate MARAM responsibilities for more information on how to meet your school or service's MARAM legislated obligations.

Employees who have information sharing responsibilities must have skills reasonably transferable to the promotion of child and family wellbeing or safety, and the appropriate and sensitive management of confidential information. MARAM nominated staff should have qualifications, training and experience or a role aligned with wellbeing, such as wellbeing coordinators or leadership staff.

As a school or service leader, you should work closely with your existing wellbeing and safety leads or key contacts to implement the steps outlined in the Information sharing and MARAM implementation checklist to ensure your staff are able to utilise the Reforms safely and appropriately.

How to allocate MARAM responsibilities

All staff

• Responsibility 1: Respectful, sensitive and safe engagement. All staff can do this by listening to, partnering with and believing the experiences of victim survivors.
• All staff also contribute to MARAM Responsibilities 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10. All staff can do this by using the Family Violence Identification Tool to identify and respond to family violence. See All staff for more details.

MARAM nominated staff

• Responsibilities 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10. MARAM nominated staff undertake screening, safety planning, information sharing and referrals. See MARAM nominated staff for more details.

Tools for school and service leaders

To access the Information sharing and MARAM checklist, refer to Tools for school and service leaders.

The Information sharing and MARAM checklist is designed to support school and service leaders to implement the information sharing and MARAM reforms, including the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) and Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS).

Select the link to download the checklist as an editable Word document template.

Accessibility statement

The Victorian Government is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. This page may not meet our minimum WCAG AA accessibility standards.

If you are unable to read any of the content of this page, you can contact the Information Sharing and MARAM Enquiry Line for an accessible version via email at CISandFVIS@education.vic.gov.au or phone at 1800 549 646.

What is MARAM?

MARAM is a framework describing best practice for family violence risk assessment and management, based on current evidence and research. There are 10 responsibilities underpinning MARAM. The responsibilities are shared across the service system to support consistent and collaborative practice.

Under MARAM, schools and services have 6 responsibilities relating to ‘identification and screening’. These are:

• Responsibility 1: Respectful, sensitive and safe engagement
• Responsibility 2: Identification of family violence
• Responsibility 5: Seek consultation for comprehensive risk assessment, risk management and referrals
• Responsibility 6: Contribute to information sharing with other services (as authorised by legislation) (this includes FVISS and can also include CISS)
• Responsibility 9: Contribute to coordinated risk management
• Responsibility 10: Collaborate for ongoing risk assessment and risk management.

Staff in schools and services are not required to undertake:

• Responsibilities 3 and 4: Intermediate Risk Assessment and Management, and
• Responsibilities 7 and 8: Comprehensive Risk Assessment and Comprehensive Risk Management and Safety Planning.

These responsibilities are undertaken by other services, including Child Protection, family violence specialist services and Victoria Police.

How does MARAM align with PROTECT in schools and services?

Following the Four Critical Actions will help you to meet your MARAM responsibilities. The following table outlines this. If the situation is not an emergency requiring response (Critical Action 1), schools and services must still consider Critical Actions 2, 3 and 4.

How do I identify family violence?

Use the Family Violence Identification Tool to record information if you:

• receive a disclosure of family violence
• observe
  • signs of trauma that may indicate a child or young person is experiencing, or is at risk of experiencing, family violence
  • family violence risk factors
  • narratives (e.g. statements or stories) or behaviours that indicate an adult is using family violence.

You must act, by following the Four Critical Actions, as soon as you witness an incident, receive a disclosure or form a suspicion or reasonable belief that a child has, or is at risk of being abused. You do not have to directly witness the child abuse or know the source
of the abuse.

The tool is self-contained and includes instructions. The information you record in this tool will help you decide next steps.

Further information to help you identify family violence

The Family Violence Identification Tool supports you to identify family violence. This section gives you more information including more observable signs of trauma, family violence risk factors, and narratives and behaviours which may indicate an adult is using violence. If you observe or become aware of any of the following, you can record them in the Family Violence Identification Tool.

Impacts of family violence on children and young people

When responding to children experiencing family violence, it is important to remember that children are not passive witnesses or secondary victim survivors – children are victim survivors in their own right, with their own needs and experiences.

Even if violence is not directed towards the child, infants and young children can sense and understand what is occurring. A child’s exposure alone to family violence constitutes child abuse; and the longer that a child experiences or is exposed to family violence, the more harmful it is.

For more information, schools should refer to Identifying and Responding to All Forms of Abuse in Victorian Schools, see under the heading 'Guides for identifying and responding to child abuse' on Report Child Abuse in Schools. Services should see Identify Signs of Child Abuse.

The impacts of family violence on children are profound. Trauma caused by family violence during childhood can have significant lifelong effects. There is now strong evidence that shows that early childhood attachment, safety and wellbeing provide the crucial foundation for a child’s long-term physical, social and emotional development. For example, children who experience family violence are more likely to abuse substances, be involved in crime and experience or perpetrate family violence in future relationships themselves later in life.

Observable signs of trauma in children and young people

The trauma of experiencing family violence may manifest in children and young people in different ways, depending on their age or stage of development. The following tables list behaviours you may observe in children and young people which may indicate that they are experiencing family violence, or another type of abuse or harm.

If you observe the following signs of trauma, you can record them in the Family Violence Identification Tool.

Signs of trauma for babies and toddlers

Observable signs of trauma that may indicate family violence for:

Age-related signs of trauma that may indicate family violence in a child or young person

Some indicators are related to trauma from specific forms of family violence, including sexual abuse (indicated by ~) or emotional abuse (indicated by *), or indicated by signs of neglect.

Observable signs of trauma that may indicate family violence for:

Family violence risk factors

Family violence risk factors are associated with family violence occurring and/or strongly linked to the likelihood of a perpetrator killing or seriously injuring a victim survivor.

It is important that you can recognise family violence risk factors, as they are vital for Child Protection, Victoria Police or family violence specialist services to understand and determine level of risk.

