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Edition 4 - February 2022
Dear colleagues
To those who worked throughout January, we hope your start to the working year was as gentle as possible, and to those who've just come off leave; welcome back! A few February updates from us:
- Our next Community of Practice event, Working with First Nations clients, will be on Wednesday 23 February, from 10am-11.30am. Scroll down to find out who'll be speaking.
- The family violence pages on the VAADA website had some slight renovations! You can click through them here. (We've also included a page specifically on the relationship between AOD and family violence).
- We're looking for feedback! We're in the process of revamping the "Red Flags" resource and situating the high-risk factors in an AOD context. Click through to see the text and examples we've mocked up so far, and leave us any comments in the margins (or email us).
- Last month we shared a summary poster to aid your understanding of the Information Sharing Schemes. Missed the memo? You can view/download it here.
- Remember to check the Elevate! site for all your professional development and capacity building needs. Free training includes: Trauma and Harm Reduction in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples, Trans and Gender Diverse Cultural Sensitivity and Awareness Training, Alcohol and Other WeDrugs Skillset, Harm Reduction Masterclass - among many others.
Wishing you a fabulous February
Dejan Jotanovic and Sheridon Byrne
P.S. See something missing, or something that you think other clinicians, team leads or organisational leaders need to be made aware? Let us know! We're happy to receive any and all editorial input. You can email us at familyviolence@vaada.org.au.
Upcoming Community of Practice event
Wednesday 23 February 2022
10am - 11.30am
Presenters:
- Tahlia Eastman, Palawa woman and University of Melbourne researcher
- Mark Richards, Wiradjuri man and training practitioner
A new report has found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up almost 30% of hospitalisation due to family or domestic violence. Research shows that First Nations people, particularly women and children, are disproportionately affected by family violence, including family members who are not themselves Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. This violence affects entire communities and kinship networks.
It’s important to recognise that family violence involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people cannot be viewed outside of the history and contemporary experiences of dispossession, colonisation, institutionalisation and the impacts of child removal policies.
These systemic failures have resulted in a number of challenges for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experiencing family violence; barriers to services, misidentification of victim survivor status, discrimination, and state-imposed violence, among others.
Presenters for this event will be confirmed soon. Register here.
Updates from VAADA
We've worked to update the Family Violence pages on the VAADA website. Here's a little about each page and what information they hold:
- MARAM Navigator
- Information on MARAM and the AOD sector
- MARAM Training Calendar
- Walk-through of the MARAM-aligned AOD Intake & Comprehensive Assessment
- MARAM Flowchart
- Information Sharing Schemes
- Information on the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme and the Child Information Sharing Scheme
- A flowchart to help outline the process
- MARAM Organisation embedding guide
- MARAM alignment organisation self-audit tool
- Implementation Plan
- MARAM Responsibility Role Mapping tool
- Victorian Specialist Family Violence Advisors (SFVA)
- SFVA Guidelines and Reporting Templates
- Contact directory of all SFVAs
- AOD and Family Violence
- What is the relationship between AOD and family violence?
- Why the AOD sector needs a specific response to family violence
- Does AOD use cause family violence?
- Key differences between the family violence and AOD sectors
- Community of Practice
- Joining the COP
- Results from the annual COP survey
Red Flags rework
We're in the process of re-working the popular "Red Flags" poster which outlines all the high-risk factors for victim survivors.
The updated poster will be both MARAM aligned and situated within an AOD context, with key examples to how reach red flag might be interpreted when working with a victim survivor who uses alcohol and other drugs.
We're looking for feedback! We've started drafting the information that will be on the poster (including examples), and we'd love your feedback. Please click here to see the text and leave any comments directly on the document or by emailing us at familyviolence@vaada.org.au.
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.
Professional development and training
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.
Want to get started?
STEP 1: Browse upcoming training
- Use the filters to refine your search if you’re looking for specific training.
STEP 2: Sign up to become a member
- You won’t be able to enrol into any training without first creating an Elevate! account.
STEP 3: Enrol with your chosen provider
- Browse the training on offer and click on the Enrol Now button to register.
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
eLearn: MARAM Foundations: Your understanding of family violence eLearn
Provider: Department of Health
Delivery mode: eLearning self-paced (1 thirty minute module)
A stand-alone Family Violence Foundations eLearn has been developed for practitioners who may have limited family violence knowledge, or who may be new to working with people experiencing family violence. The eLearn covers understanding and recognising family violence, how to apply intersectional analysis, and your role in responding to family violence.
- Register here
Unsure which MARAM training is right for you? Consult the MARAM training decision tree.
News from the FV sector
"When their manhood is threatened, some men respond more aggressively than others. New research suggests who may be most triggered by such threats - younger men whose sense of masculinity depends heavily on other people's opinions." Read more on Science Daily.
"A link between domestic violence and job losses and other economic stressors during the pandemic has been confirmed by a new study." Read more on the ABC.
"Our analysis offers new insights into the ways in which practitioners pivoted their services to respond remotely to women experiencing violence and the challenges of effectively undertaking safety planning and risk assessment without face-to-face contact." Read more on Wiley Online Library.
"The first allocation of money from a total $260 million granted by the commonwealth under the National Partnership on Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence has been released to state and territory governments." Read more on The Mandarin.
Resources to support your practice
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 will not be replacing any MARAM training in 2022.
Responsibility 3: Intermediate Risk Assessment
Watch the recordings:
- Part 1
- Part 2
(video pw: NTVWHATNOW)
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.
Wed 23 March 2022
10:00 am – 11:00 am AEST (QLD time)
This presentation provides an overview of the demographic and professional profile of AOD workers with lived and living experience, and how wellbeing can be supported and promoted among this group from an organisational perspective.
Tue 15 February 2022
7.15pm - 8.30pm AEDT
Register for MHPN’s ‘Coercive control and its impact on mental health’ webinar on Tuesday 15 February 2022 at 7:15pm (AEDT) to gain a better understanding of how to identify coercive behaviours, their impact on mental health and practical ways to support affected individuals.
If in doubt, remember to consult the MARAM Navigator on the VAADA website, or reach out to your Specialist Family Violence Advisers for a consult.
Support directory
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
Secondary consultations
Are you working with someone who has, is, or you suspect will use or experience family violence? Here is who you can contact for additional support and guidance:
- Men's Referral Service (operated by No To Violence) - 1300 766 491
- SafeSteps - 1800 015 188
Contact us if you're unsure and we'll help refer you; familyviolence@vaada.org.au
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Coined by legal scholar, Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, Intersectionality refers to "the ways in which different aspects of a person's identity can expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalisation."
It's important we embed an intersectional approach into all our work, becoming aware of the diversity of our client's needs, circumstances, identities and the types of discrimination they may encounter. The intersection wheel below is a visual representation of the interplay between someone's identity/circumstance and the systems of oppression they might rub against.
