Aboriginal acknowledgement

The Victorian Government acknowledges Victorian Aboriginal people as the First Peoples and Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land and water on which we rely. We acknowledge and respect that Aboriginal communities are steeped in traditions and customs built on a disciplined social and cultural order that has sustained 60,000 years of existence. We acknowledge the significant disruptions to social and cultural order and the ongoing hurt caused by colonisation.

We acknowledge the ongoing leadership role of Aboriginal communities in addressing and preventing family violence and will continue to work in collaboration with First Peoples to eliminate family violence from all communities.

Victim survivor acknowledgement

The Victorian Government acknowledges victim survivors. We keep at the forefront in our minds all those who have experienced family violence or other forms of abuse, and for whom we undertake this work.

Family violence support

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 the Safe Steps 24/7 family violence response line on 1800 015 188.

If you are concerned for your safety or that of someone else, please contact the police in your state or territory, or call Triple Zero (000) for emergency assistance.

I am pleased to present the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) Framework annual report for 2020-21.

This report outlines activities by Victorian government departments, sector peaks and individual organisations to align policies, procedures, practice guidance and tools with the MARAM Framework.

MARAM is a foundational and critical element of family violence reform, enabling a consistent and collaborative response to family violence. It is referenced in this report along with the two complementary reforms of the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS) and the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS).

I want to acknowledge the incredible commitment across government, our sector partners and broader service system to deliver this critical work, while at the same time managing and prioritising responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ending family violence remains a Victorian Government priority and implementing MARAM is a core element to achieve this. That’s why in the Victorian State Budget 2021-22, we invested $96.985 million in MARAM and the FVISS and CISS reforms over the next four years:

This includes:

• $35.1 million over four years to develop and deliver training, resources and tools to support implementation of the FVISS, the CISS and the MARAM Framework
• $15.3 million over four years to meet the demand for information sharing from courts, Victoria Police and Child Protection
• $17.2 million over four years for expert reform coordination teams in Family Safety Victoria (FSV) and the Department of Education and Training (DET)
• $29.4 million over four years for a range of change management, leadership strengthening and cross-sectoral collaboration activities to support universal health and education workforces.

The Family Violence Reform Rolling Action Plan 2020-23 will guide us through the next three years. It includes MARAM and Information Sharing as one of 10 priorities.^[1] Other priorities under the plan include:

• Committing to a community-led response to end family violence against Aboriginal people, underpinned by self-determination.
• Improving access to safe and stable housing options for victim survivors.
• Developing a system-wide approach to keeping perpetrators and people who use violence accountable, connected and responsible for stopping their violence.
• Delivering an accessible and visible service for people experiencing family violence and children and families in need of support through The Orange Door Network.

The recruitment and retention of highly skilled and supported staff in specialist family violence and sexual assault services is essential for MARAM’s broader implementation across the service system. The success of our family violence reforms depends on the strength of the workforces that deliver them, and significant work is being undertaken under the Building from strength: 10-Year Industry Plan for family violence and response^[2] to create a flexible, dynamic, and highly skilled workforce.

In the past year, work under the 10-year plan has included the introduction of mandatory minimum qualification requirements over a five-year transition period (in response to recommendation 209 of the Royal Commission into Family Violence). The policy outlines the qualifications required for new specialist family violence practitioners commencing employment in services funded by the Victorian Government from 1 July 2021.

The launch of the successful Family Violence Attraction and Recruitment Campaign and the development of a Jobs Portal for family violence roles has directly promoted the profile of work in the specialist family violence sector.

I would like to thank all ministers with framework organisations within their portfolios on the continued work being undertaken to align to MARAM during the 2020-21 financial year. This report is consolidated from my own portfolio report and the reports provided by:^[3]

• the Hon Jaclyn Symes, Attorney-General
• the Hon James Merlino MP, Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health
• the Hon Lisa Neville MP, Minister for Police
• the Hon Luke Donnellan MP, (former) Minister for Child Protection, (former) Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers
• the Hon Martin Foley MP, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Health
• the Hon Melissa Horne MP, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation
• the Hon Natalie Hutchins MP, Minister for Crime Prevention, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support
• the Hon Richard Wynne MP, Minister for Housing
• the Hon Ros Spence MP, Minister for Multicultural Affairs
• Ms Ingrid Stitt MLC, Minister for Early Childhood.

I acknowledge the work of specialist family violence and sexual assault services and The Orange Door Network for the exemplary work they have continued to perform in response to family violence throughout these difficult times.

I also wish to acknowledge the work of peak bodies, Principle Strategic Advisors (PSAs), Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) and other leading organisations across the state of Victoria. I would like to thank these organisations for leading the implementation of MARAM and the information sharing reforms and for the ongoing support that they have given other services.

Lastly, I thank all those across government, and sector colleagues across community services, police, justice, education and health for their continued work and dedication in improving our response to family violence, noting this has continued to take place despite the profound impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The collaboration as evidenced throughout this report helps drive the success of the reforms and reinforces the government’s commitment to ensure that safety of victim survivors is everyone’s responsibility.

^[1] Victorian Government 2020, Family violence reform rolling action plan 2020-2023 https://www.vic.gov.au/family-violence-reform-rolling-action-plan-2020-…

^[2] Victorian Government 2017, Building from strength: 10-year industry plan for family violence prevention and response https://www.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-05/Building-from-streng…

^[3] Ministers listed were the portfolio ministers for the reporting period.

• 370,000 workers across more than 6,000 organisations are prescribed to the MARAM Framework since April 2021.
• MARAM online systems facilitated the completion of 54,000 risk assessments and safety plans.
• The Victorian Government allocated $97 million in the State Budget 2021-22 to support Phase 2 implementation of MARAM, FVISS and CISS*.
• The inaugural MARAM Annual Survey of Organisations distributed to 800 organisations prescribed under Phase 1 of the MARAM rollout.
• More than 1,000 professionals consulted in several rounds for the development of adult perpetrator-focused Practice Guides throughout 2020-21.
• 13,871 workers have received MARAM training in 2020-21 across all MARAM modules.
• 21,528 workers have received MARAM training across all MARAM modules from inception to the end of June 2021.
• The Central Information Point (CIP) delivered 4,023 reports in 2020-21.
• The Central Information Point (CIP) delivered over 10,200 reports from inception to the end of June 2021.

*announced in May 2021 for implementation in 2021/22.

The MARAM Framework creates a response model for all services that connect with adults and children who may be experiencing family violence.

It covers all aspects of service delivery from early identification, screening, risk assessment and management, to safety planning, collaborative practice, stabilisation and recovery.

The objectives of the MARAM Framework are to:

• ensure that all professionals, regardless of their role, have a shared understanding of family violence and perpetrator behaviour, including its drivers, presentation, prevalence and impacts
• increase the safety of people experiencing family violence
• ensure the broad range of experiences across the spectrum of seriousness and presentations of risk are represented in the family violence response, including for Aboriginal and diverse communities, children, young people and older people, across identities, and family and relationships types
• keep perpetrators in view and hold them accountable for their actions
• provide guidance on how to align to the MARAM Framework to ensure consistent service delivery.

MARAM has been implemented alongside two other government reforms – the FVISS and CISS. FSV is the lead agency on the implementation of MARAM and the FVISS. DET is the lead agency on the implementation of the CISS.

Implementation of the reforms is broadly across three mechanisms:

Where relevant, the chapters highlight the different roles played by FSV as WoVG lead, government departments and administrative offices as portfolio leads, and sector peaks and organisations.

• Chapters 1 to 5 provide further background on the MARAM reforms, use of language consistent with the MARAM Framework and the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Chapters 5 to 8 provide highlights and a summary of core activities across portfolios, structured around four strategic change priorities.
• Chapter 9 outlines the next steps being taken across portfolios to continue the reform implementation.

This report does not capture the full range of activities undertaken by government and sector, as the purpose is to provide a snapshot of achievements in MARAM alignment from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.

This table sets out the departments, Ministers, portfolios and program areas that are referenced in this report. See Appendix 1 and 2 for portfolios prescribed in Phase 1 and 2 respectively, and Appendix 6 for a more detailed description of each program area's work profile.

Phase 1 portfolios

The following portfolios and relevant services were prescribed to the MARAM Framework from 27 September 2018.

Table 1: Phase 1 Portfolios

Phase 2 portfolios

On 19 April 2021, MARAM, FVISS and CISS were extended to additional sectors, primarily health and education services. There are now over 370,000 workers across more than 6,000 organisations required to align with MARAM.^[4]

Phase 2 is a significant step forward in the reforms as it reinforces the vision of the Royal Commission into Family Violence (the Royal Commission) regarding health and education workforces being authorised to share information to facilitate assessment and management of family violence risk to children and adults.

Due to the timing of the Phase 2 commencement within this reporting period, the newly prescribed portfolios are reporting on a three-month period only, 19 April 2021-30 June 2021.

Table 2: Phase 2 Portfolios

^[4] Over 400,000 workers across 8,000 organisations when including organisations prescribed to the FVISS only, i.e., GPs.

Adults, children and young people who have experienced family violence are referred to as victim survivors.

The word family has many different meanings. This report uses the definition from the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (FVPA), which acknowledges the variety of relationships and structures that can make up a family unit and the range of ways family violence can be experienced, including through family-like or carer relationships (in non-institutional paid carer environments).

The term family violence reflects the FVPA and includes the wider understanding of the term across all communities. Dhelk Dja: Safe Our Way – Strong Culture, Strong Peoples, Strong Families defines family violence as an issue focused on a wide range of physical, emotional, sexual, social, spiritual, cultural, psychological and economic abuses that occur within families, intimate relationships, extended families, kinship networks and communities. It extends to one-on-one fighting, abuse of Indigenous community workers as well as self-harm, injury and suicide.

Family violence is a deeply gendered issue rooted in structural inequalities and an imbalance of power between women and men. While people of all genders can be perpetrators or victim survivors of family violence, overwhelmingly, perpetrators are men, who largely perpetrate violence against women (who are their current or former partner) and children.

Throughout this document, the term Aboriginal is used to refer to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Intersectionality describes how systems and structures interact on multiple levels to oppress, create barriers and overlapping forms of discrimination, stigma and power imbalances based on characteristics such as Aboriginality, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, colour, nationality, refugee or asylum seeker background, migration or visa status, language, religion, ability, age, mental health, socioeconomic status, housing status, geographic location, medical record or criminal record. This compounds the risk of experiencing family violence and creates additional barriers for a person to access the help they need.

The term perpetrator describes adults who choose to use family violence, acknowledging the preferred term for some Aboriginal people and communities, as well as in practice, is a person who uses violence.

Adolescents who use family violence require a different response to family violence used by adults, because of their age and the possibility that they are also victim survivors of family violence. The term perpetrator does not refer to adolescents who use family violence.

Set out below is an overview of the legislation, policy and frameworks that support Victoria’s response to family violence.

Figure 1 shows the legislative structure around the MARAM Framework.

The top line, in grey, refers to the legislation that enables the Minister to approve a framework for family violence response and require framework organisations to align with it, as well as establishing formal review mechanisms. The FVPA Part 11 contains the relevant provisions. Also referenced is Part 5A of the FVPA which relates to the FVISS.

The second line, in orange, references the various regulations and legislatives instruments that operationalise the legislation by listing the organisations that are prescribed to align with MARAM and FVISS, and defining the matters that are to be reported on by ministers and the core components of the framework.

The third line, in blue, summarises the core policy documents for the reforms, namely the MARAM Framework and the FVISS Ministerial Guidelines. Note that other policies relevant to MARAM implementation are referred to in this and previous reports including Everybody Matters^[5], Dhelk Dja^[6]and Nargneit Birrang^[7].

The fourth and bottom line, in green, are the supporting resources that have been developed to help put the policy into practice. This includes guidance for practitioners, as well as embedding guidance for organisational leaders. This image only highlights the resources produced centrally by FSV as lead agency, and not the many tailored and updated resources applicable to various workforces. It is expected that the list of central guidance will continue to grow including guidance on working with adolescents who use violence in the home.

The left side of the image, in light blue, refers to the legislated five-year evaluation due in 2023, as well as the FSV-initiated two-year evaluation of MARAM undertaken by the Cube Group and referred to in this and the earlier 2019-20 annual report.^[8]

^[5] Everybody Matters: Inclusion and Equity Statement | Victorian Government (www.vic.gov.au)

^[6] Dhelk Dja – a partnership with Aboriginal communities to address family violence | Victorian Government (www.vic.gov.au)

^[7] Nargneit Birrang - Aboriginal holistic healing framework for family violence | Victorian Government (www.vic.gov.au)

^[8] Noting the two-year review of FVISS by Monash University is also referenced in this and the earlier 2019-20 annual report.

Figure 2 illustrates on a page the three core components of the MARAM Framework.

The image summarises the 10 MARAM principles.^[9] MARAM is based on the belief that to provide consistent, effective and safe responses for people experiencing family violence, services need a shared understanding of family violence. To help achieve a shared understanding, the MARAM Principles help guide any response provided across the service system. The full text of the Principles can be found at Appendix 3.

The image also outlines the four MARAM Pillars and their requirements. The Pillars are set at an organisational level and are designed to build knowledge and skill and support the effective integration of a consistent, system-wide response to family violence. In aligning policies, procedures, practice guidance and tools with MARAM, organisations should refer to the 4 Pillars. Further details on the operation of the Pillars can be found in Appendix 4.

The right side of the image lists the 10 MARAM Responsibilities – these are contained within Pillar 3 which requires organisations to understand these responsibilities in their context and equip their workforces to meet the responsibilities. The full details of the Responsibilities can be found in Appendix 5.

The responsibilities can be broadly summarised into three levels of practice:

1. identification: MARAM Responsibilities 1-2, 5-6 and 9-10
2. intermediate: MARAM Responsibilities 1-6 and 9-10
3. comprehensive: MARAM Responsibilities 1-10

References to identification training (‘Screening and Identification’), intermediate training (‘Brief and Intermediate’) and comprehensive training (‘Specialist Practice’) are contained within this report.

^[9] The full text of the principles can be found in Appendix 4.