If you observe or become aware of the following family violence risk factors, you can record them in the Family Violence Identification Tool.

Risk factors specific to children’s circumstances

There is evidence that the following child circumstance factors may indicate the presence or escalation of family violence risk.

Risk factors specific to children caused by perpetrator behaviours

These are in addition to the risk factors for adult or child victims caused by perpetrator behaviours (see table below).

Risk factors relevant to an adult victim’s circumstances

Risk factors for adult or child victim survivors caused by perpetrator behaviours

Narratives and behaviours which may indicate an adult is using violence

You may suspect an adult is using family violence due to the person’s account or description of experiences, themselves and their relationships (their narrative) or behaviours towards family members or professionals – these may indicate use of family violence. To help you avoid collusion, it is useful to understand the narratives and behaviours which may be demonstrated by an adult using violence.

If you observe the following narratives, you can record them in the Family Violence Identification Tool.

Young people using family violence

For adolescents and young people (aged 10 to 18 years old³), the term ‘young person who uses family violence’ is used, rather than ‘perpetrator’.

It is important that this distinction be made from adults, as a more nuanced therapeutic response needs to be considered due to age, developmental stage, and that they may be victim survivors of family violence as well.

We avoid labelling these young people as ‘violent’ or as 'perpetrators', as it can lead to internalising within their identity and does not acknowledge their behaviour can be occurring within a trauma response.

Similar to adult perpetrators, family violence by young people is about patterns of power and coercive control. As with adult perpetrators, young people using violence must still be accountable for the use of violence and to learn skills and abilities to move away from the use of violence.

Violence used by young people can be towards:

• a parent, carer or siblings, other family members, including grandparents, pets:
  • Family members of the child or young person often feel shame, responsibility and that they will be disbelieved or blamed. Parents often want to protect their child, avoid Child Protection or police involvement, and for those who are separated from family, see reconciliation as the ideal outcome.
  • Most incidents of violence are committed by male adolescents against their mothers, but young people using violence is not as highly gendered as adult intimate partner violence.
• their own intimate partner:
  • Young people can experience family violence from partners, boyfriends or girlfriends in the same way that family violence is experienced in adults. Young people may also be too fearful of further abuse, violence or reprisals, or the social impacts of seeking help to disclose or act on behaviours.
  • Victim survivors may accept these behaviours or not identify them as problematic for a range of reasons:
    • the behaviours are not seen as abuse or as a form of family violence
    • the relationship has priority and behaviours are accepted as part of love and trust building
    • the behaviours are accepted as part of gendered norms which normalise men’s dominance and control over women
    • they are not aware of the legal and financial consequences of some actions.

How do I use the tool with adult victim survivors?

If children and young people hear, witness, or are exposed to the effects of family violence, they are victim survivors in their own right. The Family Violence Identification Tool supports you to identify family violence when engaging with adults in order to protect children and young people.

Observable signs of trauma

Adult victim survivors may display signs of trauma which may indicate they are experiencing family violence.

You may observe or become aware of these signs when engaging with parents or carers, such as at school pick up and drop off, parent teacher interviews or other conversations that centre around the child or young person in your care. You can record any of the signs of trauma in the table below in the Family Violence Identification Tool.

Working collaboratively with children, young people and adult victim survivors from diverse communities

When engaging with children, young people and adult victim survivors with diverse identities, backgrounds or circumstances, ensure that equity is upheld and diverse needs are respected in policy and practice.

This can be done through the following actions.

Recognise diverse backgrounds, needs and circumstances

Pay attention to:

• the needs of children, young people and adult victim survivors with disability or from diverse religious and cultural communities
• the impact of prior trauma from family violence or other circumstances
• gender differences in prevalence and experience of family violence
• the diverse experiences of LGBTIQA+ young people and adult victim survivors
• challenges for children and young people who are in foster care, out of home care, living away from home or international students
• young people experiencing pregnancy or young parents
• socio-economic factors (experiencing family homelessness, insecure employment or accommodation, individual or family contact with the justice system, poverty, addiction, low educational attainment, remote or regional isolation).

Identify and address challenges that people experience due to their diverse attributes

• Check in with children, young people and adult victim survivors to confirm their needs are being met. This should be in private and may occur at pick-up or drop-off, one-on-one meetings or informal discussions.
• Normalise asking for and using people’s pronouns and preferred names.
• Arrange for an interpreter if required.

Put in place policies and strategies to help meet diverse needs

• Ensure school and service environments are welcoming and inclusive by displaying flags representing different cultures within the community, providing materials in different languages and decorating with artistic expressions from children and young people.
• Conduct meetings in private and safe spaces. If meeting at the school or service, schedule the meeting so adult victim survivors do not have to navigate the grounds full of children or young people.
• Seek out expert advice to support inclusion. For example, an occupational therapist, speech pathologist, LGBTIQA+ services
  or specialist services for culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Participate in professional development and practice

• Reflect on your own privilege, preconceptions and biases when engaging with children, young people and adult victim survivors with diverse identities, backgrounds or circumstances.
• Learn about intersectionality – how individuals and communities experience multiple and overlapping forms of discrimination – and the presentations of family violence in different communities.
• Understand the systemic barriers victim survivors may face and the particular tactics perpetrators can use against them.

Aboriginal communities, family violence and cultural safety

Aboriginal people are disproportionately impacted by family violence. Evidence also shows that overwhelmingly perpetrators of family violence towards Aboriginal women are not Aboriginal people.

When working with Aboriginal children and families, it is critically important that your practice is culturally safe and responsive. To practice cultural safety means to carry out practice in collaboration with the victim survivor, with care and insight for their culture, while being mindful of your own. A culturally safe environment is one where people feel safe and where there is no challenge or need for the denial of their identity.

Cultural safety includes recognising Aboriginal community understandings of family and rights to self-determination and self-management. Culturally safe practice acknowledges Aboriginal experiences of colonisation, systemic violence and discrimination and recognises the ongoing and present-day impacts of historical events, policies, and practices.

