Technology facilitated abuse in domestic and family violence situations

Wednesday 29 June
10am-11.30am

Register for this event

Research published by the eSafety Commission maintains that “more than 99% of Australian victims of domestic and family violence have also experienced technology-facilitated abuse (also known as tech abuse).” Exhibited by four main forms - harassment, stalking, impersonation and threats - this form of abuse can vary in both scope and severity, from sending abusive messages to tracking where you are via cameras or phone spyware.

On Wednesday 27 April, the Family Violence AOD Community of Practice delivered on event on Tech-facilitated abuse featuring Dr Bridget Harris, Ellen Bishop and Leonie Burnham from the eSafety Commission. Watch the recording here. Leonie Burnham is now running a longer session specifically designed for the AOD workforce. 

Topics covered in webinar:

The role of eSafety Commissioner – what we do

• What can be reported to us and how

How technology is used as a tool for abuse against women:

• online harassment/stalking/intimidation
• trends in surveillance and tracking devices
• hacking and impersonation 
• online threats/punishment, including using intimate images without consent 

Strategies to identify and address risks:

• red flags with devices and platforms, digital footprint, online accounts
• emerging technology 

Resources to support your work to empower women to improve their safety

Updated monthly, the MARAM Training Calendar lists all upcoming training for AOD clinicians, practitioners, team leaders, managers and CEOs. It also included foundational training in the dynamics of family violence and Information Sharing Schemes.

You can view and download it here.

The Future-proofing Safety project is looking across Victoria’s community services system to understand how services responded to family violence during COVID-19. We will look at how client service needs changed, how services adapted, whether there were any gaps and weaknesses within the family violence service system and broader sector and the means of addressing these gaps in the short, medium, and long term. We will also explore key elements of disaster/crisis response planning for services going forward

The purpose of the sector survey of practitioners is to understand practitioners’ views on how client experiences of family violence changed during COVID-19, as well as how client service needs changed and how services changed to meet these needs. The survey will also examine the strengths and limitations of services to adapt to clients’ changing needs as well as practitioners’ views on key elements of disaster/crisis response plan for services

All practitioners working in Victorian organisations providing services to people who experienced or used family violence during the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2020 to present) in Victoria are invited to participate in this survey. This includes the specialist family violence services and other community based services (such as AOD). 

If you work with clients experiencing or using family violence we invite you to share your experiences of how your client service needs changed and how your services adapted to meet their needs during COVID-19. 

Click here to take the survey.

Read the Future-proofing Safety Project Information Sheet (aifs.gov.au).

Elevate! 

The Victorian Government has provided support to VAADA to administer a fully-funded, centralised workforce development program for the AOD sector until December 2022. This training and professional development program - Elevate! - is available to all AOD workforce currently employed within funded AOD services across Victoria. 

Upcoming training you may be interested in:

June 14 - Youth AOD 3 – Half-day Young people & AOD
June 15 - Family Violence within LGBTI+ Communities: Cultural Sensitivity Training
June 22 - Working with Older People and Substance Use
June 23 - Youth AOD 5 Half-day Family Violence and Young People
June 24 - Trans and Gender Diverse Cultural Sensitivity and Awareness Training

Click here to view all other training

MARAM Training

eLearn: MARAM Brief and Intermediate eLearn course for practitioners working with victim survivors

• Provider: Department of Health

• Delivery mode: eLearning self-paced (three modules, each module 20-25 minutes)

• The modules cover: a shared understanding of family violence, an introduction to MARAM and the assessment tools, the Structured Professional Judgement model, risk assessment, risk management including working with specialist family violence services and safety planning.

• Register here

Unsure which MARAM training is right for you? Consult the MARAM training decision tree.