Throughout 2020-21 both metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria have been subjected to varying levels of restrictions. This created a dynamic and changing environment for services prescribed to implement MARAM. The commencement of Phase 2 for health and education workforces was postponed from September 2020 to April 2021 to account for the significant impact upon those particular workforces.

The COVID-19 pandemic saw an increase in the frequency and severity of family violence incidences in Victoria. This involves new forms of economic, emotional, and coercive controlling abusive behaviours^[10]. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, new safety measures were implemented to reduce the spread of the virus within the community. Although necessary, these measures had implications such as social isolation, a known risk in family violence. It has also been noted that:

• there are new forms of intimate partner abuse towards women, including perpetrators having thought out strategies to attain social isolation (the threat and risk of COVID-19 infection)
• there has been an increase in coercion and control, social isolation, financial abuse, technology abuse, and the fear of contracting COVID-19.

Public health directions have attempted to balance the need to stay home with messaging that you can leave to attend a police station, court or for support or accommodation.

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, government departments and agencies continued to implement MARAM, in recognition of the important role all services have in the identification and management of family violence risk. Understandably, the pandemic disrupted implementation and alignment activities.

All workforces have seen a change to their working practice, including frontline community services organisations, specialist family violence and sexual assault services, The Orange Door Network, courts, Victoria Police, health services, education and community justice.

The recent report of the Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor (FVRIM) outlined the key changes and impacts of a number of initiatives during the COVID-19 response.^[11]

These included:

• remote service delivery across the service system
• increased crisis accommodation
• the quick response of Safe Steps to develop an online access point, through a web chat function
• the Multicultural COVID-19 Family Violence Program, enabling multicultural, faith-based and ethno-specific organisations to receive appropriate support
• an increase in access to legal services for victim survivors through the launch of a family violence priority phone line
• the release of two COVID-19 specific advertising campaigns, ‘Respect Each Other: Call It Out’ and ‘Respect Older People: Call it Out’
• delivering online MARAM training for all workforces including e-learning and webinars
• embedding the MARAM screening tool in the hotel quarantine program
• family violence perpetrator programs for prisoners and community-based offenders adapted to remote service delivery
• the continuation of Operation Ribbon until December 2020 with Victoria Police Family Violence Investigation Units actively engaging with their highest-risk perpetrators and affected family members
• health and wellbeing key contacts assigned to government schools to increase support for vulnerable students.

Please note that all implementation activities and achievements for the 2020-21 reporting year may have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, even where not directly referenced.

^[10] https://awava.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Impact-of-COVID-on-DFV-Services-12-Nov.pdf

^[11] COVID-19 response | Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor (fvrim.vic.gov.au)

The MARAM reforms are now in their third year, and it is vital that change management continues to involve clear and consistent leadership by departments, supported by sector peaks.

The early evaluation of MARAM noted that central MARAM teams in government departments provided a strong foundation for leading the roll out of the reforms. This is supported by a clear and robust governance structure.

The additional funding provided directly to peak bodies and organisations means that departments can lead in practice direction, while trusted workforce leaders can work more directly with practitioners to support implementation.

This chapter is in three sections. Firstly, it describes the efforts by FSV as reform lead to provide central policy, resources and governance oversight to support implementation. Secondly, it focuses in on the leadership provided by departments to their sectors in guiding implementation. Finally, the report looks at the critical role of sector peaks and organisations in leading sector readiness and supporting the long-term cultural change necessary to implement and embed the reforms.

Section A: Family Safety Victoria as WoVG lead

Highlights

• The Rolling Action Plan 2020-2023 articulated MARAM as a WoVG core foundational priority, and essential to developing a system-wide approach to perpetrator accountability
• The State Budget 2021-22 allocated a further $97 million over four years across relevant government departments and agencies to fund the continued implementation of MARAM, FVISS and CISS, with a focus on Phase 2.
• The regulations were amended on 15 December 2020, to enable Phase 2 organisations to commence under the reforms on 19 April 2021. These amendments prescribed organisations to MARAM, as well as to FVISS and CISS.^[12]

Governance oversight and accountability

In direct response to an evaluation recommendation on MARAM implementation by the Cube Group, FSV revised and strengthened the governance and oversight arrangements. A MARAM and Workforce Directors Group oversees the implementation of MARAM (as well as FVISS and the Family Violence Industry Plan) and reports to a Project Reform Board. The Directors Group, chaired by FSV, provides regular project oversight of the reforms, including high-level tracking of expenditure, risks and issues of multilateral relevance, achievement of milestones and deliverables against agreed project plans.

The revised approach to governance provides a platform for strong and effective oversight of the implementation of MARAM activities, including monitoring of and responding to implementation challenges. In addition, sector grants implementation has been strengthened during this period by developing connected and clear working relationships and strengthening monitoring and performance management through quarterly reporting.

Oversight of actions to strengthen the perpetrator response has been strengthened through its inclusion as a domain in the Family Violence Outcomes Framework.

Perpetrator response

A significant area of work for FSV is in strengthening the perpetrator response through central policy development:

• Practice guidance on working with adults who use violence has been developed throughout 2020-21; with the release of the guidance in 2021-22. Chapter 7 contains additional details about the development of the guidance in supporting consistent and collaborative practice.
• Service guidelines, which outline a multi-intervention service response to perpetrators during the COVID-19 pandemic, were developed to support the continuation of work with perpetrators to ensure the safety of victim survivors. The guidelines were published in July 2020 and updated in November 2020 to align risk assessment, management and safety planning to MARAM.
• The perpetrator domain in the Family Violence Outcomes Framework, released in November 2020, was updated. The new outcomes and indicators contribute to consistent and collaborative practice (Pillar 2) by emphasising whole-of-system responses for holding perpetrators accountable and by driving integrated responses to support stabilisation for perpetrators and reduce risk (for example related to housing, mental health, the use of alcohol and drugs).
• A perpetrator accountability theory of change and monitoring and evaluation framework is being developed, contributing to a shared understanding of family violence (Pillar 1) by making clearer the full breadth of family violence (for example, including coercive control), which when measured will drive deeper understanding of perpetrators’ violent actions and patterns of behaviour, as well as systems, outcomes and continuous improvement (Pillar 4) through the improvements in collection and use of data and analysis.

Everybody Matters Statement and Implementation

FSV continues to fund initiatives that support members across Victorian communities, taking an intersectional approach in line with the Everybody Matters statement and leading the development of best practice.^[13]

This includes:

• funding three Family Violence and DisabilityPractice Leaders in three Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) areas in which The Orange Door Network is operational to build capability of The Orange Door and specialist partner agencies workforces, provide practice leadership and strengthen linkages and referral pathways with disability services
• developing and disseminating four new practice tools to help navigate the NDIS system, identify risk and protective factors related to the NDIS and tips for family violence and sexual assault practitioners when writing support letters and for communicating with the NDIS related to key NDIS processes
• How2 (‘Rainbow Tick ready’) inclusive practice training provided for over 100 specialist family violence sector organisations
• preliminary work in conjunction with DFFH to develop a WoVG strategy to respond to family violence committed against older people (elder abuse)
• in July 2020, a Multicultural Communities Family Violence Working Group, co-chaired by FSV and the Victorian Multicultural Commission, was established to support the 20 organisations funded under the Multicultural COVID-19 Family Violence Program. The Program is a joint initiative between DFFH and FSV, providing $2.4 million to 20 multicultural, ethno-specific and faith-based organisations across Victoria during the COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery to deliver family violence awareness raising, primary prevention and early intervention activities within their communities

• the development of the Aboriginal Family Violence Industry Strategy under Dhelk Dja, to provide a culturally informed framework to continue to build the capacity of Aboriginal services and its people in the family violence sector. Building on the strong foundations of experience in the sector, it will increase the number of Aboriginal people engaging in further education, prioritise Aboriginal led family violence programs and prevention initiatives and highlight the importance of Aboriginal culture in the sector.

Section B: Departments as portfolio leads

Highlights

• DFFH and Department of Health (DH) amended service agreements for funded organisations to include a new reference requiring prescribed organisations to align to MARAM.
• DFFH has established an internal MARAM Implementation Steering Committee to support a consistent approach to MARAM alignment and implementation across the department’s prescribed Community Services Operating Division workforces.
• DFFH has developed a series of behaviour statements (I-statements) to support practitioners to integrate MARAM Responsibilities into their practice and build confidence and competence in recognising and responding to family violence.
• DJCS Victim Services Support and Reform (VSSR) signed a memorandum of understanding with FSV to pilot the use of online tools for risk assessment and management for victim-survivors of family violence.
• DH established a Specialist Family Violence Advisor (SFVA) state-wide steering committee in November 2020 to provide state-wide support, direction and leadership of the SFVA positions, including ensuring the positions support MARAM alignment and implementation.^[14]
• The Strengthening Hospitals Response to Family Violence (SHRFV) initiative has developed MARAM-aligned training and practice guidance to support front-line hospital staff to identify and provide early support to victim survivors of family violence. This means that staff report family violence risk as a standard part of their role, and it is built into hospital business as usual.
• DET’s Supporting Student Cohorts Affected by Family Violence Initiative (FVI) received the Evidence Based Policy Award at the IPAA Leadership in the Public Sector 2020 Awards on 20 April 2021. The FVI initiative achieved significant increases in school staff members’ levels of awareness, knowledge, skill and confidence to support students affected by family violence as well as increased identification and improved referral pathways.
• DET has signed on all Victorian government schools to the Respectful Relationships initiative, acquitting recommendation 189 of the Royal Commission into Family Violence. More than 1,950 Victorian government, Catholic and independent schools are participating in Respectful Relationships.

Department of Education and Training

More than 1,950 Victorian government, Catholic and independent schools are signed on to the Respectful Relationships whole school approach. This includes all government schools, acquitting recommendation 189 of the Royal Commission into Family Violence.

Respectful Relationships is a primary prevention of family violence initiative. It supports schools to promote and model respect, positive attitudes and behaviours and teaches students how to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence.

Department Respectful Relationships Area staff provide on-the-ground support to schools, including project leads to guide implementation and liaison officers to support schools to respond to disclosures of family violence and implement FVISS and MARAM.

This is also supported by Respectful Relationships professional learning for early childhood educators. The professional learning aims to increase awareness and understanding of the dynamics of gender equality and family and introduces MARAM, FVISS and CISS.

The Supporting Student Cohorts Affected by Family Violence Initiative (FVI) was designed as a secondary or early intervention to build on the foundation laid by the Respectful Relationships Initiative.

The FVI was established in 2018 to develop evidence-based policy, along with practice guidance and resources for all school staff to assist them in providing an effective and early response to students who may be or are affected by family violence.

The objectives of the FVI were to:

• increase knowledge, skills, and confidence of school and regional staff (teachers, health and wellbeing specialists, leadership, and support staff) to respond to and support students who are experiencing family violence
• provide clarity and consistency on areas of responsibility for different roles within schools and the Department
• assist in development of referral pathways and service linkages
• contribute to the evidence base on early interventions to support school students who may be or are affected by family violence, including the processes for developing and implementing such supports.

DFFH: Child Protection

DFFH is developing a Strategy to Enable Practice Change. The strategy provides a considered and wholistic approach to support the implementation of MARAM and builds capability to recognise and respond to family violence risk.

To support practitioners to integrate MARAM responsibilities into their practice, the strategy contains ’I statements’ developed with the Victim Survivors Advisory Council (VSAC), including:

• When I see observable signs of trauma or assess there are safety risks, I ask the family violence screening questions in a place I know is safe for the client.
• I do not undertake screening and identification for family violence with the victim survivor when the person alleged to be using violence is present.

• I apply the Structured Professional Judgment Model to the information sought and shared through asking the risk assessment questions to determine the level of risk.
• I can describe high-risk factors, that based on the perpetrator’s behaviour and circumstances, have changed, or escalated in frequency or severity.
• I assess the risk to each child and young person independently and then consider this collectively with the risk experienced by the parent/carer and other children/young people to inform my determination of the level of risk for each family member.

DFFH: Multicultural Affairs

The Victorian Government is committed to ensuring that all Victorians, no matter their cultural identity, background or faith, feel accepted and free to participate fully in society. The actions taken by DFFH to support the first three months of alignment was to provide clear and consistent leadership to newly prescribed framework organisations across the multicultural and settlement sector to begin aligning their policies, procedures, practice guidance and tools to MARAM.

• FSV has provided sector support funding to AMES Australia, Whittlesea Community Connections and Jewish Care to deliver tailored implementation support. The department is working closely with the three organisations, who have developed agreed deliverables for the 2021-22 reporting period.
• Information sessions were organised for the services by Multicultural Affairs, the Office for Prevention of Family Violence and Coordination, Office for Youth, and Family Safety Victoria (FSV) to introduce the operational aspects of MARAM and information sharing to support the identification, assessment, and management of family violence risk.
• An internal working group of departmental officials has been established to provide program-level oversight and support clear and consistent leadership in relation to the ongoing implementation of MARAM and the information sharing schemes by prescribed multicultural and settlement organisations.^[15]

DH: Ambulance Victoria

The Ambulance Victoria Safeguarding Care Program has been established to oversee Ambulance Victoria’s approach to family violence, child safety and improvement activities that provide a safety net for victim survivors, children, vulnerable people and at-risk communities. The ‘Safeguarding Care Senior Lead’ will oversee the implementation and operation of MARAM across Ambulance Victoria by leading the work to identify which parts of Ambulance Victoria’s practice can be brought into alignment now and develop a longer-term plan to improve family violence risk assessment and management practice over time.

DH: Health services

Strengthening Hospital Responses to Family Violence (SHRFV) was established in 2016 to provide a system-wide approach to responding to family violence. Twenty-seven hospitals were funded to implement the initiative and provide mentoring and support to the remaining 62 public hospitals in a regional hub-and-spoke style model.

DH recognises the key role that SHRFV has played in supporting health services respond to family violence and the great opportunity to continue the important work through supporting health services alignment to MARAM. Prior to prescription the SHRFV initiative team had already developed resources to support organisational leaders adopt a stronger response to family violence and develop a MARAM action plan to be endorsed at the highest level.

Funding has been approved for SHRFV to support MARAM alignment until June 2024.

Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS): Corrections Victoria

Corrections Victoria (CV) has designed and published a Corrections Family Violence Programs and Services Guide which outlines clinical and non-clinical programs and pathways and the availability of CALD and Aboriginal specific services related to family violence.

To embed MARAM practice within Corrections Victoria’s funded service programs, many organisations have:

• committed to focus work on LGBITQA+ communities, women, trans and gender diverse people who have enacted harm and young people who have both enacted and experienced family violence
• applied intersectional analysis to understand clients as individuals with unique needs and experiences
• undertaken deeper clinical exploration in relation to marginalised groups, including gender affirming approaches and literature
• ensured that an intersectional approach is embedded into family violence practice
• dedicated specific resources to embed MARAM
• mapped programs and services against the MARAM responsibilities to guide work plans
• set up working groups to support MARAM alignment and the implementation of the FVISS.

Women’s prisons

Embedding a trauma-informed approach to prisoner management at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre and Tarrengower women’s prisons is a key area of reform to improve the gender responsiveness of the women’s prison system. Working in partnership with the women, understanding their lived experiences, including of family violence and how this can impact them in prison is essential to trauma informed practice.

CV has engaged a consultant to review and develop a new gender responsive, trauma informed training framework and associated packages, for custodial staff employed to work in the women’s system. The final packages were provided to CV at the end of the financial year, and implementation planning commenced in July 2021.

FSV: The Orange Door

The Orange Door is a free service for adults, children and young people who are experiencing or have experienced family violence and families who need extra support with the care of children.

During 2020-21 The Orange Door opened a further three sites in Central Highlands (October 2020), Loddon (October 2020) and Goulburn (April 2021). A further nine sites are planned in the 2021-22 period bringing coverage to all 17 DFFH areas.

The opening of an Orange Door is complex as it involves the establishment of local partnerships working in collaboration from one site to offer a multi-disciplinary response to family violence for those experiencing and using family violence, as well as for families with children in need. The implementation approach is continually adapted and strengthened based on the operational and implementation experiences in opening previous premises demonstrating a responsive leadership approach.

This can be demonstrated through the development of the Inclusion Action Plan for The Orange Door, which is a state-wide two-year plan to embed inclusion, access and equity in The Orange Door services. The plan was approved in April 2021 and outlines key measures to set the baseline so that everyone who uses The Orange Door feels safe, welcomed and respected. The plan supports The Orange Door partnerships to establish an intersectional approach to their work across family violence, sexual assault and child and family wellbeing in line with MARAM Principles.

The Aboriginal inclusion action plan is a three-year plan that focusses on actions The Orange Door services need to take to improve access and equity for Aboriginal communities.

This plan was endorsed by the Dhelk Dja Partnership Forum on 13 May 2021 and FSV will be consulting with ACCOs on the most appropriate approach to implement the plan, building from the Strengthening Cultural Safety of Family Violence Services project led by the Victorian Aboriginal Childcare Cooperative Agency. This will include the rollout of MARAM-aligned cultural awareness training and approaches to embed a continuum of learning for practitioners and partner agencies.

The Courts

The courts are aligning policies, procedures and processes with the MARAM Framework and MARAM implementation operational guidance. This work is supported by the MARAM operational sub-committee established in late 2020 which includes senior staff from the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria and the Children’s Court of Victoria who provide operational subject matter expertise.

The sub-committee supports:

• developing tailored guidance to help courts’ staff apply MARAM Responsibilities in their day-to-day roles
• supporting staff to use MARAM aligned tools and processes correctly and confidently
• providing opportunities for collaboration and information sharing among staff
• integrating MARAM tools in the courts existing IT and data capture systems to improve the efficient application of MARAM tools and processes and support information sharing.

The project team is working with the Case Management System (CMS) project to ensure the new court-information system provides an integrated solution to capture, store and share family violence risk related information across the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria and the Children’s Court of Victoria.

Victoria Police

A significant review of the Victoria Police Manual – Family Violence was completed in 2021. This was undertaken to ensure the policy directions for responding to family violence and assessing and managing risk are appropriate and aligned to community and sector expectations. During the period, practice guidance was developed to support the Family Violence Report (FVR) approach and promote consistency throughout Victoria Police. Further family violence practice guides are subsequently being reviewed, including the Victoria Police public-facing Code of Practice for Investigation into Family Violence.

Victoria Police actively collaborated with the sector on a number of family violence issues by participating in executive and senior manager level steering committees, advisory groups and workshops on specific family violence issues such as the misidentification of the primary aggressor at family violence incidents, perpetrator engagement by the sector, the operation of The Orange Door, and providing input to Family Safety Victoria for the development of practice guidance documents for victims and family violence support operators.

Following two years of staged implementation of the new Family Violence Report (FVR) (also known as an L17), stakeholder engagement indicates increased confidence by frontline police members in their decision making in response to family violence situations and more useful and fulsome narratives passed onto The Orange Door and other service agencies through the Department of Families, Fairness and Housings (DFFHs) L17 Portal.

In addition, Victoria Police has produced social media campaigns and accessible resources for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, translated into various languages and available in Easy English. These include:

• Information and Support Referralbrochure
• The Family Violence Safety Noticebooklet
• The Family Violence Safety Notice - Standard Conditionsinformation sheet
• The Family Violence: What Police do information sheets
• The Family Violence: Technical Terms Bilingual Tool
• A suite of videos in multiple languages(opens in a new window)
• The Reporting sexual offences to police booklet

The Victoria Police Practice Guide – Family Violence – Priority Community Response has been reviewed and updated, highlighting some of the key considerations for police members when responding to family violence situations within CALD communities applying an intersectional lens.

Section C: Sectors as lead

Highlights

• FSV funded $1.55 million of sector grants to provide direct implementation support to sectors prescribed under the MARAM, FVISS and CISS.
• FSV additionally allocated funds to three multicultural sector grant agencies to support the alignment of 41 migrant, refugee and asylum seeker settlement and casework services (that were prescribed in Phase 2).
• Funded recipients have delivered a variety of implementation activities throughout 2020-21, including Communities of Practice, webinars, practice forums and tailored resources. Further details are provided below.

Sector Grant Fund Recipients 2020-21

Sector grants were distributed to the same peak or representative bodies as in 2019-20 from Phase 1 workforces across the service system. This includes sector grants funding to mainstream peak bodies as well as separate funding and working groups for ACCOs.

• Justice Health
• Consumer Affairs Victoria
• Domestic Violence Victoria (DV Vic)^[16]
• No to Violence
• CASA Forum (including Mallee Sexual Assault Unit)
• Council to Homeless Persons
• Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association
• Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare
• Municipal Association of Victoria
• Djirra
• Dardi Munwurro
• Elizabeth Morgan House
• Victorian Aboriginal Community Services Association Limited
• Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency
• AMES*
• Jewish Care*
• Whittlesea Community Connections*

*From April 2021

Some of the highlights of the sector grants recipients are outlined below under specific funding streams.

Safe and Equal - Formerly DV Vic and DVRCV^[17]

During 2020-21 Safe and Equal delivered:

• Nine practice lead community of practice sessions based on a MARAM-aligned topic. The community of practice facilitated reflective discussions, guest speakers and peer-presented case studies.
• Four implementation champion group sessions were delivered, covering the code principles, MARAM Pillars and MARAM Responsibilities, and how they interrelate.
• Safe and Equal also supported No to Violence with the Family Safety Advocate community of practice. Topics covered included risk assessment in the unique context of the Family Safety Advocate role, information sharing, intersectional approaches, sexual violence in family violence, working with children and understanding child wellbeing.

No to Violence (NTV)

In partnership with SAS Vic and DV Vic, No to Violence facilitated four 90-minute online panels that explore sexual violence in family violence and coordinated high-risk responses between sexual assault services, victim survivor support services and perpetrator intervention services. The panels were recorded and circulated by the collaboration agencies.

In addition, NTV, in collaboration with the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare (the Centre) and DV Vic, facilitated three 60-minute online webinars with guest experts. The webinar themes explored coordinated risk management with children.

• 80 per cent of attendees reported an increased understanding of specific risk and protective factors that can exist across the life span.
• 60 per cent of attendees increased their understanding of how services can use the MARAM Framework to work together collaboratively.
• 90 per cent of attendees increased their understanding of how to maintain a child lens when assessing and responding to family violence risk.
• There has been an average of 86 per cent increase in understanding across the learning outcomes delivered and evaluated in each webinar. Summarising an overall increased understanding of sexual violence in intimate partner relationships and the barriers victim survivors from diverse communities encounter.

Victorian Aboriginal Community Services Association Ltd

The Victorian Aboriginal Community Services Association Ltd (VACSAL) has been successful in spreading awareness of MARAM though their respective networks. For example, VACSAL has consistently updated the Aboriginal Executive Council (AEC) on the rollout of the reforms. The AEC sits between the ACCOs and government and consists of key policy workers and CEOs from across the ACCO sector. Policy representatives are now more aware of the MARAM reforms, their progress and what the reforms mean for ACCOs.

During 2020-21, VACSAL engaged a consultant to produce a scoping paper exploring the enablers and barriers to implementing MARAM within the organisation and the ACCO sector more broadly. The scoping paper has advanced MARAM alignment by giving senior staff and FSV an insight into current barriers for MARAM alignment.

Sexual Assault Services Victoria

Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SAS Vic) has established and facilitated an online communities of practice for MARAM alignment. Three CoPs were completed with 60 SAS and harmful sexual behaviours (HSB) practitioners attending these sessions. The sessions included an overview of the family violence sector presented by The Orange Door Geelong, the DV VIC Ramps Coordinator and DV VIC representative as well as MARAM alignment in the HSB sector and application of the FVISS.

Elizabeth Morgan House

Initial resources created by Elizabeth Morgan House (EMH) aimed to build at internal alignment and capacity among EMH staff, including updating or creating new policies and procedures, adapting information-sharing templates, updating induction pack updates and delivering information-sharing training sessions. These resources and tools have been used to share more widely with other organisations, both Aboriginal and mainstream.

Dardi Munwurro and Djirra

Dardi Munwurro and Djirra have operationalised the MARAM Framework within their organisations and developed a shared understanding of the risks, experiences and impacts of family violence experienced by Aboriginal people. This work includes advocacy in mainstream forums for cultural safety to underpin family violence response across the services system, including recognition of the structural inequalities and barriers that Aboriginal people face when accessing support.

Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association

VAADA provides overall support to the AOD sector to embed and align with MARAM via many activities. VAADA supports capacity building, policy development and MARAM training across the AOD sector, and it has delivered secondary consultations, briefings, and information sessions to AOD organisations and clinicians from St Vincent’s Hospital and the Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS) and AOD Intake and Assessment workers at Bayside Community Health. In addition, they present at various meetings to discuss the intersection between AOD services and family violence, including collaborative practice meetings with the Australian Community Support Organisation (ACSO) and Sector Capability Building Working Group meetings with Family Safety Victoria (FSV).

Specialist Family Violence Advisor (SFVA) Capacity Building Program in Designated Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drug Services

The Royal Commission found alcohol and other drug services and mental health services play a direct role in identifying and responding to family violence. Therefore, building capacity was needed in these sectors to enable this and to strengthen relationships with specialist family violence services.

SFVA positions were developed in response to recommendations 98 and 99 of the Royal Commission into Family Violence:

Recommendation 98

The Victorian Government fund the establishment of specialist family violence advisor positions to be located in major mental health and drug and alcohol services. The advisors’ expertise should be available to practitioners in these sectors across Victoria.

Recommendation 99

The Victorian Government encourage and facilitate mental health, drug and alcohol and family violence services to collaborate by:

• resourcing and promoting shared casework models
• ensuring that mental health and drug and alcohol services are represented on Risk Assessment and Management Panels and other multi-agency risk management models at the local level.

The Victorian Government funded establishment of the SFVA positions across 17 areas in 2017. SFVAs embed family violence expertise within the alcohol and other drug and mental health sectors, support continuous improvement, lead system and practice change, and build sector capacity and capability to identify, assess, and respond to family violence.

State-wide coordination of the SFVA program throughout 2020-21 was primarily provided by No to Violence.

SFVA statewide coordination

Through close engagement on a Community of Practice undertaken throughout 2020-21, the Statewide Coordinator identified the need to form Special Interest Groups for the SFVAs to collaborate on key projects across the state.

Eight groups were identified with a focus on work to be conducted throughout the remainder of 2021 and into 2022.

Each SFVA sits on at least one of the eight special interest groups, though many sit on multiple groups. Where possible, the groups seek to collaborate with peak bodies and other key stakeholders.

One special interest group focuses on addressing barriers to refuge access for women using substances and experiencing mental ill-health. This group invited representatives from VAADA and DV VIC / DVRCV to join the group to provide their insights, identify advocacy opportunities, and support actions.

Another group is developing family violence newsletters, with a dual diagnosis perspective, for the mental health sector. In collaboration with the Centre for Mental Health Learning, which will host and distribute the newsletters, the group of SFVAs will write the quarterly newsletters.

The six other SFVA groups are currently scoping and planning their project goals and activities. These Special Interest Group topics will include:

• sharing insights to identify and respond to patterns of coercive control within mental health and AOD services
• secondary consultation models for SFVAs
• practice considerations for working with people who use family violence within AOD and mental health services
• demystifying MARAM and the information sharing schemes for the mental health and AOD sectors
• responding to family violence experiences and complexity with children and adolescents in mental health and AOD services
• MARAM-alignment recommendations for area mental health services, with a focus on tools.

Further examples of collaboration by SFVAs include:

• AOD Assessing with Confidence training - in collaboration with Turning Point trainers, SFVAs are co-delivering the AOD Assessing with Confidence training to provide specialist coverage of the family violence components of the updated, MARAM-aligned AOD Intake and Assessment Tools.
• Sexual Violence Awareness - two AOD SFVAs from EACH collaborated with the South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault (SECASA), Uniting, University of Sunshine Coast, and Resourcing Health and Education in the Sex Industry (RhED) to facilitate a cross-sector reflective practice discussion on linkages between substance use and sexual violence, MARAM risk indicators, non-physical indicators of sexual violence, and survival sex as a safety strategy.
• Overdose Awareness and Family Violence - on International Overdose Awareness Day, an AOD SFVA at EACH collaborated with SURe (Substance Use Recovery) to present a reflective discussion on the potential interplay between threats of overdose and family violence, including MARAM-aligned practice considerations to support a victim survivor and/or person at risk of overdose and invitation strategies.