The injustices experienced by Aboriginal people, including the dispossession of their land and traditional culture and the wrongful removal of children from their families, both historic and current, have had a profound impact on Aboriginal communities. This may impact the way children, young people, and adult victim survivors present, disclose information, and engage with services.

When working with Aboriginal people and communities, you should:

• acknowledge and respond to fears about Child Protection and the possibility of children being removed from their care when working with adult victim survivors.
• make referrals to Aboriginal community-controlled organisations that support Aboriginal lead decision making wherever possible (for nominated staff only).
• use a strengths-based approach that respects and values the collective strengths of Aboriginal knowledge, systems and expertise. Aboriginal people are the experts in their own lives.
• acknowledge that family violence against Aboriginal people can include perpetrators denying or disconnecting victim survivors from cultural identity and connection to family, community and culture.
• understand that Aboriginal family violence may relate to relationships that aren’t captured by the Western nuclear family model, for example, uncles and aunts, cousins and other community-and culturally-defined relationships.

For more information, see Child Safe Standard 5: diversity and equity guidance for early childhood services and Guidance for schools.

Engaging with someone who is suspected or known to be using violence

There may be times when you come into contact with people (such as a parent, carer or adolescent) who you suspect or know may be using family violence.

You must act, by following the Four Critical Actions, as soon as you witness an incident, receive a disclosure or form a reasonable belief that a child has, or is at risk of being abused. You must act if you form a suspicion or reasonable belief, even if you are unsure and have not directly observed child abuse.

If you are engaging with someone who may be using violence, you should learn to identify collusion and how to avoid it, and take steps to keep yourself safe.

Avoiding collusion

The term collusion refers to ways that you might (usually unintentionally) reinforce, excuse, minimise or deny a person’s use of violence and the extent or impact of that violence. It can be expressed in a nod of agreement, a sympathetic smile or by laughing at a sexist or demeaning joke. Collusion can happen when a person’s excuses for violence are accepted without question.

You can actively avoid collusion by:

• not speaking directly with a person about their use of family violence (suspected or confirmed) – this is the role of specialist family violence services. Instead, talk to your school or service’s leadership team.
• not asking a victim survivor questions in front of a person who may be using violence - this may increase the risk for a child and their family.

How to talk about family violence

There may be times when you need to talk to a child, young person and/or adult victim survivor about family violence. For example, you might need to:

• respond immediately if a child, young person and/or adult victim survivor discloses family violence to you
• start the conversation if you suspect a child, young person and/or adult victim survivor is experiencing some wellbeing concerns or not acting like usual selves (for example, by asking prompting questions).

You should only talk to a child, young person and/or adult victim survivor if it is safe, appropriate and reasonable to do so.

Even if it is not part of your role to screen for family violence, it is important to know how to talk to children, young people and/or adult
victim survivors about family violence in a safe and supportive way. This is because a child or adult may disclose family violence to you (regardless of your role) and it is important to feel confident to respond respectfully, sensitively and safely before referring to the nominated staff at your school or service.

You do not have to be an expert in family violence. Your role is to identify if family violence might be happening and connect the family to the appropriate supports, whether that is the nominated staff or specialist services that can help assess and manage risk and support the family.

For strategies on managing disclosures, see

• Report child abuse in schools – Strategies for managing a disclosure, and
• Report child abuse in early childhood – Strategies for managing a disclosure.

Tools for all staff

To acccess the Family Violence Identification Tool, refer to Tools for all staff.

Footnotes

3. Although at 18 years, the young person is treated as an adult by the legal system.

Any school or service staff member can use the Family Violence Identification Tool to record information after receiving a disclosure of family violence, or to record observations that may indicate family violence is occurring for a child or young person.

Select the link to download the Tool as an editable Word document template.

Accessibility statement

The Victorian Government is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. This page may not meet our minimum WCAG AA accessibility standards.

If you are unable to read any of the content of this page, you can contact the Information Sharing and MARAM Enquiry Line for an accessible version:

• Email: CISandFVIS@education.vic.gov.au
• Phone: 1800 549 646
  

Overview of the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS)

The Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) allows authorised organisations to share information to support child wellbeing or safety, to ensure that professionals can gain a complete view of the children and young people they work with, making it easier to identify wellbeing or safety needs earlier, and to act on them sooner.

The Child Information Sharing Scheme Ministerial Guidelines detail the legal obligations of prescribed Information Sharing Entities (ISEs). Additional resources are available at Information sharing and MARAM reforms.

Overview of Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS)

The Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme supports effective sharing of information to assess and manage family violence risk, through keeping perpetrators in view and accountable and promoting the safety of victim survivors of family violence.

For more comprehensive information, see the Family Violence Information Sharing Guidelines available from Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme.

Risk Assessment Entities

Under FVISS, there is a subset of specialist ISEs known as Risk Assessment Entities (RAEs) that can request and receive information for a family violence assessment purpose. Only RAEs can request information for a family violence assessment purpose.

RAEs have specialised skills and authorisation to conduct family violence risk assessment. Examples of RAEs include:

• Victoria Police
• Child Protection
• family violence services
• the Orange Door.

Sharing for family violence risk assessment

One way in which you will be able to identify and respond to family violence is by making referrals for specialist services or professionals to complete a comprehensive family violence risk assessment. Some of these specialist services are prescribed as RAEs, such as family violence services, Child Protection and Victoria Police.

Under FVISS, ISEs such as school and service workforces can proactively share risk-relevant information with RAEs for risk assessment purposes. That is, in order to:

1. confirm whether family violence is occurring
2. enable RAEs to assess the level of risk the perpetrator poses to the victim survivor
3. correctly identify the perpetrator of family violence and victim survivors (see section 11.3 of the MARAM Foundation Knowledge Guide for more information about misidentifying the predominant aggressor)
4. respond to a request made by an RAE for information from your school or service.

Family violence risk assessment is an ongoing process, and assessment is required at different points in time from different service perspectives. Nominated staff have a role in working collaboratively with other services to contribute to ongoing risk assessment and management.

