Misidentification of predominant aggressor
As reported in Quarter 1, the Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor (FVRIM), conducted a system-wide review on the accurate identification of predominant aggressor. Victoria Police supported and engaged with the FVRlM during their review and initiated an internal pilot between October to December 2022 to help members consider the factors that can cause misidentification.
Victoria Police remain committed to continuous practice improvement to reduce the likelihood of misidentification. A program of work continues to be progressed in consultation with the organisations and services that make up Victoria’s integrated family violence service system, focusing on improving training, policy, and guidance to strengthen the protection of adult and child victims. Learnings from the internal pilot will continue to be used by Victoria Police to strengthen police responses to family violence.
Implementation of PACPAFV sites
Victoria Police continues to work in partnership with Dhelk Dja to achieve better outcomes for Aboriginal people in Victoria. Police are committed to working collaboratively to reduce harm to the Aboriginal community and we have expanded the number of Police and Aboriginal Community Protocols Against Family Violence to ensure state-wide coverage. With self-determination being a key feature to protocol development we will continue to build positive relationships between police and Victorian Aboriginal communities. It is anticipated by December 2024, there will be 17 established protocols across Victoria.
The rollout of PACPAFVs will strengthen local processes and will ensure state-wide cultural awareness training is occurring in all regions where sites are situated. This will support police to build their understanding around how to respond in a culturally appropriate manner and will enable police to identify family violence risk indicators in alignment with the MARAM Framework.
Protecting children protocol
An updated Protecting children protocol was released in January 2023. This protocol is an update of the 2012 Protecting children: protocol between Department of Health and Human Services – Child Protection and Victoria Police and the 2014 Addendum to protecting children protocol: preventing sexual exploitation of children and young people in out-of-home care.
The protocol and the addendum were combined to improve readability and discovery of relevant content. This includes updates to terminology to reflect current usage as well as updating roles and responsibilities for signatory agencies. The protocol provides guidance for child protection practitioners, Aboriginal Children in Aboriginal Care (ACAC) staff and Victoria Police to enable effective and collaborative responses whilst ensuring agencies have a shared understanding around roles and responsibilities relating to risk assessment and safety planning which is consistent with the intent of the MARAM.
Updated