Capability building grants (funding through the FV Industry Plan)

FSV is responsible for building capacity and capability in the specialist family violence sector but has also committed to using capability funding to support other MARAM-prescribed workforces across WoVG portfolios. All projects relevant to this work leverage MARAM alignment through creating a shared understanding of family violence, fostering consistent and collaborative practice, undertaking responsibilities for risk assessment and management and continuous improvements.

FSV-funded Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS) for a second year to focus on young women’s experiences of intimate partner violence and non-collusive practice.

YSAS Highlights for 2020-21 include:

• identification of workforce needs required by the organisation to achieve family violence capability
• blended evaluation to confirm the design and deliver of training curriculum, informed by the pilot group
• executive-endorsed organisation wide YSAS statement of family violence
• development of a YSAS family violence resource book
• collaboration with NtV and CASA house to develop specialist training content to merge men’s behaviour change strategies with youth AOD frameworks and support disclosures of sexual assault for the youth AOD workforce at YSAS

Summary of progress

The far-reaching impact of these reforms across multiple workforces requires a clear and consistent leadership approach that involves both government departments and peak bodies and sector leads.

The role of central implementation teams located in each department was recognised by the 2021 budget outcome, and the provision of funding for four years will make an impact in time. As noted in the annual report for 2019-20, the main challenges following the successful budget outcome continue to be the challenge of recruitment and retention and completing priorities from other reform programs.

FSV will continue to take a centralised lead role and engage with departments on the roll-out of the reforms through the established governance structure.

^[12] The 2020 regulations amended the Family Violence Protection (Information Sharing and Risk Management) Regulations 2018.

^[13] Victorian Government 2018, Everybody Matters: inclusion and equity statement https://www.vic.gov.au/everybody-matters-inclusion-and-equity-statement.

^[14] Approximately 19 SFVAs are in alcohol and other drugs (AOD) services (and approximately 21 are in mental health services).

^[15] The internal departmental working group comprises representatives from the DFFH including from Multicultural Affairs, Office for the Prevention of Family Violence and Coordination, Office for Youth and Child Safeguarding.

^[16] Note: Domestic Violence Victoria and Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria united to form Safe and Equal in November 2021.

^[17] Note: Domestic Violence Victoria and Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria united to form Safe and Equal in November 2021.

Consistent and collaborative practice supports victim survivors to receive an appropriate response wherever they choose to access support. Consistent practice is achieved through work undertaken to develop (as WoVG lead) and embed (as portfolio and sector leads) MARAM policy into operational practice.

A consistent approach across the service system enables the development of collaborative practice– different sectors understand the best response to family violence and work together to achieve MARAM outcomes. To help achieve consistency, FSV creates centralised resources that are shared with departments and sectors, who then tailor and embed the resources into their workforces. To ensure that this consistency is maintained, FSV works closely with departments and sectors when they are tailoring the resources.

The Royal Commission identified that information sharing between services is essential for keeping a victim survivor safe and a perpetrator in view and accountable as part of collaborative practice. This is highlighted throughout this section. Information sharing is an organisational requirement under MARAM responsibility 6.

Section A: Family Safety Victoria as WoVG lead

Highlights

• Adult perpetrator-focused MARAM Practice Guides and tools were developed throughout 2020-21 in partnership with No to Violence and Curtin University, with consultations with more than 1,000 professionals.
• Use of online MARAM tools through all available platforms significantly increased in the reporting period, including a 72 per cent increase in risk assessments undertaken by The Orange Door using TRAM.
• Ongoing implementation of the Central Information Point (CIP), and expanding access to the CIP to Risk Assessment and Management Panels (RAMPs).

Perpetrator-focused MARAM Practice Guides

Adult perpetrator-focused MARAM Practice Guides and tools were developed throughout 2020-21 in partnership with No to Violence and Curtin University. They draw upon a range of evidence and best practice models available across Australia and internationally to support direct intervention with perpetrators of family violence, including Tilting our practice,^[18] Caring dads,^[19] invitational narrative approaches,^[20] transtheoretical model of change,^[21] and various cross-jurisdictional reviews of perpetrator typologies.

The scope of the Practice Guides’ responsibilities also reflects the Everybody Matters statement and evidence provided by the Expert Advisory Committee on Perpetrator Interventions (EACPI) Report and the Centre for Innovative Justice’s mapping of roles across key workforces.^[22]

FSV conducted a series of consultations throughout 2020-21 with more than 1,000 professionals, including specialist practitioners working with people using violence against Aboriginal communities, LGBTIQA+ communities, culturally, linguistically and faith diverse communities, older people and people with disabilities, academics, sector leaders and government departments.

The new perpetrator-focused resources support professionals to understand their responsibility for risk identification, assessment and management. They create new approaches to individual, service and system-level perpetrator accountability through better coordination of interventions across services as reflected in MARAM principle 9. The new resources also maintain a focus on victim survivors by recognising their experiences and the impacts of violence and coercive control while supporting interventions with perpetrators that reinforce victim survivors’ safety.

The perpetrator-focused resources are scheduled for release during 2021-22 with tailored training to follow.

Information Sharing Resources and Tools

Amendments to the FVISS Ministerial Guidelines were made on 19 April 2021 as part of the rollout of Phase 2. These amendments addressed the introduction of new entities into the FVISS under Phase 2 and provided further clarity regarding the operation of the FVISS in response to common questions received from ISEs. The guidelines are legally binding and apply to all ISEs.

The Central Information Point (CIP)

As the family violence system matures and the reforms improve family violence literacy across new and emerging workforces, there is increased capacity to identify the risk that perpetrators of family violence pose to family members and for the system to intervene to keep victim-survivors safe.

The CIP provides consolidated, risk-relevant information in one report to support frontline practitioners to assess and manage family violence risk. The CIP is currently available to The Orange Door Network, selected RAMPs and Berry Street Family Violence Services Northern Region. It brings together information about perpetrators of family violence from Victoria Police, Court Services Victoria, Corrections Victoria and Child Protection. The CIP aligns with MARAM Responsibility 6 (contribute to information sharing), Responsibility 9 (contribute to coordinated risk management) and Responsibility 10 (collaborate for ongoing risk assessment and risk management).

In addition to supporting more informed risk assessment and safety planning for women and children, the CIP is fundamental to the uplift in system capacity to keep perpetrators in view and ensure they are held accountable and risk management interventions are appropriately targeted. This is particularly important as the reforms are at a point where the system is increasingly shifting its focus to addressing perpetrators as the source of family violence, and to building a web of accountability around them. This is a key focus for the Family Violence Rolling Action Plan 2020-2023, which outlines the WoVG program of work under the Strengthening perpetrator accountability for family violence plan.

In addition to being integrated into the practice and operations of The Orange Door Network, the CIP is underpinned by FVISS, under the Family Violence Protection Act 2008. The CIP is also embedded within and is an enabler of a shared and consistent approach to identifying and managing family violence risk and supporting multi-agency risk assessment and management, in accordance with MARAM. The CIP provides a risk assessment and management tool that can be used in shifting attention away from the behaviours and actions of victim survivors to instead focus on stopping perpetrators from using violence and holding them accountable for their actions.

In June and July 2021, a survey was conducted with The Orange Door on the practice impacts of the CIP. FSV received 57 responses, from a mixture of roles across The Orange Door. This survey found the following:

In October 2020, the CIP was made available to the first set of RAMP areas as part of a phased rollout in response to a Royal Commission recommendation.^[23]. The following RAMP areas have received training and guidance and now have access to the CIP:

• Western Melbourne
• Brimbank Melton
• Hume Moreland
• Outer Eastern Melbourne
• Ovens Murray.

CIP Case Study 1:

A RAMP coordinator was asked to case consult by a specialist family violence service. The victim survivor and perpetrator had a baby girl together. The perpetrator was engaged with The Orange Door due to family violence and other offences, and it was noted that the perpetrator was requesting to have regular contact with the baby. The RAMP coordinator submitted a CIP request to determine if this contact could take place safely. The CIP report showed a timeline of offences involving the perpetrator’s child from a previous relationship, as well as offences involving young people not related to him. The CIP report also demonstrated there had been limited system accountability around his use of family violence with past victim survivors and the harm caused to very young girls through sexual exploitation. As a result of information disclosed in the CIP report, agencies were able to advocate for support and conditions to be put in place for safe contact to take place.

CIP Case Study 2:

After a referral from Child Protection, the victim survivor, Teri, attended a specialist family violence service (SFVS) for an intake assessment. Teri had never reported or discussed the violence due to serious threats to her and her child’s life. She was also very frightened of the likely repercussions from the perpetrator if she reported the violence. Teri had also faced barriers to service engagement which affected her decision regarding how much information she was comfortable sharing with the service. Over a number of sessions Teri provided information regarding the serious and often life-threatening violence (including multiple strangulations). The SFVS determined there was a high risk and had concerns for the safety of both Teri and her young son. A referral to RAMP was made and due to significant gaps in the risk assessment and limited information regarding the perpetrator, a CIP report was requested.

From the CIP report, the RAMP co-ordinator learned that the perpetrator had a significant criminal history, including the use of weapons (hidden at the home) in previous family violence incidents. The RAMP coordinator also learned the perpetrator was a recidivist family violence offender who had used very serious violence against a number of intimate partners. This perpetrator also used high levels of violence in the community. Due to this information, RAMPs were able to determine a pattern and history of violence and a timeline of the family violence offending. This case was then accepted for a RAMP response where an appropriate risk management and safety plan was developed and implemented including for the management of the perpetrator.

Tools for Risk Assessment and Management (TRAM)

TRAM is used by practitioners in The Orange Door and a select number of specialist family violence agencies for risk assessment.

During 2020-21, 11,751 risk assessments were undertaken by The Orange Door practitioners using TRAM. This represented a 72 per cent increase on the previous year. This increase has been particularly strong for Child Risk Assessments with a rise of over 150 per cent over the last year.

This increase is driven by the increased caseload; however, there was also an increase in the proportion of cases that had a TRAM risk assessment, with 18 per cent of referrals received by The Orange Door having a TRAM risk assessment in 2020-21, up from 13 per cent in 2019-20 and 12 per cent in 2018-19.

Table 3: Number of MARAM risk assessments and safety plans undertaken by The Orange Door since commencement (using TRAM and the CRM)

Specialist Homelessness Information Platform and Service Record System (SHIP)

SHIP is used by homelessness services and some specialist family violence services.

The MARAM tools in SHIP were first implemented in late August 2020. Over the period August 2020 to June 2021, 27,333 MARAM risk assessments and 6,061 MARAM safety plans were undertaken in SHIP. This amounts to over 33,000 MARAM risk assessments and safety plans undertaken by 237 different agencies over this period.

Table 4: Number of MARAM risk assessments and safety plans undertaken in SHIP since implementation

In addition to online versions of the tools, many organisations are using their own adapted versions of the MARAM tools in paper or non-case management system format. Reflections on these tools from a VACCA practitioner show the benefits to practice:

Practitioner reflections from the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA)

The new MARAM tools provide a holistic framework to assist with identifying current risk as well as any historical intergenerational trauma to allow practitioners to design healing plans that respond to a family’s whole experience of family violence.

In terms of the Risk Assessment tool, practitioners have reflected that it is useful therapeutically in opening up conversations about and understandings of, family violence. A key aspect of this is how the tool supports the practitioner to continue to hear what the client is bringing and not to make a binary and/or essentialising judgement at the outset about who may be using or experiencing harm. Rather than being used all at once, practitioners find that it works best when used over a series of sessions and when revisited to reflect on shifts that have taken place around dynamic risk and safety.

Intersectionality Capability Framework and Tools

Improved understanding of structural inequality and discrimination is necessary for a robust understanding and implementation of Principle 3 of MARAM.

Embedding inclusion and equity: an intersectionality framework in practice was developed by FSV to support organisations to build capability in understanding and applying an intersectionality framework within their existing practice.

Resources developed to support embedding an intersectional approach include:

• Essential knowledge for all - an introduction to intersectionality including in the Australian context, the importance of an intersectionality framework and intersectionality in practice
• tip sheets for managers, leaders, supervisors and executive/boards - guidance to lead on aligning policies and procedures with an intersectional approach
• tip sheets for all - guidance on critical reflection, embedding lived experience in service delivery, respectful and safe engagement of people with lived experience, supporting a diverse workforce, partnerships for inclusion and facilitating response pathways
• tools for ongoing support - including an organisational self-assessment and auditing and monitoring tool, an inclusive language guide, a safe and respectful conversations guide and a critical reflection tool.

The framework and tools will be user tested during 2021-22 before wider release.

Section B: Departments as portfolio leads

Highlights

• FSV partnered with DV Vic to develop case management program requirements for Family Violence Services and Family Violence Accommodation Services.
• Chief Psychiatrist guidelines were updated to incorporate the family violence Brief and Intermediate risk assessments within routine mental health assessments to support a MARAM-aligned response.
• The courts introduced digital versions of the risk assessment, safety planning and risk management tools for adult victim survivors for use by family violence practitioners at the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria and the Children’s Court of Victoria to support consistent practice and data capture.
• In 2020-21, the Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) Statewide Intake and Comprehensive Assessment tools and accompanying clinician guidelines, were updated to incorporate the MARAM victim survivor framework and tools. These tools and guidelines are used state-wide to support consistent intake and assessment of clients accessing AOD treatment across Victoria.
• Victoria Police delivered a new record-keeping solution for the FVISS/CISS to improve data capture, workflow processes and the output shared with other ISEs.
• Victoria Police shared a total of 5,368 information sharing requests through FVISS and CISS.
• Courts received 28,266 FVISS requests in 2020-21, an increase of more than 30 per cent since 2019-20. The courts introduced updated FVISS and CISS request email templates for family violence practitioners to streamline request processes and support a consistent approach to information sharing.
• DJCS Victims of Crime (VOC) helpline now has statewide search access, improving risk assessments.