Sharing for family violence risk management

School and early childhood workforces can proactively share information with and request information from other ISEs, including RAEs,
if sharing is necessary to:

• remove, reduce or prevent family violence risk
• understand how risk is changing over time
• inform ongoing risk assessment and management through:
  • secondary consultation with, or referrals to, specialist services
  • developing and implementing safety plans
  • managing changing risk levels over time by collaborating with other services for ongoing risk assessment and management.

Responding to external requests for MARAM and information sharing records

There are many laws in Victoria governing the security of records that you create for a child or young person at your school or service. These laws have in-built protection mechanisms that prioritise the safety of victim survivors whenever there is an application seeking the release of their information. For example, the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) has exemptions that may prevent information being released to certain alleged or confirmed perpetrators, to protect victim survivors and to ensure relevant documents are not shared with perpetrators or alleged perpetrators.

There may be a time where your school or service receives a request for information to be released externally, for example from a parent by way of Freedom of Information or subpoena during legal proceedings. These applications may include seeking access to MARAM tools and information sharing requests.

Schools and services must respond to requests for information. The department’s Requests for Information about Students Policy provides advice to government schools on how to manage requests for documents, including when to release documents directly and when to advise the person to make a FOI request to the department’s FOI Unit. This policy is consistent with Victorian privacy and information sharing law. Services and non-government schools should refer to their organisation’s policies in relation to requests for information (including FOI requests).

Consent and seeking the views and wishes of children and relevant family members

Consent under CISS

Under CISS, you can share any person’s information without their consent to promote the wellbeing or safety of a child or group of children. However, you should seek the views and wishes of the child and/or family members before sharing their information where it is safe, reasonable and appropriate to do so.

Sharing information to promote the wellbeing or safety of a student over the age of 18 would need to take place under other laws. Their consent may or may not be required depending on the privacy laws that apply.

Consent under FVISS

FVISS covers victim survivors of all ages. Consent is not required from any person to share information relevant to assessing or managing family violence risk to a child, young person and/or adult victim survivor. However, you should seek the views of the child, young person and/or adult victim survivor or a family member who is not a perpetrator where it is safe, reasonable and appropriate to do so.

Where a student over the age of 18 is experiencing family violence, and no child is at risk, consent is required from the student and any third parties to share their information unless sharing is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to an individual’s life, health, safety or welfare.

In situations where an adolescent is using family violence against an adult family member, you should seek consent of the adult victim survivor and any third parties to share their information unless there is a serious threat or the information relates to assessing or managing a risk to a child.

For further information about consent, please see the Family Violence Information Sharing Guidelines and the Child Information Sharing Scheme Ministerial Guidelines.

Seeking and taking into account the views of the child and family members

Even when consent is not required, you should seek and take into account the views of the child, young person and/or any relevant family members who do not pose a risk before sharing information under CISS or FVISS if it is safe, reasonable and appropriate to do so. This is a key principle of CISS and FVISS.

There are several reasons to seek and consider the views of a child, young person or family member before sharing their information:

• working collaboratively helps develop and maintain trusting, positive relationships with the child, young person and their family, and improve and maintain service engagement
• people feel more empowered when they are included in the process and aware of and in agreement with the actions taking place
• obtaining the views of the children, including a child victim survivor, is an integral part of assessing and managing risk to the child and other family members
• children and families are often best placed to provide insight into safer, more effective ways of sharing information.

You should also inform the child or parent that their information has been shared, unless it would be unsafe, unreasonable or inappropriate to do so. Keeping them informed is best practice and helps to promote positive engagement.

The child or parent must also be supported with safety planning and other necessary services.

When seeking the views and wishes of the child, young person and their family, the discussion should explain:

• the requirements that need to be met before information can be shared
• who information can be shared with
• their consent is not required for you to share information if you believe that sharing would promote the wellbeing or safety of a child
• the benefits of information sharing, and how information may be used to promote child wellbeing or safety.

It is important to support and encourage the expression of any concerns, doubts or anxieties. You should respond sensitively, with due consideration of the circumstances children and families may be facing.

Discussing these concerns may help to inform the assessment of any risks to children’s wellbeing and safety and help to avoid unintended outcomes of information sharing. You should be aware of your own preconceptions and biases when engaging with children and families navigating barriers to wellbeing and safety.

For example, you should promote cultural safety, and demonstrate awareness of the accumulation of trauma across generations of Aboriginal communities as a result of colonisation and the dispossession of land and children.

The department has developed resources to help schools, services and other organisations discuss the child information sharing scheme with families and communities, including resources for Aboriginal families. You can view them at Child Information Sharing Scheme.

Other factors to consider when sharing information under CISS

When sharing information to promote child wellbeing and safety, you should:

• consider the child’s best interests
• promote the immediate and ongoing safety of all family members at risk of family violence in line with MARAM, noting safety includes responding to needs and circumstances that promote stabilisation and recovery from family violence
• engage specialist services as required, and promote collaborative practice around children and families
• give precedence to the wellbeing and safety of a child or group of children over the right to privacy
• preserve and promote positive relationships between a child and the child’s family members and persons of significance to the child
• be respectful of and have regard to a child’s social, individual and cultural identity, the child’s strengths and abilities and any vulnerability relevant to the child’s safety and wellbeing
• promote the cultural safety and recognise the cultural rights and familial and community connections of children who are Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or both
• seek to maintain constructive and respectful engagement with children and their families.

Working with diverse communities and at-risk groups to support wellbeing and safety

You need to consider the barriers to wellbeing and safety that some groups experience due to structural inequality and discrimination. Diverse communities and ‘at-risk groups’ are broadly defined to include:

• diverse cultural, linguistic and faith communities (also collectively called CALD communities)
• people living with a disability
• people experiencing mental health issues
• lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex, queer and questioning (LGBTIQA+) people
• women in or exiting prison
• people who work in the sex industry
• people living in regional, remote and rural communities
• older people (aged 65 years, or 45 years for Aboriginal people)
• children (0–4 years of age are most at risk)
• young people (12–25 years of age).