More prison sentences for people who breach family violence orders in Victoria as police crack down on perpetrators

"More people than ever are being imprisoned for breaching family violence orders in Victoria as police have become increasingly responsive to the state's scourge of abuse, recording a fivefold increase in the number of breach offences in the decade to 2020." Read more on The ABC

Centre Against Sexual Assault 'struggling to respond' to growing demand in Victoria as wait times climb

"Survivors of sexual violence in central Victoria can be waiting up to seven months for specialist therapeutic services due to increased demand, the head of the region's Centre Against Sexual Assault says." Read more on The ABC. 

Johnny Depp v Amber Heard is a defamation case. But it could have a chilling effect on domestic violence survivors

"Regardless of the trial's outcome, experts fear the public nature of the proceedings — and the intensity of the public discourse surrounding them — could have a chilling effect on survivors of domestic abuse." Read more on the ABC. 

Amber Heard Is Not A ‘Perfect Victim’ Because There’s No Such Thing

"There is a myth that a person has to be good or moral in order to have been subjected to domestic abuse." Read more on Refinery29. 

Queensland police union boss made defamation claim against domestic violence expert

"The head of the Queensland police union sent legal threats to a prominent domestic violence academic and her employer, after she claimed in an interview that the union “protected” a policing culture that was systemically failing to safeguard victims of domestic abuse." Read more on The Guardian.

Crackdown on 'disturbing trend' of Queensland prison inmates perpetrating domestic violence from behind bars

"Queensland prisoners who inflict domestic violence from behind bars are more likely to be caught under a new project aiming to hold offenders accountable and reduce harm to survivors." Read more on the ABC

Inside the refuges helping family violence survivors get back on their feet

"The women who come here arrive homeless and traumatised – often with physical and mental wounds – and during their six-to-eight-week stay work with specially trained professionals to rebuild their lives." Read more on The Age. 

MARAM Person Using Violence Guides: What Now? Web Series

No To Violence's webinar series -  "What Now?" - aims to help workforces familiarise themselves with the newly released MARAM Practice Guides. These webinars do not replacing any MARAM training in 2022.

Recordings

Responsibility 1: Respectful,
sensitive and safe engagement AND Responsibility 2: Identification of
family violence risk - Recording

Responsibility 3: Intermediate Risk Assessment - Recordings - Part 1 - Part 2

Responsibility 4: Intermediate Risk Management - Tuesday 1 March - Recording

Responsibility 5: Secondary
consultation and referral, including
for comprehensive family violence
assessment and management
response AND Responsibility 6: Contribute to Information Sharing with other
services (as authorised by
legislation) - Tuesday 5 April - Recording

(video pw: NTVWHATNOW)

Upcoming registrations

Responsibility 9: Contribute to
Coordinated Risk Management AND Responsibility 10: Collaborate for
Ongoing Risk Assessment and Risk
Management - Tuesday 28 June - Register

Preventing intimate partner violence against older women - Our Watch

Emerging evidence suggests that in the case of violence experienced by older women, ageism intersects with gender inequality to drive violence. This resource, by Our Watch,  presents findings from the Intimate Partner Violence Against Older Women Project, codelivered by Our Watch and Seniors Rights Victoria and funded by the Victorian Government Office for Women. Read here. 

Specialist Family Violence Advisers Capacity Building Program Fact Sheet

No to Violence has created a helpful fact sheet to explain and promote the roles and responsibilities of the Victorian Specialist Family Violence Advisors. You can view/download here. 

Preventing Violence against Women with Disabilities: Resources for Action Webinar

This free event, co-hosted by Safe and Equal and Women with Disabilities Victoria (WDV), will showcase some of the ground-breaking resources WDV has developed in the prevention of violence against women space.

Date: Wednesday 22 June 2022;
Time: 11:00am-12:30pm

Register here

MARAM and Information Sharing

Contact the Information Sharing and MARAM Enquiry Line for practice and policy guidance.

• 1800 549 646 (10am-2pm, Mon-Fri)

Contact the Specialist Family Violence Adviser in your area

• See the VAADA website for contact details

Contact us if you're unsure and we'll help refer you; familyviolence@vaada.org.au