DFFH: Child Protection

SAFER is a guided professional judgement approach to risk assessment and practice for child protection practitioners. The framework integrates MARAM risk assessments and risk management and draws upon the Best Interests Case Practice Model. SAFER is represented by five key practice activities for child protection practitioners:

• Seek and share information
• Analyse the information gathered to determine risk of harm
• Formulate a plan of action to address those risks and the child’s needs
• Enact the plan and
• Review changes and reassess the risks.

The Child Protection Manual was updated to incorporate a specific family violence resource page including the MARAM responsibilities and family violence risk assessment and management tools. As a result, Child Protection Practitioners can now access MARAM-aligned assessment tools to support the identification and assessment of family violence risk to victim survivors.

DH: Ambulance Victoria

Ambulance Victoria is progressively identifying those aspects of MARAM relating to collaboration, that can be embedded into existing Ambulance Victoria tools, systems and processes. In relation to information sharing and collaboration, Ambulance Victoria has updated its stakeholder mapping tool to identify local and national partners to support information sharing, secondary consultations and referrals including stakeholders who can support a culturally safe approach for Aboriginal people and a tailored approach for other priority groups. Ambulance Victoria also actively participates in state-wide inter-agency and network meetings, community networks and communities of practice in which family violence risk assessment and management is a focus. In relation to recognising children as victim survivors, a separate electronic care record is created for children, and the Statement of Commitment to Child Safety strengthens the Child Safety Code of Conduct to improve empowerment and participation when working with children and young people.

DH: Alcohol and Other Drugs

In 2020-21 Turning Point was commissioned by the Department of Health and Human Services (as it then was) to review and update the AOD Intake and Comprehensive Assessment tools and accompanying clinician guidelines, to incorporate the MARAM victim survivor framework and tools. These tools and guidelines are used state-wide to support consistent intake and assessment of clients accessing AOD treatment across Victoria.

Turning Point established a collaborative working group with government and the AOD peak body VAADA to analyse how the MARAM victim survivor framework and tools could be incorporated into AOD intake and assessment practice.

The group met regularly to draft changes to the tools and guidelines and consider the impact on the AOD workforce and AOD clients experiencing family violence. Turning Point consulted regularly with a larger group of AOD managers and practitioners to discuss the proposed changes and seek their feedback. Turning Point also consulted with AOD consumers and sought their feedback regarding the proposed changes. Expert family violence advice and sector knowledge was provided by AOD Specialist Family Violence Advisors (SFVA) and VAADA.

The amendments were endorsed, and the new documents were published in April 2021. The updated documents now include MARAM family violence screening questions embedded in the state-wide tools, and a MARAM-aligned safety plan has also been embedded in the Comprehensive Assessment tool. The clinician guidelines provide comprehensive MARAM information tailored to the AOD workforce, an explanation of the changes, and expectations and support for the AOD workforce to align their practice with MARAM.

DJCS: Youth Justice

Over the past year, agencies funded by Youth Justice reported new and continued membership and active participation within family violence community of practices, multi-agency workshops and care teams. This includes membership and engagement with the quarterly FSV and Orange Door lead Family Violence community of practice. Several agencies have established information sharing MOUs with their local family violence support services, improving their processes towards better collaborative responses to family violence participants.

Youth Justice funded agencies reported continued use of MARAM identification, screening, risk assessments and safety planning tools. Examples of maintaining alignment include the following:

• Ballarat Community Health (BCH) employed a MARAM project officer to ensure consistency of MARAM alignment across the different program areas, including monitoring FVISS and the CISS information requests and practices. In addition to this, BCH’s client services program managers formed a working group to ensure MARAM Practice Guides, frameworks, resources, tools and policies continue to be embedded into BCH’s policies and practices.
• Quantum created a digital resource to support their practitioners to understand and implement family violence safety planning in collaboration with La Trobe Health Assembly. This resource was then shared broadly with MARAM-prescribed agencies across the Gippsland region. This resource was developed in response to an identified need for a more interactive training product that could be delivered virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

DJCS: Consumer Affairs Victoria Funded Agencies

All external organisations that deliver Financial Counselling Program (FCP) and Tenancy Assistance and Advocacy Program (TAAP) regularly participate in activities that promote collaborative practice, both internally and externally, including with specialist family violence services and others with responsibilities for comprehensive risk assessment and management.

Many organisations reported strengthened relationships with their local The Orange Door Network and family violence services, with secondary consultations working both ways - specialists know who to contact about economic abuse and tenancy problems, and FCP and TAAP workers can get family violence support for better client outcomes.

’I feel that our organisation has open and collaborative discussions across multiple teams when assessing clients who disclose experiencing family violence. This collaboration continues to build our knowledge on assessing risk and responding consistently and effectively to clients’ (Consumer Action Law Centre financial counsellor).

Consumer Affairs Victoria will develop an information sharing practice kit that includes fact sheets of information held by FCP and TAAP to be used for creating better cross-sectoral understanding of what risk relevant information is available.

TAAP case study:

A TAAP client was seeking to be released from her lease and excused from being held financially responsible for damages to the property that had been caused by a violent ex-partner. Evidence of these damages, held by Victoria Police, was required for the VCAT hearing. Previously the TAAP worker would need to apply under Freedom of Information, which would delay the hearing. Requesting the information using the FVISS enabled the TAAP worker access to the required evidence from Victoria Police in a timely manner, allowing the victim survivor to have a successful outcome at VCAT and escape from the economic abuse.

DJCS: Corrections Victoria

DJCS has collaborated with FSV and DPC to support the building of a new workplace application for the CIP. The workspace application will allow Corrections Victoria’s Central Information Point staff to efficiently share information under the FVISS and contribute to the safety and protection of those experiencing family violence by bringing perpetrators into view.

The project is on track and the new application was launched in June 2021. Further work will occur to consider additional IT changes outside of the original scope that has been requested by FSV.

Corrections Victoria responded to a total of 2047 information sharing requests in 2020-21. The introduction of Phase 2 of the information sharing and MARAM reforms on 19 April 2021 is one of the reasons for an increased trend in information requests towards the end of 2020-21.

Table 6: Number of family violence risk information requests under the FVISS received by Corrections Victoria in 2020-21

*Common reasons why information was declined in some instances: where the identity of the perpetrator could not be confirmed based on the initial information provided; further information was required for protection purposes; exclusion; no consent; or the entity requesting the information was not an Information Sharing Entity (ISE).

FSV: The Orange Door

Collaborative practice: Every The Orange Door has a Service System Navigator to support the development of referral pathways to improve client outcomes. Every The Orange Door has developed or is in the process of developing ‘in reach’ agreements with area-based legal services, financial counselling services, housing services, mental health services and AOD services to the responses for people impacted by family violence. There are service interface agreements with inTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence, Men’s Referral Service, Victims Support Agency, Child Protection and Integrated Family Services, Djirra and the Magistrate’s Court of Victoria.

Consistent practice: There is a state-wide approach across The Orange Door to assessing family violence risk including the use of a statewide priority tool that includes the evidence-based family violence risk factors and application of structured professional judgement to assist in determining priority of response to all referrals to The Orange Door.

FSV: After-Hours Crisis Response

FSV has undertaken significant work to deliver a consistent and secure referral process for local after-hours crisis response services through the integration of referrals to SHIP. With Safe Steps, FSV trialled sending all confidential information (including the MARAM assessment, client consent and relevant case notes) to an after-hours crisis response service provider through the SHIP platform.

This project delivered significant improvements in relation to data capture, which enable visibility of real-time data at an area and state-wide level, overcame previous data integrity issues and provided significant efficiency gains for services. Previously referred to as a specialist family violence service model, the case management program requirements will guide services in the delivery of consistent, coordinated, timely and flexible case management support to victim survivors responding to their safety and support needs. The case management program requirements will include foundational elements of a new 24/7 Crisis Response Model, which includes a concept of shared responsibility for crisis responses across the whole specialist family violence service system.

Pitched at the agency level, the case management program requirements will articulate different initiatives and resources that are either legislated or embedded as key system enablers to provide safe, consistent and high-quality responses to victim survivors, including children. This includes MARAM, the Code of Practice: Principles and Standards for Specialist Family Violence Services for Victim Survivors and the FVISS and CISS.

The Courts

The number of FVISS requests received by the courts has continued to grow. The courts received 28,266 FVISS requests in 2020-21, an increase of more than 30 per cent since 2019-20.

This included 14,421 (51 per cent) requests from the DFFH Child Protection and 5,475 (19 per cent) requests from The Orange Door Network. The remaining 30 per cent of FVISS requests came from specialist family violence service providers including Safe Steps and community-based organisations.

Table 5: Information sharing requests for 20-21 financial year

*Note that the Courts were prescribed to the Child Information Sharing Scheme as part of Phase 2 from 19 April 2021

 The Magistrates’ Court Central Information Sharing Team Case Study:

The court’s central information sharing team received an urgent FVISS request from The Orange Door for risk assessment.

The Orange Door were completing a risk assessment with a victim survivor and requested information about the currency of a Family Violence Intervention Order (FVIO) as the victim survivor reported that the FVIO had been revoked.

The information sharing team confirmed that a current final FVIO was in place but that the victim survivor had applied to revoke the FVIO, which was listed to be heard in two weeks’ time.

The information sharing team reviewed the original police application for the FVIO and identified multiple evidence-based risk factors including physical assault and threats to kill that had occurred in front of children.

This prompted further review of relevant risk information held by the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria (MCV) which identified that the respondent was currently remanded for committing criminal family violence related matters.

Under the FVISS, the information sharing team shared the following information with The Orange Door Network:

• that there was a current final FVIO in place
• that the respondent was currently remanded in custody
• details of the next criminal listing date.

The Orange Door completed the risk assessment and developed a risk management and safety plan with the victim survivor based on a more complete picture of all relevant information.

Victoria Police

Victoria Police has continued to engage closely with other Information Sharing Entities (ISEs) by improving the FVISS and CISS information request form and process. This ensures that the information request process is more intuitive for ISEs, the correct information is released and ISEs are aware of information security requirements for law enforcement information.

Table 7: Number of FVISS and CISS information sharing requests received by Victoria Police in 2020-21

Victoria Police leads by example under FVISS and CISS by developing clear and intuitive information-sharing processes and sharing its guidance with other agencies to encourage consistency across the broader service system. Internally, Victoria Police continues to encourage information sharing under FVISS and CISS through continuing to review policies and practices to ensure they are embedded across the organisation and the release of information is consistent with the intent of the information schemes.

Section C: Sectors as lead – case studies

Ngarra Jarranounith Place case study:

Ngarra Jarranounith Place program, as part of Dardi Munwurro, helps address Aboriginal male offending. It is an intensive residential diversion program for perpetrators of family violence. The case study from Ngarra Jarranounith Place highlights how knowledge of MARAM and the FVISS are already being used to respond to perpetrators in practice:

A man in his late 30s was participating in a ReLink program, which prepares people to successfully reintegrate into their communities. Earlier reintegration assessments did not indicate that the man had any history of Family Violence Intervention Orders (FVIOs). However, while in conversation with the ReLink Reintegration Coordinator, the participant disclosed that he had been named on a FVIO as a respondent.

The man’s account was that the police had initiated the order, that the protected person did not want the order in place, the violence was of a minimal to moderate level and that the family violence order had expired.

The coordinator made a FVISS request from the courts. It became clear that the man had substantially denied and minimised the seriousness and severity of his perpetrating and he had an FVIO in place against him until further order (no expiry date). The advice provided included that the police have serious concerns for the safety of the women and children victim survivors when the man is released from custody.

With this information, as well as a range of other details relating to the participant’s most recent offending, the coordinator worked with the participant to develop a transition plan that addressed and managed the risk of any ongoing use of violence against the women and children.

Strengthening Hospital Responses to Family Violence SHRFV Antenatal Implementation

The Royal Commission into Family Violence recommended that routine screening for family violence should be in place in all public antenatal settings and the screening guidance should be aligned to MARAM (recommendation 96). The department partnered with the Strengthening Hospital Responses to Family Violence (SHRFV) initiative to establish a project to support antenatal services implement routine screening for family violence during pregnancy. New MARAM-aligned guidance, case studies and a specialist supplementary e-learn module for public antenatal settings was developed as part of the project, with a series of webinars in 2020. A dedicated information session for the Koori Maternity Services workforce was also facilitated in partnership with the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) and the Maternity Services Education Program.

The department supported the update of the Birthing Outcomes System (BOS), the pregnancy and birth record system used by all by two of Victoria’s public maternity services. BOS was updated to include the MARAM Screening and Identification assessment tool questions. This update supports maternity service providers to screen and provide support to victim survivors in accordance with MARAM.

Public antenatal settings have included the e-learn training and the practice guidance into standard operating procedures and policies. This means that front-line staff complete family violence training, staff feel confident to identify and respond to family violence risk as a standard part of their role.

Summary of progress

The 2019-20 report noted there was a significant focus on the development of resources and updating of policies, procedures, practice guidance and tools.

This report for 2020-21 is demonstrating the shift to embedding responsibilities in practice. There is a marked increase in the use of online risk assessment tools, of information sharing and deepening of collaborative practice demonstrated through the case studies. While many of the examples refer to information sharing, this can be seen to be the enabler of MARAM practice with the case studies and descriptions provided detailing how the shared information is informing the understanding of risk and being used for safety planning.

As Phase 1 organisations become fully operational in their use of MARAM (including in perpetrator response) and as Phase 2 organisations continue the journey of preparation for change and embedding, it is anticipated that the system of consistent and collaborative practice will continue to grow in breadth and complexity.

^[18] Kertesz M, Humphreys C and Connolly M 2018, Tilting our practice: a theoretical model for family violence in child protection practice.

^[19] Scott K, Kelly T, Cooks C and Francis K 2018, Caring dads: helping fathers value their children (3rd edition).

^[20] Wendt S et al. 2019, Engaging men who use violence: invitational narrative approaches (Research report) ANROWS.

^[21] Prochaska JO and DiClemente CC 2005, ‘The transtheoretical approach’, in Norcross JC and Goldfried MR (eds.), Oxford series in clinical psychology: Handbook of psychotherapy integration, Oxford University Press, pp. 147-171.