It will be helpful for you to consider both the individual circumstances of the child and parent or carer, and their specific family and community contexts. This will improve your ability to engage with children and families.

When sharing information about people with disabilities, you should consider:

• asking what supports they need to ensure they understand the information you provide and can respond with an informed opinion. Avoid making assumptions about what supports they may require
• asking if they would like to seek the support of a trusted person or advocate to ensure they understand the reason for information sharing.

When sharing information about CALD communities, including refugees, you should consider:

• there may be language and literacy considerations. This requires sensitivity around ways of communication. For example, you may need an interpreter
• there may be complex family and community dynamics to consider, as well as complex migration experiences
• when sharing information about people from a refugee background, there is often an added layer of trauma.

When sharing information about LGBTIQA+ communities, you should consider:

• the impact sharing information about sexuality, sex or gender identity may have on safety in the family or community
• that services may discriminate against, further abuse, or exclude individuals because of sexuality, or gender identity
• that sexuality, sex and gender identity may not be recognised by services, or that individuals’ needs will not be understood
• that homophobia, biphobia or transphobia by family members is recognised as family violence.

For more information, see the MARAM Foundation Knowledge Guide.

Complaints

If you are concerned that information might have been shared in a way that is not permitted, you have the right to provide feedback and make a complaint.

To make a complaint in the first instance, speak to the organisation who shared the information. All organisations should have procedures in place for dealing with complaints.

If you are not satisfied that the matter has been resolved, a complaint may be made to:

• The Office of the Victorian Information Commission (OVIC) if the complaint relates to personal information or the Health Complaints Commissioner (HCC) if the complaint relates to health information under Victorian Law
• The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) under Commonwealth Law.

Tools for staff who use CISS and FVISS

View interactive tools and templates to help education workforces implement the information sharing schemes at Tools for staff who use CISS and FVISS.

This includes examples of information sharing in school and service settings, decision trees and downloadable Word templates to help you:

• better understand how to use CISS and FVISS
• keep accurate records
• request information
• share information
• decline requests
• record complaints.

The tools on this webpage will help education workforces use the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) and the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS). They include examples of information sharing in school and service settings, decision trees and downloadable Word templates to help you:

• better understand how to use CISS and FVISS
• keep accurate records
• request information
• share information
• decline requests
• record complaints.

Examples

Decision trees

Word templates

Accessibility statement

The Victorian Government is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. The tools and templates on this page may not meet our minimum WCAG AA accessibility standards.

If you are unable to read any of the content of this page, you can contact the Information Sharing and MARAM Enquiry Line for an accessible version via email at CISandFVIS@education.vic.gov.au or phone at 1800 549 646.

What are my responsibilities?

Nominated staff members in schools and services

The safety of victim survivors (children, young people and adults), and visibility and accountability of perpetrators requires a collaborative and coordinated approach across the service system.

As a nominated staff member, you hold the following responsibilities under MARAM:

• Responsibility 1: Respectful, sensitive and safe engagement (all staff hold this responsibility)
• Responsibility 2: Identification of family violence
• Responsibility 5: Seek consultation for comprehensive risk assessment, risk management and referrals
• Responsibility 6: Contribute to information sharing with other services (as authorised by legislation)
• Responsibility 9: Contribute to coordinated risk management
• Responsibility 10: Collaborate for ongoing risk assessment and risk management.

This means your responsibilities include:

• responding to disclosures of family violence
• screening for family violence (see the recommended Family Violence Screening Tool in Tools for MARAM nominated staff)
• planning for safety (see the recommended Family Violence Basic Safety Plan in Tools for MARAM nominated staff)
• following the Four Critical Actions, as soon as you witness an incident, receive a disclosure or form a reasonable belief that a child has, or is at risk of being abused. You must act if you form a suspicion or reasonable belief even if you are unsure and have not directly observed abuse.
• making and responding to FVISS and CISS requests (see Staff who use CISS and FVISS)
• collaborating with other services to provide ongoing support to the child, young person or their family
• keeping appropriate records
• working with other staff who suspect a child or young person is experiencing family violence, or who have received a disclosure from a student.

How does MARAM align with PROTECT in schools and services?

Following the Four Critical Actions will help you to meet your MARAM responsibilities. See the table in How does MARAM align with PROTECT in schools and services? in the All staff section for an outline of this. If the situation is not an emergency requiring response (Critical Action 1), schools and services must still consider Critical Actions 2, 3 and 4.

Nominated staff hold the same responsibilities as all staff as per the actions and responsibilities outlined under How does MARAM align with PROTECT in schools and services? in the All staff section. In addition, nominated staff hold the following additional responsibilities.

How do I screen for family violence?

This section supports you to meet your obligations under the following MARAM responsibilities:

Use the Family Violence Screening Tool on the Tools for MARAM nominated staff webpage if you:

• receive a disclosure of family violence
• observe signs of trauma that may indicate a child or young person is experiencing, or is at risk of experiencing, family violence, family violence risk factors, narratives (e.g. statements or stories) or behaviours that indicate an adult is using family violence
• have completed or received a completed Family Violence Identification Tool and/or Family Violence Screening Tool from a colleague.

If you have received a Family Violence Identification Tool (see Tools for All staff) from another staff member, refer to the relevant information in the tool to support your engagement with the victim survivor. You can ask screening questions directly of a child or young person and/or adult victim survivor – if safe, reasonable and appropriate to do so.

The Family Violence Screening Tool is intended to be used as a living document, as family violence is defined by a pattern of behaviour, meaning it is likely to require ongoing support. Your school or service is in a unique position to record and collate new observations that may otherwise go unnoticed.

You may use CISS or FVISS to share the Family Violence Screening Tool when referring the victim survivor to a specialist family violence service, which will provide comprehensive risk assessment and management.

What are protective factors and why do I need to record these as nominated staff?

