The Victorian Government has committed to implementing all 227 recommendations of the Royal Commission into Family Violence and to delivering on the vision described in Roadmap for Reform: Strong Families, Safe Children.
A key recommendation of the Royal Commission and the Roadmap for Reform was to establish a network of Support and Safety Hubs (‘Hubs’) across Victoria to provide a new way for women, children and young people experiencing family violence, and families who need assistance with the care and wellbeing of children to access the services they need to be safe and supported. These Hubs are known as The Orange Door.
The Orange Door is also intended to hold perpetrators to account by planning interventions to address the risk they pose and challenging their controlling, violent and abusive behaviour.
The Orange Door keeps the whole family in view and provides a more visible contact point to access family violence services, family services and perpetrators/men’s services, with expert support tailored to each family member’s needs.
The Royal Commission into Family Violence and the Roadmap for Reform recommended the establishment of Support and Safety Hubs because:
- people often didn’t know where to go for help
- service responses can be fragmented and uncoordinated, with people having to repeatedly tell their story
- children and families were not always getting the right support at the right time – services were overwhelmed, and family violence is a major driver of child vulnerability
- efforts across the service system to hold perpetrators to account and keep them in view were insufficient, leaving victim survivors with the burden of managing risk
- there was too little effort in preventing harm and intervening at the earliest possible opportunity
- practitioners undertaking risk assessments were not supported by the best available information or tools to adequately address the diversity of people’s experiences of family violence and children’s wellbeing
- the type of response people received was often dependent on their point of entry to the service system and the capacity of that entry point to respond effectively
About this document
The Orange Door service model builds on the vision and aspirations articulated in The Support and Safety Hubs Statewide Concept released in July 2017.
It provides further refinement of the scope and functionality outlined in the Statewide Concept. It details the baseline requirements, processes and operational specifications for the foundational model.
This version of the document (version 2) was updated to reflect:
- branding of Hubs as The Orange Door
- changes to information sharing legislation
- implementation of the Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) Framework.
Future developments in the service model will continue to be set at the statewide level, informed by local practice and experience.
The service model describes the processes and functions of The Orange Door in stages – from access and assessment, to response and review. The experiences of family violence or child and family vulnerability are not linear, and risk is dynamic. The Orange Door functions are part of an ongoing and dynamic process of engagement, assessment, planning, response and review. People connect with or leave The Orange Door at different points.
Purpose
This document provides a detailed description of the ‘end-to-end’ service model of The Orange Door. It is not intended to provide the specific processes and procedures applied by workers in the day-to-day operations or the cultural and practice elements that develop the integration and collaboration changes that are core to The Orange Door operation. This document is supported by The Orange Door service specifications, partnership agreements, an interim integrated practice framework, interim operational procedural guidelines, perpetrator practice guidance, interim operational guidance on service interfaces described below and in future, by a performance monitoring framework.
Service specifications
These outline the requirements that the service providers must conform to in delivering the statewide service model for The Orange Door. It includes the operating context, key objectives and deliverables, minimum expectations, quality requirements and critical data collection and performance frameworks to which service providers must comply. The service specifications underpin the service agreements, which form the legally binding document that holds service providers accountable.
Partnership agreement
A partnership agreement within The Orange Door in each area, involving government and the organisations within The Orange Door, provides the foundation for collective leadership of The Orange Door. This creates a legal mechanism across the organisations and key government agencies within The Orange Door to embed collective leadership, set down a shared vision, goals and actions, support integration of services, formalise governance mechanisms and create a process for dispute resolution.
Interim integrated practice framework
The interim integrated practice framework focuses on the coordinated delivery of The Orange Door functions and aims to establish consistent, strong, integrated and collaborative practice across each of The Orange Door areas. It provides the foundation to create a common language, shared understanding and consistent approach to practice within The Orange Door. It ensures that the practitioners at The Orange Door work well together, know what they are required to do and understand the intended outcome of their practice.
Perpetrator practice guidance
The perpetrator practice guidance outlines how The Orange Door will manage perpetrators of family violence, and in doing so, keep them accountable and in view. The guidance identifies a range of practice approaches, system and organisational mechanisms to ensure perpetrator accountability is embedded within The Orange Door operations. MARAM Framework perpetrator focused tools and practice guidance will also be made available.