^[22] RMIT Centre for Innovative Justice 2018, Bringing pathways towards accountability together: perpetrator journeys and system roles and responsibilities.

^[23] A RAMP is a formally convened meeting, held at a local level, of nine key agencies and organisations that contribute to the safety of women and children experiencing serious and imminent threat from family violence. Across Victoria, there are 18 RAMPs that each meet once a month to share information and take action to keep women and children at the highest risk from family violence safe.

^[24] Legislative threshold not met.

Building workforce capability is central to the long-term success of MARAM. Successful implementation of the reforms requires practitioners to be appropriately trained in their MARAM and information sharing responsibilities. Building workforce capability requires organisations to map their staff against the MARAM Responsibilities and to ensure that they are undertaking activities to equip staff to confidently perform their roles.

Workforce capability planning enables organisations to accomplish the changes required to meet their obligations under the MARAM and information sharing reforms.

This section details just some of activities undertaken by FSV, government and sectors to both support and create capable workforces to identify, assess and manage family violence risk. As lead in the reforms FSV is centrally developing training and strategies for delivery; departments and sector peaks support the tailoring and embedding of training in practice through various capability building measures.

Section A: Family Safety Victoria as WoVG lead

Highlights

• In partnership with the DET, a Best Practice Education Model was developed for the VET sector; to support the VET system to deliver high-quality family violence training safely and effectively.
• Unaccredited victim survivor training continued to be delivered state-wide with 13,871 professionals trained in MARAM across all workforces, with 5,906 of these delivered by FSV.
• More than 700 learners have commenced training in ‘Identifying and Responding to Family Violence Risk’ at Registered Training Organisations.

Family Violence Future Prevention and Response Training Strategy

FSV developed a Training Strategy that articulates how the specialist family violence training sector and VET sector can work alongside each other to deliver skills development that is consistent and quality assured. This will guide government investment in training approaches directed towards the training needed for a broad range of workforces at every stage of their family violence skills development.

The Training Strategy proposes to draw on the strengths of the VET sector and the specialist family violence sectors to deliver a combined and complementary approach to family violence training, that is sustainable and consistent, in both its level of quality and the learning outcomes it delivers.

Unaccredited Training Delivery – Victim Survivor Focus

FSV supports the development and delivery of quality MARAM and FVISS training by maintaining central oversight and approval of training modules.

FSV worked closely with the Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria (DVRCV) in the development of core modules for specialist family violence practitioners (comprehensive module) and the non-specialist sector (‘Screening and Identification’ and ‘Brief and Intermediate’ modules). These modules are then either offered directly to participants or first tailored by departments with workforce specific scenarios.

Table 8: Number of specialist practitioners undertaking MARAM unaccredited training modules during 2020-21

Perpetrator-focused MARAM training

In February 2021, FSV commenced procurement work for the development of perpetrator-focused MARAM training. The training will build workforce capability in working with perpetrators and will be based on the perpetrator-focused MARAM Practice Guides.

The perpetrator-focused MARAM training will draw on expertise in three key skill sets of:

• specialist practice expertise in working with people who use violence
• instructional design
• Aboriginal cultural knowledge via ACCO involvement.

This model aims to support Aboriginal self-determination and embedding of cultural safety across training development from the outset, while also ensuring a strong grounding in practice and high-quality training design. It also aims to ensure existing elements of cultural safety for Aboriginal communities embedded across MARAM are emphasised in the training.

Accredited Training Courses

The first course in Identifying and Responding to Family Violence Risk 22510VIC (consistent with MARAM identification and screening responsibilities and covering family violence foundational knowledge) was available throughout 2020-21. Ten Registered Training Organisations commenced a mix of face-to-face and online delivery. More than 700 learners have begun the course since October 2020.

The course in ‘Intermediate Risk Assessment and Management of Family Violence Risk 22561VIC’ (consistent with MARAM ‘Brief and Intermediate’ responsibilities) was accredited by the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) in July 2020. The course is currently being reviewed to ensure consistency with the MARAM perpetrator-focused Practice Guides and will be submitted to VRQA for reaccreditation.

Best Practice Education Model for VET trainers

DET has led, in partnership with FSV, the development of a Best Practice Education Model for the delivery of family violence training across the VET sector.^[25] The model is to ensure that VET trainers will be equipped to deliver accredited training courses safely and effectively to learners who want to contribute to the primary prevention of family violence and violence against women and children and/or provide a family violence response aligned with the MARAM Framework. The model also recognises the experiences of Aboriginal people and includes a considered focus on ensuring trainers are equipped to provide a culturally safe learning environment. The model will also focus on trainer competencies required to teach accredited family violence courses in Victoria and recommend an implementation approach. This work will support the growth of trainer numbers and capability across the VET sector to deliver accredited family violence courses while retaining specialist expertise.

Section B: Departments as portfolio leads

Highlights

• MARAM training is part of the DFFH’s Child Protection Beginning Practice program, the induction program for new Child Protection Practitioners (CPPs).
• The courts delivered foundational MARAM training in family violence risk identification, assessment and management to more than 90 per cent of the specialist and non-specialist staff with responsibilities under MARAM.
• In 2020-21, tailored MARAM online training comprising four modules at the Brief and Intermediate level was rolled out for AOD and mental health practitioners. A total of 1,458 workers completed this training. In addition, 1,406 maternal and child health practitioners completed tailored ‘Screening and Identification’ online training.
• E-learning courses on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Awareness are mandatory for all Justice Health staff.
• Corrections Victoria has commenced work with Good Shepherd on the development of a training session for staff to be facilitated at both women’s prisons.
• Approximately 8,600 education leaders and professionals from centre-based education and care services and schools have received training.
• More than 90 per cent of senior public housing staff have completed MARAM training.
• DJCS has committed to long term family violence reform through additional funding in the 2021-22 State Budget. This will ensure that the justice system is more integrated into the broader service system in family violence identification, risk assessment and management. Workforce capability will be enhanced with four MARAM trainers to deliver MARAM training and Family Violence Practice Leads in Corrections Victoria and Youth Justice to provide specialist expertise.
• 98 per cent of VSSR staff completed the accreditation-compliant modules ‘Introduction to LGBTIQ+ Inclusive Practice’ and ‘Putting LGBTIQ Inclusion into Practice’.
• VSSR expanded its case management system demographics to include additional fields to capture LGBTIQA+, CALD and disability information for callers/clients, and implemented commensurate practice changes to ensure service safety, inclusivity and accessibility.
• FSV engaged inTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence to develop resources to assist The Orange Door practitioners to better engage with people from multicultural communities.
• The courts worked with Family Safety Victoria to ensure MARAM training had a strengthened focus on the intersection between Child Protection and family violence.
• CJS, including Corrections Victoria and Justice Health funded organisations have engaged in training relating to disability, LGBTIQA+ and broad, inter-generational issues relating to family violence.
• Youth Justice has enabled virtual and remote delivery of programs addressing intersectionality needs in custodial and community settings.
• Ambulance Victoria’s communications strategy includes advice on how to apply an intersectional lens – how to consider and respond to the barriers to access that overlapping aspects of a person’s identify can present, such as gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, age, visa status, et cetera. Additionally, to identify priority cohorts at risk of family violence, Safeguarding Care links reporting with the Cultural Safety and Equity Committee and supports the Complex Needs Patient Pathway.

DET

DET has identified priority workforces and mapped their roles in identifying and responding to family violence and child wellbeing and safety needs, to assess training needs associated with implementing MARAM (and FVISS and CISS in the context of MARAM).

Since February 2020, DET has been delivering leaders briefings and professional workshops on information sharing and family violence reforms to support workforce preparedness. The workshops are complemented by a modular e-learning package covering the same content but allowing for more flexibility in self-paced learning to support school leaders and staff who are unable to attend the online sessions. Approximately 8,600 education leaders and professionals from schools and centre-based education and care services have received training.

The Victorian State Budget 2021-22 provides funding for an additional 21,000 education leaders and professionals to be trained in MARAM and the FVISS and CISS.

DFFH: Child Protection

MARAM in Child Protection training is a customised program that provides practice-informed learning for Child Protections practitioners. Training commenced in September 2020 and is delivered in three stages to most Child Protection practitioners with Intermediate responsibilities and in two stages to Child Protection support staff with Identification responsibilities.

‘Following the tailored training that we have rolled out to our Child Protection practitioners, I notice a shift when they start asking questions about integrating MARAM into their practice. At this point they feel challenged by the new information and how to apply it, but for me this is the first sign that they are starting their journey of practice change… and this is where our implementation approach to MARAM alignment comes to the fore in providing practice resources, including tailored tools that inform and embed practice change’

(Dr Anita Morris, Statewide Family Violence Principal Practitioner).

DFFH: Public Housing

In 2020-21, the department’s focus expanded to include further integration of MARAM into routine practice and to lift workforce capability through tailored resources and training. This includes the department’s decision to expand access to MARAM training to all public housing staff.

Actions taken by the department to support its public housing workforce to build the skills required to respond to family violence in accordance with the MARAM Framework include:

• Delivering two online forums at the end of 2020 to more than 80 of the department’s senior public housing staff.
• Developing guidelines with practice advice on how to engage victim survivors of family violence in a respectful, sensitive and safe way.
• Delivering tailored MARAM Screening and Identification training to approximately 90 per cent of the senior public housing workforce.

DFFH: Multicultural Affairs

Tailored Screening and Identification training for workers with Identification responsibilities was developed by Victoria’s peak body for child and family services, the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare, in partnership with FSV. The ‘Screening and Identification for Workers in Multicultural Casework Services’ training was delivered onlinebetween 21 June and 16 July 2021 to 565 participants. A total of 140 people completed all three modules.

DH: Ambulance Victoria

Ambulance Victoria paramedics have highly developed technical skills and capabilities and are guided by specific practice standards, protocols and procedures and a workplace culture that supports continuous learning. The following are examples of recent activities to lift workforce capability to respond to family violence:

• a virtual ’Grand Round on the Vulnerable Patient’ tour was developed in partnership with Victoria Police and the Royal Children’s Hospital and was viewed by more than 600 staff
• three e-learning modules on the FVISS and CISS are available for Ambulance Victoria staff
• operational staff must complete a mandatory 45-minute family violence e-learning module by November 2021.
• a workforce-specific podcast on family violence called ‘Clinical Conversations’ led by the Ambulance Victoria Medical Director.

DH: Health Services

Tailored MARAM Screening and Identification training was developed and rolled out for Maternal and Child Health (MCH) nurses in 2020-21. The training was delivered by the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare and it featured case studies and scenarios developed specifically for the MCH nurses. A total of 1,406 MCH nurses completed the training. The training was designed to help MCH nurses confidently identify and respond to family violence risk and collaborate with specialist services. MCH nurses from Victoria’s three Early Parenting Centres also attended the MARAM Screening and Identification training.

DH: Mental Health

The following workforce capability strategies were delivered in 2020-21:

• facilitated tailored MARAM webinar training comprising four modules at the Brief and Intermediate level. A total of 766 mental health practitioners completed this training
• a tailored e-learning package and facilitated webinar training at the Intermediate level of family violence risk assessments was developed by the SHRFV team with funding from the department for hospital-based practitioners including mental health workers
• three e-learning modules about the FVISS and CISS were developed by the department for funded health and community services professionals, including mental health practitioners.

DJCS

The Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS) is continuing to deliver ‘Foundational Family Violence Training’, which provides a thorough introduction to family violence and the gendered nature of the issue, upon which MARAM training can build.

The ‘Foundational Family Violence Training’ and additional training for managers has been developed by the Office of the Family Violence Principal Practitioner.

Also, DJSC is rolling out the following initiatives within specific portfolios:

• CJS, including Corrections Victoria and Community Correctional Services are working towards strengthening capability and increasing awareness of family violence in their workforces by supporting head office staff and managers, Community Correctional Services staff and managers, Adult Parole Board secretariat staff and prison staff to attend ‘Foundational Family Violence Training’.
• Justice Health and Health Service Provider staff can access an e-learning module on FVISS and CISS developed by Justice Health, and an ‘Introduction to Family Violence’ e-learning module developed by DJCS.
• Youth Justice developed a training package specifically for community-based case managers to build skills and readiness in responding to young people who use violence in the home and their families. This training package focuses on identifying family violence risk, managing young people in Youth Justice where family violence indicators are present, and providing family violence planning for young people with high-risk factors. The course seeks to equip staff with practical strategies to use when family violence risk is identified involving young people under Youth Justice supervision.
• Victim support officers require specific skills and competencies to support victims to manage the effects of family violence in dynamic and challenging circumstances. An agile and tailored training program was developed to assist delivery of high-quality victim support services in Victoria.
• Forensicare staff have a 50 per cent completion rate for ‘Foundational Family Violence Training’ (451 staff completed) and 70 managers have completed the ‘Manager Module FVISS and CISS’. The organisation has 23 family violence clinical champions and a family violence clinical champions community of practice). Forensicare is currently implementing family violence training for senior leadership and executive staff.
• Private prisons have continued to uplift their family violence staff capability. G4S has provided staff with a range of e-learning modules with a family violence element, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inclusion and cultural safety, and understanding and creating value through diversity and inclusion. Modules on similar topics have also been included in training for new recruits. GEO has used its online communication platform to share a variety of family violence resources with staff. Training in family violence and cultural safety has been embedded in pre-service training, and cultural safety training has been rolled out to existing staff.
• Community Correctional Services (CCS) has had a rolling action plan in place since January 2019, to drive its work to align CCS policy, practice, and training with MARAM. This plan includes the design, development, and implementation of 11 learning products to uplift the capability of the existing CCS workforce to MARAM based training and embed MARAM aligned training in the CCS Learning and Development Model (LDM). The suite of products aim to ready CCS practitioners, and their supervisors to engage safely and proficiently with perpetrators and victim survivors of family violence as part of a best practice management model in CCS; and to manage the risks more broadly for victim survivors including children and the community. From July 2021 the Introduction to the MARAM Framework and Information Sharing eLearn (Learning Product 1) will be mandatory for CCS staff to complete. This will be the first MARAM aligned training product implemented in CCS. All staff in the outreach team of Ngwala Willumbong Aboriginal Continuity of Health Care (Ngwala) have participated in professional development by undertaking MARAM training, including FVISS/CISS. New staff are required to undertake MARAM training. Ngwala staff in other program areas, such as housing, are undertaking MARAM training. An Aboriginal-specific MARAM training program will be offered in October 2021. Staff attend training relevant to the strengthening of their practice and to their program area and client cohort.