Protective factors are strengths or factors that increase a child or young person’s (or adult’s) safety from family violence.

Protective factors can include a person’s involvement with school community, community involvement (sports etc), protective family members, independence (employment, finances, vehicle), or having ‘eyes-on,’ that is professionals who see the person experiencing family violence, such as teachers, childcare workers, community welfare workers, or community health workers.

Nominated staff can use the ‘Record more information relevant to the above…’ section of the Family Violence Screening Tool to record protective factors.

Misidentification of the predominant aggressor

It may be difficult to determine who the ‘predominant aggressor’ or perpetrator is in a family violence situation, particularly if more than one person is using violence.

It is not your role to identify the predominant aggressor when identifying and responding to family violence, including when completing the tools in this resource. The information you record in the tools will support specialist services to correctly identify the predominant aggressor, and tailor their response accordingly, to avoid misidentification.

Misidentification may occur when the predominant aggressor:

• falsely accuses a victim survivor of using violence or misrepresents the victim survivor’s self-defence as evidence of violence
• tries to convince service providers that they are the victim, or use a range of behaviours to avoid or deflect their responsibility for using family violence
• cites substance abuse by the victim survivor as evidence to support their claim that the victim survivor is the perpetrator
• undermines a victim survivor’s presentation or behaviour as resulting from mental illness or misrepresents a victim survivor’s disability as drunkenness or being drug affected.

Some victim survivors may be misidentified as perpetrators due to:

• their use of self-defence or violent resistance during an incident or series of incidents of family violence, or for actions taken to defend another family member
• misinterpretation of their presentation or behaviour. This can be due to direct misrepresentation by the predominant aggressor, or due to bias on behalf of professionals and services, such as gender norms and stereotyped expectations of women’s behaviour. Women’s behaviour is often misinterpreted in relation to:
  • their response to the impact of violence on them (such as trauma responses)
  • having mental health issues
  • the influence of alcohol or other drugs
  • perceived or actual aggression toward police or at initiation of police contact.
• barriers to communication with the police or a service provider due to trauma responses, injury or from pre-existing communication barriers.

Certain cohorts are at greater risk of being misidentified as perpetrators - in particular, Aboriginal women, migrant and refugee women, women with disabilities, criminalised women and LGBTIQA+ people.

Collecting parent or carer information using the tools in this resource supports the mandatory reporting or referral process, including helping Child Protection to identify the correct children in their systems.

How do I plan for safety?

This section supports you to meet your obligations under the following MARAM responsibilities:

You can develop a safety plan using the Family Violence Basic Safety Plan template after completing a Family Violence Screening Tool that identifies current family violence and if the child, young person and/or adult victim survivor parent or carer is open to receiving support. See Tools for MARAM nominated staff for templates for the Family Violence Basic Safety Plan and the Family Violence Screening Tool.

The Basic Safety Plan consists of strategies victim survivors use to keep themselves safe. It should be tailored to their circumstances and consider their safety and wellbeing needs. Victim survivors should be included in the development of their own safety plan wherever possible, including reflecting their views and wishes.

If you are developing a safety plan for a child or young person and you cannot seek their views or input, you can develop one on their behalf by talking with their parent or caregiver who is not using violence.

You may use CISS or FVISS to share the Basic Safety Plan when referring the victim survivor to a specialist family violence service, which will provide comprehensive risk assessment and management. Specialist family violence services are responsible for comprehensive
safety planning. The school or service’s primary and ongoing responsibility is for the child or young person’s safety at the school or service.

Safety plans should be kept at the school or service. For safety reasons, do NOT provide copies to the child or young person, or the adult victim survivor. This can increase risk if the person using violence accesses it.

How do I provide ongoing support?

This section supports you to meet your obligations under the following MARAM responsibilities:

Family violence risk assessment and management is an ongoing process. As you provide ongoing support to a child or young person, you should continue to assess the safety of the child or young person and work with other services to keep them safe. Specialist services often triage reports and referrals, prioritising higher risk cases. Reporting and referral does not mean the risk has ceased. You should provide ongoing support and monitor if risk changes or escalates, requiring further support.

You are not expected to take on the role of police or child protection in determining whether family violence has occurred. You are not expected to provide ongoing support and advocacy to parents or carers.

You must act, by following the Four Critical Actions, as soon as you witness an incident, receive a disclosure or form a suspicion or reasonable belief that a child has, or is at risk of being abused. You do not have to directly witness the child abuse or know the source of the abuse.

Schools and services contribute to coordinated risk management by:

• participating in or establishing a multidisciplinary support team to coordinate ongoing support for children and their families where necessary. This team could be internal, comprised of staff working with the child and family, or have external services participate such as Maternal Child Health, The Orange Door or Victoria Police
• notifying other services if you identify any changes in risk or if a planned risk management strategy is not implemented or fails
• maintaining visibility of the perpetrator by sharing relevant information about the perpetrator with specialist family violence services for risk assessment and management purposes
• being open with the child, young person or victim survivor that you are working with other services to support them whenever it is safe, reasonable and appropriate to do so. This will support a person-centred approach so that they feel supported to share their views.

How do I keep records?

Records management

You must follow all data security and record management requirements that apply to your school or service.

Schools and services should keep appropriate records relating to referrals, information sharing and coordinated risk management. This may include:

• the services you are collaborating with
• information shared and received from other services
• records of consent or views to information sharing and referrals
• actions required of your school or service (for example, using the screening tool and basic safety plan)
• the child and family being informed of any updates.

Due to the nature of family violence records, schools and services must ensure that the records are kept securely. For example, if you have a hard copy file, you should make sure it is kept in a locked cabinet. If you have an electronic record, you need to make sure it is password protected and only staff members who need the information have access. Only school and service leaders and nominated staff should have access to completed Family Violence Screening Tools and Basic Safety Plans. Schools and services should ensure that these records are not destroyed as they may be needed at a later time (e.g. as evidence in future court proceedings).

Please see the record keeping template for staff who use CISS and FVISS on Tools for staff who use CISS and FVISS.