Interim Operational Guidance on Service Interfaces
Interim operational guidance on service interfaces outline a consistent approach to the coordination of service interfaces between The Orange Door and key statewide service providers. Recognising the breadth of service interfaces that will contribute to the effective delivery of The Orange Door, Family Safety Victoria is taking a phased approach to developing this statewide guidance. Operational guidance between The Orange Door and the following government agencies and community service organisations have been published at: https://www.vic.gov.au/orange-door-practitioner-resources
- Magistrate’s Court to Victorian Government
- Community Operations and Victims Support Agency
- Child protection and integrated family services
- Men’s referral service
- Risk Assessment and Management Panels (RAMPs)
- Victoria Police
The interface between safe steps, as the 24-hour crisis response service and gateway to refuge, and The Orange Door is guided by interim protocols which are being tested and refined with a view to providing clear and seamless pathways for victim survivors as they move through the system.
MARAM Framework and practice guidance
Organisations prescribed by Part 11 of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008, are required to align their policies, procedures, practice guidance and tools to the MARAM Framework. The Orange Door was prescribed along with a range of other organisations on 27 September 2018, with additional organisations gradually being prescribed in a phased approach. For The Orange Door, alignment to the MARAM Framework, includes the use of the family violence risk assessment tools and practice guides. The Tools for Risk Assessment and Management (TRAM) is an online platform that hosts the suite of MARAM assessment tools and is accessed by The Orange Door through the CRM. The practice guides include a Foundation Knowledge Practice Guide (to be used by all professionals regardless of their role in relation to family violence) and Responsibilities for Practice Guide, which spans the 10 MARAM Framework responsibilities for risk assessment and management.
The Orange Door evaluation
FSV is committed to the continuous improvement of The Orange Door. Evaluation of The Orange Door forms part of this commitment, and the findings and recommendations from evaluations of The Orange Door are informing current implementation, and will inform future implementation.
An initial evaluation in 2018 of The Orange Door in the first four areas (Barwon, Bayside Peninsula, Mallee and North East Melbourne) has focused on the establishment, operations and initial service offering of The Orange Door.
Further evaluations of The Orange Door are anticipated to cover:
- consideration of client experience and client impact associated with accessing The Orange Door evaluation of the service model/service offering
- assessment of client and system outcomes
Future evaluations will consider The Orange Door established in areas in 2018 and The Orange Door to be established in areas between 2019-22.
Putting people at the centre
The voices of people with lived experience, have been a critical input into the design and implementation of The Orange Door. The experiences of people who have accessed the service system are an important source of information and knowledge for the ongoing development of The Orange Door.
FSV continues to implement processes to support the input of the client voice into ongoing operations.
The Client Voice Data Collection and Response Process:
- measures the experience of clients of The Orange Door
- measures the satisfaction of clients of The Orange Door (a reporting measure)
- embeds the voice of clients and a focus on client experience in the everyday work and ongoing development of The Orange Door
- provides information to support the MARAM Framework’s aims of embedding responsibility within services for respectful, sensitive and safe client engagement
The Client Voice Process was co-produced with people with lived experience and practitioners to ensure relevancy, safety and value for participants across the board. Clients will be offered a two-minute survey at the end of a contact as part of a time-limited quarterly data collection. Clients will be able to complete the survey verbally, at the end of a call, online, on paper or tablet in an area office.
Who we are working with to establish The Orange Door
In consultation with the community sector and agencies across government, FSV has worked with key partners to:
- develop The Orange Door service model and an interim integrated practice framework to ensure consistency across all The Orange Door and service delivery partners
- establish accountability mechanisms and systems for oversight and coordination of The Orange Door
- establish infrastructure including an effective client relationship management system
This has included working with the:
- Family Violence Steering Committee
- Aboriginal Family Violence Co-design Forum
- Dhelk Dja Partnership Forum
- Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council (VSAC)
- Statewide Reference Group for The Orange Door
- The Orange Door Working Group
- The Orange Door Steering Committee
- Diverse Communities and Intersectionality Working Group
- Existing key sector and cross-sector forums, including peak bodies for children and families, specialist family violence and men’s family violence services
Local engagement has focused on developing a deeper awareness of the local context and service provision in the area to assist in forming a shared understanding of local conditions and a solid foundation for working in partnership. This engagement has included conversations with:
- Hub Leadership Groups
- Operational Leadership Groups
- Aboriginal Advisory Groups
- Local Hub Establishment Forum participants Local communities
- Aboriginal services and organisations
- community service organisations
- existing regional committees and alliances
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