DJCS: Consumer Affairs Victoria Funded Agencies

Training on intersectionality was delivered by Financial Counselling Victoria for the Financial Counselling Program and included content on Cultural Competence, Ethical Boundaries, Working with Interpreters, Parent Visas and Elder Abuse.

Regular collaboration with internal programs has increased understanding of intersecting needs such as homelessness, substance misuse and gambling, which when addressed, can improve safety and reduce family violence risk.

Financial Counselling Program case study:

A 39-year-old female client who identifies as both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, advised she wanted to leave a violent relationship and return to another state to live with family in her own community where she would feel safe and protected. The client declined a referral to The Orange Door or specialist family violence service due to her concern about community members becoming aware of her situation, particularly because she lived in a small regional rural community. The financial counsellor, closely supported by their manager, completed an Intermediate MARAM tool and assessed the client to be at serious risk. The client agreed to discuss a safety plan. The financial counsellor applied for Flexible Support Package funding through the local specialist family violence service on behalf of the client to assist her leaving. The financial counsellor also made referrals to services in the client’s new town to ensure she had support for housing, emergency relief funds and family violence services when she arrived.

FSV: The Orange Door

All staff joining The Orange Door are required to attend MARAM Comprehensive Training and complete e-learning on FVISS and CISS as pre-requisites to attending The Orange Door induction with FSV. Since February 2021, FSV has offered tailored training to complement the pre-requisite learnings. For example, in MARAM Comprehensive Training participants learn about comprehensive risk assessment, whereas in the tailored program they are taught how this assessment is embedded in the TRAM platform and recorded in the Client Record Management (CRM) system.

Two programs were developed and have been delivered to all new staff:

Table 10: Numbers receiving tailored MARAMIS training in The Orange Door

Around 120 practitioners also attended an information sharing refresher training in the lead up to commencement of Phase 2 in anticipation of increased requests.

In areas where The Orange Door has not commenced, FSV is engaging services and the broader community in understanding The Orange Door concept, vision and service offer. Hub Leadership Groups and Operational Leadership Groups are established early to support their understanding of the relationship between MARAM reform and implementation in The Orange Door.

FSV: Risk Assessment and Management Panels

The second edition of the Risk Assessment and Management Panel (RAMP) Operational Requirements is currently being finalised. It outlines in detail the responsibilities of RAMP core members under MARAM and the FVISS and CISS.

The updated Operational Requirements also situate RAMPs’ approach to risk assessment and management within the MARAM Framework and extensively reference the MARAM Practice Guides, templates and tools. In 2020-21, DV Vic and DVRCV delivered 15 x 3.5 hour online ‘RAMP Induction’ training sessions.

The induction training ensures that RAMP members have a shared understanding of family violence and the requirements under MARAM, FVIS and CIS Schemes, the objectives and processes of RAMP and the role and responsibilities of RAMP members. Feedback on the induction was consistently positive.

The Courts

The courts have invested in building workforce capability through the development and delivery of foundational MARAM and victim-survivor focussed training. Most specialist and non-specialist court staff across the Magistrates’ and Children’s Court of Victoria have now completed MARAM training.

Training 999 staff in the context of the changing court environment and operational challenges over the past year was a significant achievement for the courts.

The training program introduced staff to the MARAM Framework, staff roles and responsibilities, evidence-based risk, intersectionality and effective engagement skills to support engagement with victim survivors. Training was tailored for the comprehensive, intermediate and identify and respond workforces to reflect their different roles and responsibilities.

Table 9: MARAM Training delivery data for 20/21 financial year

At the Children’s Court of Victoria, the majority of hearings involve applications brought by the DFFH. The courts worked with Family Safety Victoria to ensure MARAM training included a focus on the intersection between Child Protection and family violence.

Victoria Police

The Centre of Learning for Family Violence has continued to provide a suite of family violence training related to family violence risk identification, assessment and management. This includes the following courses:

Table 11: Victoria Police Family Violence Training 2020-21

During the reporting period, relevant Victoria Police staff attended MARAM ‘Leading Alignment’ training, as per the table above, and MARAM Framework training to ensure alignment when operationalising it through deployment of the new Family Violence Report.

To ensure consistency in the application of the new Family Violence Report, mandatory force-wide face-to-face training was undertaken: 83 per cent of Victoria Police’s 15,000 strong operational workforce, including up to the rank of superintendent have completed the training. Family Violence Training Officers within each division are continuing to review practices and tailor education as needed within their local police area.

The purpose of the training is to have members understand what to consider when assessing family violence risk. This includes how to use the new Family Violence Report to assess risks, the importance and meaning of the family violence risk factors, perpetrator tactics and counter-intuitive victim behaviours.

Training was also undertaken on how to use Victoria Police’s Case Prioritisation Response Model (CPRM). The CPRM is a framework for the specialist Family Violence Investigation Units to identify and prioritise the highest risk cases and tailor risk management to prevent serious harm from re-occurring. The CPRM aims to ensure consistency of practice and delivers evidence-based identification of medium and high-risk family violence cases. The CPRM is borne out of Victoria Police’s drive to continuously improve its family violence response.

Section C: Sectors as lead

Highlights

• Victims of Crime Helpline developed and delivered ‘Predominant Aggressor Identification’ training and workforce tools to assist in responding to L17 referrals.
• Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS) designed and delivered more than 60 hours of online curriculum to a pilot group of 24 YSAS practitioners across 19 YSAS sites Victoria-wide.

Strengthening Hospital Responses to Family Violence (SHRFV)

The SHRFV initiative team developed an eLarning package and conducted training for practitioners who align with the Brief and Intermediate level of MARAM. The SHRFV e-learning package supports practitioners in their role assessing and managing family violence risk and supporting victim survivors. Workers in hospital settings were also able to access a tailored e-learning package and facilitated webinar training developed by the SHRFV initiative team.

A specialist supplementary e-learning module was developed and webinar training was also rolled out by the SHRFV initiative team for public antenatal settings.

Family Violence Principal Strategic Advisors

Family Violence Principal Strategic Advisors (PSAs) work to drive the local implementation of key family violence reforms in their area, build partnerships and collaborate across sectors, build workers’ capability and provide insight into operations, issues, functions and opportunities in their region.

PSAs are responsible for the delivery of the MARAM collaborative practice training module. In 2020-21, this saw 3,649 professionals trained in collaborative practice.

Victim Services, Support and Reform (VSSR)

The Victims of Crime Helpline is the only state-wide recipient of L17 referrals for male affected family members. The introduction of FVISS and CISS has promoted greater collaboration between the Victims of Crime Helpline and other prescribed Risk Assessment Entities (RAEs) and ISEs. This has further enabled the building of workforce capability around supporting male affected family members (AFMs) and determining the predominant aggressor. As part of MARAM alignment and capability building, VSSR practice requires that where a male AFM is reassessed as the predominant aggressor by the VoC Helpline they share the reassessment with The Orange Door, or Specialist Family Violence Services, which informs the VoC Helpline’s response to any further L17 referrals. The VoC Helpline also routinely shares reassessments with Victoria Police. The VoC Helpline receives voluntary information shares from The Orange Door where they have reassessed a male AFM as the predominant aggressor or before contacting a male AFM to gather information about their current risk status.

Youth Support and Advocacy Service

YSAS designed and delivered more than 60 hours of online curriculum to a pilot group of 24 YSAS practitioners across 19 YSAS sites Victoria-wide. This included the piloting of accredited modules ‘Identifying and Responding to Family Violence Risk’, CASA House’s ‘Responding to Disclosures of Sexual Assault’ and No to Violence’s (NTV)‘Engaging Men Who Use Violence’. YSAS adapted these resources for a youth-centred context and collaboratively delivered them with a YSAS project worker.

This pilot involved design and delivery of specialist content developed by YSAS on family violence and AOD use. The findings of this project are being incorporated into a broader family violence capability building project review by FSV under the Family Violence Reform Rolling Action Plan 2020-2023. This pilot has been highly successful and lead to a partnership with No to Violence (NTV).

Summary of progress

With more than 370,000 prescribed workers to receive MARAM training, it is inevitable that the rollout will take some time and progress will be at varying paces in different workforces. A balance must be struck between offering training quickly and the need to ensure training is suitably tailored to workforces and adapted to respond to feedback.

The COVID-19 pandemic response halted almost all MARAM training in March 2020, as the primary mode of delivery was face to face. The 2019-20 report noted the quick transition to online options, and this continued to be the mode of training delivery during the 2020-21 reporting period. The response to online delivery has anecdotally been positive and will inform a review of unaccredited training delivery scheduled to take place in 2021-22, and training strategies into the future.

Positively, several key stakeholders told us that moving training online improved the accessibility of MARAM training for staff in rural and regional areas and have advocated for a combination of online and face-to-face training to continue, even when social restrictions are no longer in place. The Department of Health and Human Services expressed support for continuing to provide online training due to the high satisfaction rates of participants to date.

(FVRIM Fourth Report)

The numbers able to attend training throughout this reporting period is a fantastic achievement during the changing levels of restrictions experienced during 2020-21. With the introduction of Phase 2 workforces from April 2021 it is anticipated that training numbers will continue to grow across the state.

^[25] This project is action 2.9 of Strengthening the Foundations: First Rolling Action Plan 2019-22 to develop a ‘best practice’ teaching and assessment approach to delivering accredited family violence training.

Successful implementation of reforms requires mechanisms to learn lessons and apply necessary changes to approach. The 2019-20 report referred to an early evaluation of the implementation of the MARAM reforms and the Monash University review of FVISS.

Those recommendations continue to inform current and future implementation activities. Additionally, as lead for the reforms, FSV actively engaged in multiple governance groups and stakeholder forums to engage sector feedback more directly.

This chapter provides an update on implementation of recommendations by FSV and work to reinforce good practice and commit to continuous improvement.

Cube Group MARAM review 2020

The 2019-20 report contained a summary of the 35 recommendations made by the Cube Group on the early implementation of MARAM. This report contains an update on the progress of responding to those recommendations to improve implementation efforts overall, as well as references to related evaluations and other policies and processes to reinforce good practice and commit to continuous improvement.

FSV has acquitted the following recommendations in the 2020-21 period:

FSV continues to review and respond to all outstanding Cube Group recommendations including identifying any requirements for a WoVG approach.

Monash FVISS Review 2020

The FVPA requires that an independent review of the operation of the scheme be undertaken two years after commencement of the FVISS and tabled in Parliament. An independent review was undertaken by a team of researchers from Monash University in 2020.

The recommendations of the Monash review aimed to improve the operation of the FVISS and the implementation to Phase 2 organisations. FSV has acquitted the following recommendations in the 2020-21 financial year:

FSV continues to review and respond to all outstanding Monash recommendations, including identifying any requirements for a WoVG approach.

2020 Report of the Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor

In May 2021, the 2020 Report of the Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor was released, reporting on the status of reform implementation as at November 2020.^[26] The report includes significant discussion on the benefits of MARAM and highlights that it has been instrumental in supporting the transformation of practice within public sector agencies since the Royal Commission into Family Violence.

The report identifies areas for improvement:

• more robust central coordination of MARAM
• funding to support implementation of MARAM and information sharing in health, mental health and education settings
• continued investment in capacity-building activities to support application of MARAM and the information sharing schemes to children
• new training and support to universal and justice workforces to understand and operationalise the MARAM perpetrator practice guides
• continued delivery of new online training and ongoing effort to improve the reforms based on feedback and evaluation findings.

FSV is addressing these areas for improvement, with many of them to be supported through the State Budget 2021-22 investment in further MARAM and information sharing implementation.

MARAM Annual Survey of Organisations

The inaugural MARAM Annual Survey of Organisations survey went live in April 2021 with a target population of 800 organisations prescribed under the Phase 1 MARAM rollout. Overall, 198 responses were received from 144 small, medium and large organisations across Victoria prescribed under MARAM. There were responses from specialist family violence services (including perpetrator interventions), (AOD services, homelessness services, child and family services, designated mental health, some prescribed functions within Aboriginal organisations, public housing, RAMPs, The Orange Door and Maternal and Child Health services to name a few.

The survey results suggest that the large majority (81%) of organisation leaders understand what organisational alignment to MARAM means. Other results include:

• 85% said it was a high priority for their organisation to align to MARAM
• 77% said they have a detailed understanding of the MARAM responsibilities that impact their organisation
• 70% said “Lack of staff time” and/or “Prohibitive current workload of staff” was one of their top three challenges for MARAM implementation
• 47% said “Lack of organisational funding for MARAM implementation” and/or “Lack of time to update policies, procedures and practices” was one of their top three challenges.

These results were largely consistent across all workforces.

Future MARAM evaluation: the five-year review in 2023

MARAM is established in law under Part 11 of the FVPA. Under s. 195 of the FVPA, the Minister must cause a review of the operation of Part 11 to be conducted within five years after the commencement of the Part. The review must:

• assess the extent to which this Part is achieving the objective of providing a framework for achieving consistency in family violence risk assessment and family violence risk management
• recommend any required changes to improve the effectiveness of this Part in achieving that objective.

FSV intends to conduct this review in combination with the five-year reviews of FVISS (including CIP), also required under Part 5A of the FVPA. FSV will develop and finalise the scope and detailed approach for the combined five-year review mid to late 2021, with a view to commencing the review by mid-2022.

There is also a range of research and evaluation activity underway or planned to build the evidence about experiences of family violence, family violence risk and risk factors for Victoria’s diverse communities, including:

• the Everybody Matters Monitoring Plan, which will be completed in 2021-22, with monitoring efforts to ongoing across the life of the 10-year Everybody Matters: Inclusion and Equity Statement
• evaluation of the Multicultural COVID-19 Family Violence Program.