For further information, refer to Records Management — School records (for Victorian government schools).

Tools for MARAM nominated staff

To access the Family Violence Screening Tool and the Family Violence Basic Safety Plan, refer to Tools for MARAM nominated staff.

MARAM nominated staff can use the Family Violence Screening Tool and the Family Violence Basic Safety Plan as detailed in the MARAM nominated staff section.

Select the links to download the tool and plan as editable Word document templates.

Accessibility statement

The Victorian Government is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. This page may not meet our minimum WCAG AA accessibility standards.

If you are unable to read any of the content of this page, you can contact the Information Sharing and MARAM Enquiry Line for an accessible version via email at CISandFVIS@education.vic.gov.au or phone at 1800 549 646.

Where can I find further resources and support?

Key information and contacts for the Reforms

Ministerial guidelines, practice guides and resources

For further information, please see:

• Child Information Sharing Scheme Ministerial Guidelines
• Family Violence Information Sharing Guidelines
• MARAM practice guides and resources

Training (online via webinar and eLearn)

The Department of Education offers a range of free online training on the information sharing and family violence reforms. For more information, see Training for the information sharing and MARAM reforms.

Customised briefings or support for your school, services or organisation

Contact childinfosharing@education.vic.gov.au to:

• request a targeted briefing/workshop for your service or school
• seek reimbursement of Casual Relief Teaching (CRT) funding for school and service staff (including Outside School Hours Care staff) if staff attendance will impact the mandated staff numbers for service delivery to attend.

Department delivered practical workshops for professionals are available to provide face-to-face sessions for nominated school staff (government and non-government).

CRT funding will be considered on a case-by-case basis for up to 3 staff members. Consideration will be based on school size and location, with priority consideration to schools that may be impacted by emergencies or natural disasters.

CRT funding is not available for sessions delivered as part of separate forums or events organised by providers.

What should I do to take care of myself?

You will best placed to support others when you practise regular self-care. It is important to prioritise self-care so that you can engage in this work over time without burning out or suffering negative impacts to your health and wellbeing.

Respectful Relationships has a coping styles and strategies resource that can support your wellbeing:

• Energetic activity: activities that lift your mood like exercise, dance, active play
• Self-calming activity: activities you find relaxing like quiet time out for yourself, drawing
• Social activity: connecting with others and maintaining your relationships, asking for help
• Shifting attention: activities that take your mind elsewhere, like reading, watching television, playing games
• Getting organised: plan something to look forward to, tidying, organising an activity.

External family violence support

For support contact:

• Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre provides 24-hour statewide family violence support 1800 015 188
• 1800 RESPECT provides 24-hour sexual assault and family violence information, counselling and support 1800 737 732
• The Orange Door supports families experiencing family violence and families who need extra support with the care of children
• Kids Helpline provides 24-hour counselling for children and young people aged 5 to 25 1800 551 800
• What’s ok at home is a website for children and young people aged 10 to 17 to understand what family violence is, why it happens, where to get help and how to help others
• headspace provides access to counselling services for Victorian government secondary school students
• No to Violence (Men’s Referral Service) works with and helps men who use family violence 1300 766 491.

Support for members of diverse communities

• Djirra offers phone and face-to-face legal, emotional and cultural support from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, for Aboriginal people experiencing family violence 1800 105 303
• InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence offers specialist family violence support from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, for migrant and refugee women 1800 755 988
• Rainbow Door is a free service by text, phone and email from 10 am to 5 pm daily, for LGBTIQA+ people and allies 1800 729 367
• WIRE (Women’s Information and Referral Exchange) offers free support, referrals and information by phone, web chat and email, from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, for all Victorian women, non-binary and gender-diverse people 1300 134 130.

Resources for families and communities

The department has developed online resources to help you explain the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) to the families, carers, children and young people in your school or service.

The resources include webpages with flyers and factsheets that you can download and print to support your conversations with the community. Developed after consulting with parents and carers, the resources aim to answer questions about CISS.

The webpages, flyers and factsheets include resources designed for First Nations peoples. You can also refer to videos from prominent educators, which explain how CISS is supporting child wellbeing and safety.

You can find all the resources on the Child Information Sharing Scheme homepage.

Glossary - terms and abbreviations

Aboriginal family violence: Aboriginal communities define family violence more broadly to include a range of physical, emotional, sexual, social, spiritual, cultural, psychological and economic abuses. Family violence against Aboriginal people may occur in families and intimate relationships. It encompasses violence from people outside the Aboriginal community who are in intimate relationships with Aboriginal people, and violence in extended families, kinship networks and community violence. See ‘What constitutes family violence?’ in Pillar 1: Shared understanding of family violence in the Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework Part C: Pillars.

Adolescent who uses family violence: A young person (aged 10-18 years old) who chooses to use coercive and controlling techniques and violence against family members, including intimate partners. Adolescents who use family violence often coexist as victims of family violence and therapeutic responses should be explored.

Alleged perpetrator: The term most commonly used in Victoria to describe a person where there is not sufficient information for an Information Sharing Entity (ISE) to form a reasonable belief that the person poses a risk of family violence. Information about alleged perpetrators can only be shared with Risk Assessment Entities (RAE) for a family violence assessment purpose (see the reference to Perpetrator).

CCYP: Commission for Children and Young People

Child Link: Child Link is a digital tool that displays information about a child to authorised key professionals who have responsibility for child wellbeing and safety. Child Link shows limited but critical information, such as a child’s participation in key early childhood and education services. It is a key enabler of the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS).

For more information, see Child Link.

Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS): The Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS), established under Part 6A of the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 (Vic). CISS enables information to be shared by organisations and services prescribed as ISEs to promote the wellbeing or safety of a child or group of children under the age of 18 years.

Child Safe Standards: Victoria adopted Child Safe Standards in 2016 to protect children and young people from harm and abuse. New standards have been in place since 2022.

For more information, see Child Safe Standards for education providers.

