Develop and deliver training across identified Tasmanian Government services to respond to family and sexual violence
Responsible government
- Tasmania
Fourth Action Plan actions
- Support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and their children
- 7 Build the workforce capability to ensure delivery of high quality, holistic, trauma-informed and culturally safe supports that respond to the complex needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and their children.
- Respect, listen and respond to the diverse lived experience and knowledge of women and their children affected by violence
- 12 Better equip the service system and communities to address complex forms of violence and harmful cultural practices including early and forced marriage, female genital mutilation/cutting, dowry abuse and human trafficking.
- Improve support and service system responses
- 16 Enable workforces to provide trauma-informed support with a focus on safety and recovery to victims and survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence.
What are we doing?
This action will build early intervention and response capability across key workforces that intersect with family violence. Develop and deliver training across identified Tasmanian Government services to respond to family and sexual violence is an action under Safe Homes, Families, Communities: Tasmania’s action plan for family and sexual violence 2019-2022 (Safe Families, Homes, Communities), which invests $26 million over three years from 2019-20 to 2021-22 to prevent and respond to family and sexual violence in Tasmania.
What have we achieved so far?
In September 2020, the Department of Communities Tasmania launched the ‘Family Violence: Assessing Risk to Safety’ training module.
Safe Homes, Families, Communities commenced implementation on 1 July 2019.
In 2020-21 under this initiative the Tasmanian Government has:
- Re-released our Practitioners Guide to include updated information on responses to family and sexual violence so that service providers and practitioners are equipped to respond to family and sexual violence if or when it presents in their day-to-day work.
- Developed the comprehensive Family Violence: Assessing Risk to Safety package for ongoing statewide training for the Child Safety Service. The training module is an intensive course designed for people working in Child Safety Services and training is co delivered with the Strong Families, Safe Kids Family Violence Liaison Officer (Action 38 under Safe Homes, Families, Communities).
- Developed the Family and Sexual Violence and Emergency Events training module, which is freely available on the State Emergency Service website. The module is targeted towards anyone in the emergency management sector and/or involved in developing emergency management or recovery policies, including: Local Government; Volunteers / Support agencies / Not-for-profit organisations; Control or operation centres / recovery and evacuation centres; Response Management Authority / Emergency Management Coordination / Recovery Coordinators.
- Delivered training for Tasmanian Prison Service staff working with family violence offenders to deliver the Resilience Program.
- The ’Resilience Program’ focuses on increasing resilience during times of high stress and uncertainty, which has the potential to decrease the occurrence of unhelpful behaviours associated with family violence. The Program aims to increase resilience through the development of social and emotional skills, including self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship skills and responsible decision making.
- The Program provides an opportunity to engage perpetrators of family violence in a brief intervention to help build motivation and program engagement prior to undertaking the more intensive Family Violence Offender Intervention Program.
- The Program responds to the identified need of increasing resilience in times of high stress and uncertainty associated with COVID-19. It is delivered by the Tasmanian Prison Service to maximum and medium security rated male and female prisoners.
What is next?
In 2022, Communities Tasmania has engaged the Australian Institute of Interpreters (AUSIT) to conduct two one-day workshops for translators on ‘Interpreting in Family Violence Settings’. The workshops are designed to ensure interpreters are adequately equipped to meet the needs of their culturally and linguistically diverse clients for specialised language services, especially conveying themes of family violence in various professional settings.
Communities Tasmania is working with partner agencies under Safe Homes Families Communities to identify further training priorities for delivery in 2021-22.
What difference will we make?
The Tasmanian Government is committed to building on initiatives being delivered through individual portfolios to deliver a holistic response; supporting families affected by violence; and ensuring the service system is responsive, integrated and innovative.
Developing and delivering training across identified Tasmanian Government services to respond to family and sexual violence will ensure that sector workers are equipped and trained to work with victims affected by family and sexual violence.