A Harmony Study will be conducted by La Trobe University, due for completion in June 2022, with government and sector oversight. The study aims to test the feasibility and effectiveness of a systems intervention to increase identification and early intervention of family violence and will be relevant to MARAM alignment activities for this sector.

MARAM Maturity Model

The MARAM Maturity Model was proposed early in the development of the MARAM Framework in recognition of the need to provide guidance to prescribed organisations as to their expected alignment pathway, noting that this would vary considerably across different sectors. The model is intended to be one of the key supporting resources for the MARAM Framework. Sitting alongside the MARAM Practice Guides and Organisational Embedding Guide, which support organisations to understand what steps they should take to align with MARAM and provide guidance on risk assessment and management responsibilities, the Maturity Model will provide a means for organisations to assess their level of progress in taking these alignment steps. It will do this by providing benchmarks against which organisations can compare their alignment progress.

The Cube Group report recommended the development of the Maturity Model to provide a common language for organisational improvement and to set out clear expectations for prescribed organisations’ alignment with MARAM.

Work commenced in early 2021, with an initial focus on settling a high-level design to test and develop further with stakeholders. The high-level design of the Maturity Model, which will be further tested and developed with government and nongovernment stakeholders in the next phase of work, is expected to have the following key components:

• alignment products –this describes products that help organisations apply the Maturity Model in practice. At a minimum, this will include a maturity matrix that will identify a number of alignment dimensions and outline a series of stepped benchmarks against these towards full alignment maturity
• defined improvement cycle –an approach drawn from existing maturity models in use in other policy areas, which will align with the Organisational Embedding Guide. The improvement cycle will consist of three defined steps:
  • Assess and Audit – enabling organisations to self-assess their current level of alignment and utilise the improvement cycle’s self-evaluative approach to identify areas for improvement
  • Plan and Implement – utilising the findings of the self-assessment process to set and act on improvement goals
  • Review – reviewing the outcomes from the planning and implementation stage and informing a new cycle
• roles and responsibilities in government –consistent with the overall approach to MARAM oversight, responsibility for overseeing the Maturity Model will be distributed across government. As part of the Maturity Model design, work will be needed to determine how responsibilities can best be allocated across departments to match the distributed approach to MARAM oversight.

Summary of progress

Just over one year on from the early evaluations and progress continues in meeting the recommendations. The legislation requires a review of the operation of MARAM within five years of commencement, by 2023, which must:

1. whether the MARAM reforms are achieving the objective of providing a framework for achieving consistency in family violence risk assessment and management; and
2. recommend changes required (if any) to improve the effectiveness of the reforms in achieving that objective^[27].

It is expected the outcome of the five-year review will inform future implementation activities.

The commencement of the MARAM annual survey will, over time, provide additional data on implementation progress, noting that its impact may be limited given it is voluntary. However, the development of the Maturity Model will seek to include a mechanism to enable continuous improvement.

^[26] Victorian Government 2020, Report of the Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor 1 November 2020, https://www.fvrim.vic.gov.au/report-family-violence-reform-implementati…

^[27] Family Violence Protection Act 2008, Section 195 http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/fvpa2008283/s195.html

The state budget for 2021-22 allocated $97 million over four years across relevant government departments and agencies to fund the continued implementation of MARAM, FVISS and CISS, with a focus on Phase 2. This funding amount is in response to the increase in organisations prescribed to MARAM under Phase 2 of the reforms and will support the development and delivery of training, resources and tools, change management and implementation activities, response to an increase in information sharing requests and to support the leading the reforms.

This section identifies work that is planned as the reforms continue to roll out over the next few years.

Family Safety Victoria

Key priorities for 2021-22 for FSV include:

• Evaluations: Undertaking the five-year reviews of MARAM, FVISS and the CIP and acting on findings and accepted recommendations. The findings will be tabled in Parliament in August 2023. FSV will also continue to respond to the recommendations from the Cube Group report of the early implementation evaluation of MARAM and the recommendations of the Monash University review of the FVISS.
• MARAM Maturity Model: The MARAM Maturity Model will provide common language for organisational improvement and set out clear expectations for alignment by prescribed framework organisations. FSV has commenced development of the MARAM Maturity Model beginning with research and initial stakeholder engagement. FSV anticipates significant stakeholder engagement in 2021-22.
• Practice Guidance: The Identification and Intermediate MARAM Practice Guides and tools for working with adults using violence were published online in July 2021. The resources include an updated Foundation Knowledge Guide that incorporates new practice concepts for working with people using violence, chapters covering MARAM Responsibilities 1–6, 9 and 10 focusing on working with people using violence, and new Identification and Intermediate Assessment Tools and risk management templates. Work will also continue on delivering the Comprehensive Practice Guides and tools for working with adults using violence, as well as the development of the MARAM Practice Guides for Adolescents Who Use Family Violence and in respect of children experiencing family violence.
• Perpetrator-focused training development and delivery: The development of a non-accredited MARAM perpetrator-focused training package to further build the skills and shared practice approaches of professionals engaging with adults who use violence will complement and add value to the existing suite of training focused on victim survivors. Three training modules are anticipated to be completed by mid-2022, including one on identification, one on intermediate risk assessment and management and one on comprehensive risk assessment and management.
• Central Information Point: Work to support and improve the operation of the CIP will continue, including continued service delivery to The Orange Door Network as it rolls out across the state and to all RAMP areas to increase perpetrator accountability and enhance the safety of victim survivors. The expansion of CIP will support the intake and high-risk service responses of the family violence system to effectively assess and manage family violence risk. Continued system integration will support operational efficiencies through the partial automation of data sharing from CIP partner agencies to support more timely access to information by practitioners. A further and ongoing review of the data sourced from CIP Partner Agency systems will occur to ensure continued alignment with MARAM.

Department of Education and Training

Key priorities for 2021-22 for DET include:

• Work with FSV on improving response and support to children as victims in their own right to collect additional information and data:
  • on family violence indicators observable in education and care settings
  • relating to early intervention for children or young people as users and/or victims of family violence
  • existing and emerging issues for MARAM and information sharing schemes implementation and use in education and centre-based care services
  • from or about diverse cohorts of children at all ages.

This activity will contribute to the evidence base for more effective and earlier identification and interventions with children affected by family violence.

• Engage with The Orange Door, specialist and youth services, peak bodies and other departments at a regional and central level to collaborate on effective MARAM and information sharing practice and resource development and engage with academia to use and further develop evidence for practice in this area.
• Collaborate with FSV and DFFH to build on the work undertaken for the Child Protection Reporter Project in 2018. Further work could consider the role of both DET and DFFH where family violence is identified as a concern for children and young people, including to prevent cumulative harm.

Department of Justice and Community Safety

Key priorities for 2021-22 for DJCS include:

• Undertake better identification of perpetrators of family violence in the corrections IT systems with funding dedicated to the CV Family Violence Flag Project.
• Continued family violence training across the justice portfolio with funding to backfill prison staff to attend family violence and MARAM training related training over the next two years.
• Incorporate perpetrator-focused practice guidance and tools into current work practice across all portfolios.
• Provide three Family Violence Practice Leads and a CISS/FVISS Project Officer to give authoritative and subject matter expertise and input into industry and departmental training, practice manuals, guidelines, and case studies for male victims of family violence, and adolescents who may use violence.
• Youth Justice will continue to work with FSV to develop and finalise the Adolescents using Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) practice guidance and any required supplementary resources. Once the Adolescents using Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) practice guidance is finalised, Youth Justice will review existing practice advice and training, and update to ensure alignment between the two practice guides.
• Initiate the establishment of a state-wide memorandum of understanding between VSSR and The Orange Door Network to facilitate secondary consultations and information sharing and allow for greater understanding across both services.
• Work with legal services, specialist family violence services and The Orange Door Network to ensure clear referral pathways to FCP and TAAP. This work aligns with an activity in the Rolling Action Plan 2021-23 on improving referral pathways with legal services and financial counsellors.

Department of Families, Fairness and Housing

Key priorities for 2021-22 for DFFH include:

• SAFER children framework commenced for the child protection workforce in November 2021. SAFER incorporates MARAM risk assessments, ratings and risk management. Improvements to the child protection case recording system, CRIS, has made it easier for child protection practitioners to integrate MARAM assessments and easier to share those assessments. Child protection have new guidance, resources and support via updates to the Child Protection Manual and a new SharePoint site with practice resources including practice tools and videos. Further MARAM specific training to complement the SAFER training will be delivered to Child Protection beyond 2021.
• Update the Disability Client Record Information System to improve storage, organisation and reporting of information relating to MARAM-practice. This may be in the form of added functionality to the system for practitioners to upload screening and identification case notes, information about consent, or when risk relevant information is shared.
• Finalise the new Public Housing Operational Guidelines and Practice Advice and a plain English factsheet about MARAM and information sharing that will include information about record keeping.
• Incorporate perpetrator-focussed practice guidance and tools into current work practice across relevant portfolios.
• Continue to support Phase 2 organisations to develop a shared understanding of family violence, including the structural inequalities and barriers that affect people from diverse communities and at-risk age groups such as children, young people and older people. Continue engagement through meetings and webinars to build a shared understanding of family violence risk and impact, encourage attendance at MARAM training, to build confidence in the use of the relevant risk assessment tools.

Department of Health

Key priorities for 2021-22 for DH include:

• Establish a dedicated MARAM and Information Sharing team in the department to support the implementation of the reforms across department program areas and funded organisations.
• Develop and roll out customised MARAM webinar training for practitioners in Aboriginal MCH services, Alcohol and Other Drugs services, mental health services and Community Health services.
• Development of a ‘Screening and Identification’ MARAM e-learning package tailored for health workforces.
• Continuation of the Strengthening Hospital Responses to Family Violence (SHRFV) initiative with a focus on supporting the implementation of MARAM and the Child and Family Violence Information Sharing Schemes in health services.
• Integrate MARAM and information sharing into Ambulance Victoria’s clinical governance structure to ensure appropriate and ongoing leadership, project and clinical governance, and a focus on continuous improvement.

The Courts

Key priorities for 2021-22 for the courts include:

• Planning for the introduction of the specialist and non-specialist perpetrator guidance and tools. This will include capability planning and the development of a tailored training package to support the roll out of the perpetrator guidance and tools across the courts.
• Targeted professional development in line with the Responding to Family Violence Capability Framework to provide ongoing learning and capability uplift for practitioners. Offerings will include requesting and sharing information under the FVISS and CISS to build staff confidence and knowledge in these critical court functions.
• Continued engagement with FSV and other agencies on the development, design and testing of MARAM guidance and tools for adolescents who use violence in the home.

Victoria Police

Key priorities for 2021-22 for Victoria Police include:

• Continue to embed family violence risk assessment and management processes, including the Case Prioritisation and Response Model, ensuring ongoing operationalisation and alignment with the MARAM Framework.
• Continue to roll out the Centre of Learning for Family Violence’s suite of family violence training for Victoria Police employees, including the FVR, FVISS/CISS and the Specialist Operative Module.
• Continue to review policies and practices to ensure the identification, assessment and management of family violence risk, and information sharing for the purposes of keeping victims safe, perpetrators in view, and to promote child wellbeing, are embedded across the organisation. This includes work concerning identification of the predominant aggressor and correcting misidentification.
• Incorporate perpetrator-focussed practice guidance and tools into current work practice across all portfolios.

^[28] https://www.thelookout.org.au/family-violence-workers/risk-assessment-m…

ACCO Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations

AJG Aboriginal Justice Group

AOD Alcohol and other drugs

BCH Ballarat Community Health

CALD Culturally and linguistically diverse

CAV Consumer Affairs Victoria

CCS Community Correctional Services

ChCV Children’s Court of Victoria

CHP Council to Homeless People

CHS Community Health Services

CIP Central Information Point

CISS Child Information Sharing Scheme

CMS Case Management System

CRM Customer Relationship Management

CV Corrections Victoria

DET Department of Education and Training

DFFH Department of Families, Fairness and Housing

DHHS Department of Health and Human Services

DJC Disability Justice Coordinator

DJSC Department of Justice and Community Safety

DH Department of Health

DPC Department of Premier and Cabinet

DV Vic Domestic Violence Victoria

DVRCV Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria

EACPI Expert Advisory Committee on Perpetrator Interventions

EMH Elizabeth Morgan House

EPC Early Parenting Centre

FCP Financial Counselling Program

FSV Family Safety Victoria

FVI Family Violence Initiative

FVIO Family Violence Intervention Orders

FVISS Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme

FVPA Family Violence Protection Act

FVR Family Violence Report used by Victoria Police

FVRIC Family Violence Regional Integration Committee

HSP Health Service Provider

ISE Information Sharing Entities

JS Justice Services

KWP Koori Women’s Place

L17 Family Violence Report

LGBTIQA+ Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer and asexual communities

MACNI Multiple and Complex Needs Initiative

MARAM Multiagency Risk Assessment and Management Framework and the Family Violence Information Sharing reforms

MARAM Framework Multiagency Risk Assessment and Management Framework

MCH Maternal and Child Health

MCV Magistrates’ Court of Victoria

NCSG Northern Community Support Group

NJP Ngarra Jarranounith Place

NTV No to Violence

PASS Perpetrator Accommodation and Support Service

PSAs Principal Strategic Advisors

RAP Rolling Action Plan

RAEs Risk Assessment Entities

RAMPs Risk Assessment Management Panels

SABTS Sexually Abusive Behaviour Treatment Services

SASS Sexual Assault Support Services

SFVA Specialist Family Violence Advisors

SFVC Specialist Family Violence Courts

SFVS Specialist Family Violence Service

SHIP Specialist Homelessness Information Platform

SHRFV Strengthening Hospital Responses to Family Violence

TAAP Tenancy Assistance and Advocacy Program

TRAM Tools for Risk Assessment and Management

VACCA Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency

VACSAL Victorian Aboriginal Community Services Association Ltd

VAP Victim Assistance Program

VET Vocational Education and Training
VOC Victims of Crime

VRQA Victorian Registration and Qualification Authority

VSAC Victim Survivors Advisory Council

VSO Victim Support Officer

VSSR Victim Services, Support and Reform

WoVG Whole of Victoria Government

YSAS Youth Support and Advocacy Service