Collusion: Refers to ways that an individual, agency or system might reinforce, excuse, minimise or deny a perpetrator’s use of violence towards family members. Collusion can take many forms (verbal and non-verbal), it can be conscious or unconscious and it includes any action that has the effect of reinforcing the perpetrator’s violence-supportive narratives.

Confidential information: For the purposes of the Schemes, the term ‘confidential information’ includes:

• health information and identifiers for the purposes of the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic)
• personal information for the purposes of the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic), including sensitive information (such as a criminal record), and unique identifiers
• personal information for the purposes of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), including sensitive information.

Coordinated risk management: Coordinated risk management is when multiple professionals and organisations act together to assess risk and plan to mitigate family violence risks for victim survivors, including children, young people and families.

CRT: Casual Relief Teaching

The department: Department of Education

DFFH: Department of Families, Fairness and Housing

Disclosure: In the context of the Schemes, this is defined as sharing confidential information for the purpose of promoting the wellbeing or safety of a child or group of children.

In the context of family violence, this is defined as when someone tells another person about violence that they have experienced, perpetrated or witnessed.

Evidence-based risk factors: Evidence-based factors are associated with the likelihood of family violence occurring or the severity of the risk of family violence.

Family: For the purposes of the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS), the definition of a family member under the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) is broad. It includes relationships with a former or current intimate partner, genetic or kinship family member, or a family-like relationship, for example, an unpaid carer.

Family violence: Family violence is defined in the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) as:

• behaviour by a person towards a family member that:
  • is physically or sexually abusive
  • is emotionally or psychologically abusive
  • is financially abusive
  • is threatening or coercive
  • in any other way, controls or dominates the family member and causes that family member to feel fear for the safety or wellbeing of that family member or that of another person.
• behaviour that causes a child to hear, witness or otherwise be exposed to the effects of any behaviour referred to above.

Aboriginal community definitions of family violence include extended family, kinship networks, elder abuse and exclusion or isolation from Aboriginal culture and/or community by non-Aboriginal perpetrators.

Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS): The Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS), which is established under Part 5A of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic). FVISS enables relevant information to be shared between certain prescribed entities, namely Risk Assessment Entities (RAEs) and Information Sharing Entities (ISEs), to assess and manage family violence risk, including risks to child, adolescent and adult victim survivors.

Family Violence Intervention Order (FVIO): Family Violence Intervention Orders are made between family members, usually by the Magistrate's Court or the Children's Court, and seek to protect one or more family members ('protected persons') from the behaviour of another family member ('respondent').

Four Critical Actions: Follow the Four Critical Actions when responding to an incident, disclosure or suspicion of child abuse. For more information, see:

• report child abuse in schools
• report child abuse in early childhood

Information Sharing Entity (ISE): An Information Sharing Entity (ISE), which is a prescribed organisation (or part of an organisation) that is authorised to share
confidential information with other prescribed organisations to:

• promote wellbeing or safety of a child or group of children – under the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS)
• assess and manage family violence risk
  • under the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS).

A list of prescribed organisations can be found online at Information Sharing Entity list search.

Information Sharing and Family Violence reforms (the Reforms): The collective term used in the Department for the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS), the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS) and the Family Violence Multi- Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework (MARAM).

Information Sharing Schemes (the Schemes): The collective term used in the Department for the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) and the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS).

Intersectionality: The interconnected nature of social categorisations – such as gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, language, religion, class, socioeconomic status, ability or age – which create overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage for either an individual or group. Family violence can be experienced differently by individuals based on how different parts of their identities interact with each other. This can also affect how individuals access and experience the family violence service system if they seek support.

MARAM or MARAM Framework: The Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework (MARAM), established under Part 11 of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic). MARAM is a risk assessment and management tool which sets out a shared understanding of family violence practice across the Victorian service system. It is used collectively across all government and non-government services to ensure consistency of intervention for children and families. MARAM practice guides and resources can be found online.

MARAM organisation (prescribed organisation): An organisation prescribed by regulation under Part 11 of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) to commence alignment of their policies, procedures, practice guidance and tools to the MARAM Framework.

Perpetrator: The term most commonly used in Victoria to describe a person if it is reasonably believed that there is a risk they may commit family violence. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities may prefer to use the term ‘person who uses family violence’ over perpetrator. It is not an appropriate term to use to describe adolescents who use family violence.

Prescribed organisation or person: An organisation that has been determined under the Schemes, either as an Information Sharing Entity (ISE) or Risk Assessment Entity (RAE) as relevant. The organisation will be prescribed as an ISE or an RAE, which means they will be authorised to share information and required to respond to requests for information from other ISEs or RAEs as relevant.

The Reforms: The Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS), Family Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS) and Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework (MARAM) are collectively called the Reforms in this publication.

RAE: An Information Sharing Entity (ISE) also prescribed to be a Risk Assessment Entity (RAE) under the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS). RAEs can request and receive information from any ISE for a family violence assessment or protection purpose, in response to a request or through proactive sharing from another ISE. Examples of RAEs include Victoria Police, Child Protection, family violence services and the Orange Door.

Services: Services include long day care, kindergarten and before and after school hours care services.

Schools: Schools include government, Catholic and independent schools.

System bodies: System bodies include Catholic and independent system bodies that assist, manage, or govern schools in Victoria.

Statutory bodies: Statutory bodies include the Victorian Institute of Teaching, Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, and Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority.

Third Party: Any person other than the child or the child’s family members when using the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) or the victim survivor or perpetrator when using the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS). Third parties include friends, neighbours, colleagues or workmates whose confidential information may be relevant to promoting the wellbeing or safety of the child or group of children (CISS) or is relevant to assessing or managing risk of family violence (FVISS).

Victim survivor: A person about whom it is reasonably believed that there is a risk the person may be subjected to family violence. This includes adults or children who have disclosed family violence or who have been identified as affected by family violence. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities may prefer to use the term ‘person experiencing family violence’ over victim survivor.

VEYLDF: Victorian Early Years Learning and development Framework.