What new Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) practice guidance is being developed?
Family Safety Victoria (FSV) is developing MARAM practice guidance for:
- direct risk and wellbeing assessment of children and young people victim survivors
- identifying and responding to young people using family violence in the home and in intimate partner/dating relationships (recognising that young people using violence often experience family violence risk).
This new practice guidance will support workforces prescribed under the MARAM Framework to respond directly to children and young people as victim survivors and support their wellbeing. The guidance will support professionals to respond to young people using violence with a trauma and violence-informed, and age and developmental stage lens. The practice guides and tools are anticipated for release in 2025.
What has been achieved so far?
In 2022-23, 41 consultation sessions were held with over 500 professionals across MARAM prescribed workforces to support the development of the child and young person-focused MARAM practice guidance.
The Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare, Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS), and Safe and Equal were engaged to contribute to the development of the Practice Guides, with much of their work contributing to the project now completed. In addition, FSV engaged RMIT and Monash University to undertake research reports.
In December 2022, RMIT published the report ‘Adolescents using Family Violence (AUFV) MARAM Practice Guidance Project 2022: Review of the Evidence Base’.
In March 2023, Monash University published their report, ‘Young people’s experiences of identity abuse in the context of family violence: A Victorian study’. The report provides analysis of Victorian responses received to Monash University’s national survey on children and young people’s family violence experiences, use of violence, service, and support needs. The report builds on the I Believe You report published by Monash University in February 2023 and supports further understanding of the voice and experience of children and young people experiencing family violence.
The findings from each report will directly inform the practice guidance and tools by incorporating young people’s experience of barriers to help seeking and service engagement, and experience of family violence that targets the young person’s identity and/or culture. FSV continues to meet monthly with youth advocates involved in the I Believe You research to ensure the voices of children and young people are centred in the Practice Guides and tools.
In June 2023, FSV further engaged a consortium of Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) and Yoowinna Wurnalung Aboriginal Healing Service (YWAHS) to work on content across the draft practice guidance, co-lead consultations with key stakeholders, engage with and draw upon children and young people’s voices, contribute to tool and template development, and support user testing processes. This approach will ensure that consultation and user testing is culturally safe, and an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lens is centred throughout the development of the Practice Guides and tools.
VACCA and YWAHS are drafting and reviewing content across the Practice Guides to embed a culturally safe lens throughout. Youth Yarns will be held over the coming months with Aboriginal young people.
In July, Swinburne University concluded the Delphi study to develop the identification and assessment tools. This included both survey and focus groups with subject matter experts, including practitioners from prescribed workforces.
Work is underway to finalise the practice guidance and accompanying tools for consultation anticipated to take place in early 2025.
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