Staff supports and other resources

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.