Challenging Heteronormativity in Family, Domestic, and Sexual Violence Policy

Reflections from the ReGEN x ARCSHS Symposium

La Trobe University’s Reducing Gender-Based Violence (ReGEN) research group, in partnership with the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS), recently hosted a powerful symposium exploring how to challenge heteronormativity in family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV) policy and practice.

Opening the event, the Hon. Ged Kearney delivered a compelling call for greater inclusion, setting the tone for a day centred on critical reflection and future-focused change. A keynote from Visiting Scholar Professor Catherine Donovan further grounded discussions, drawing on her extensive research to reframe how LGBTQIA+ family violence is understood and addressed.

Across the symposium, a clear message emerged: while Australia has made important progress in recognising and responding to violence, dominant policy frameworks continue to be shaped by heteronormative and cisgendered assumptions. These frameworks can limit how violence is recognised and responded to, particularly for LGBTQIA+ communities, and highlight the need for more expansive, inclusive approaches.

The program showcased leading work from La Trobe academics, including Dr Jessica Ison, Dr Sophie Hindes, Dr Sarah Vrankovich, Dr Shane Worrell and Professor Adam Bourne, alongside Bel O’Connor from Rainbow Health Australia and Starlady from the Zoe Belle Gender Collective. Together, speakers drew on research, practice, and lived experience to explore how policy and systems can move beyond narrow assumptions of gender, sexuality, and relationships.

The day concluded with a sense of optimism and shared purpose—highlighting the importance of continuing to challenge existing frameworks, centre LGBTQIA+ experiences, and work towards more inclusive, trauma-informed responses to violence.

ReGEN Monthly Meeting

Date: Thursday 23 April 2026
Time: 12.30pm AEDT

Access link

In Conversation with

Dr Jessica Ison:
Senior Lecturer and the Deputy Director of the Reducing Gender-Based Violence Research Group
Emma Wearing:
Senior Manager of Prevention and Inclusion within the Student Experience and Employability Division
Dr Samantha Marshall:
Research Fellow at the Reducing Gender-based Violence Research
Dr Innocent Mwatsiya:
Research Fellow with the Reducing Gender‑Based Violence Research Group
Camille Schloeffel:
Activist, social worker, sexual violence prevention practitioner and PhD Candidate

Sexual Violence Prevention and Response at Universities

Sexual violence remains a pervasive issue in higher education settings, demanding coordinated, evidence-informed responses that connect policy, research, and practice. This panel brings together researchers, practitioners, and advocates working across these domains to examine how universities can build safer trauma- and violence-informed prevention initiatives.

Led by Dr Jessica Ison, the panel will discuss a unique model of embedded research between ReGEN and La Trobe University's Prevention and Inclusion team. Emma Wearing and Dr Samantha Marshall will share insights from this partnership, including the use of context-specific data to drive institutional change.
The discussion will also draw on expertise in national policy, featuring Camille Schloeffel, an expert and advocate central to shaping Australia's National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence. Dr Innocent Mwatsiya will discuss one of the initiatives being evaluated in the Partners in Prevention of Sexual Violence (PIPS) project, the CaRE+ Program for residential students at Tasmania University.

Together, panelists will explore what genuine research-practice collaboration looks like, how it can strengthen institutional responses, and what the broader sector can learn from these approaches.

Access our brand new website with more information about the ReGEN Network here.

Opportunities

🚨Job opportunities

PhD scholarship Opportunity: The Reducing Gender-Based Violence Research Group are seeking a PhD candidate for a fully funded doctoral project scholarship. The successful PhD candidate will conduct research that complements and informs the work of an Australian Research Council Discovery Project, “Creating Safer Sport Communities from Rural to Urban Australia” (Safer Sport Project). Please read the PhD Scholarship details and review and confirm your La Trobe University PhD eligibility requirements before contacting Associate Professor Kirsty Forsdike (see application process).

EOI - 2026 Our Watch prevention in universities national community of practice (CoP). This is a collaborative professional network designed for prevention practitioners across Australian universities to form sector connections and strengthen capability, evidence-based practice, and momentum on work to prevent gender-based violence and advance gender equality.
The series promotes practical implementation of the Educating for equality model, while aligning with the National Higher Education Code to Respond to and Prevent Gender-based Violence.
Applications close 5pm Friday, 17th April.

🚨 Research Participation Opportunities

Join The Line’s Content Creator Hub
The Line is currently looking for youth content creators.
The Line is a long-term campaign helping young people (aged 14-20 years) in Australia understand what’s ok and what’s not when it comes to sex, dating and relationships.
Applications close on Sunday 8th March

📢 Professional Development / Short Courses

Building GBV Evidence : The Building GBV Evidence capacity-building training is based on Global Women Institute’s Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Manual. This self-paced virtual course includes video lectures, case studies (including examples from GWI’s previous PRM-funded GBV research), quizzes and short assignment.

Events

🥁INTERNAL EVENTS

GO x LTU webinar series
This webinar series is co-hosted by the Global Observatory for Gender Equality and Sport’s Oceania Hub and La Trobe University. The series aims to strengthen connections between researchers, practitioners, and policy leaders working on gender equality and gender-based violence in sport across different regions of the world Register here

LGBTIQA+ Ally and Bystander Training
LGBTIQA+ Ally and Bystander Training is designed to help our community better understand the lived experience of LGBTIQA+ staff and students.
Internal only: Register here

What will it take? Advancing suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ communities
April 22 | 1 - 4pm AEST:
Learn from innovative strengths-based approaches shaping the future of LGBTQ+ suicide prevention.
Presented by
ARCSHS & Switchboard Victoria Register here

🥁EXTERNAL EVENTS

Contact us with you're upcoming events @ regen.network@latrobe.edu.au

Publications and Resources

📢Conferences & Call for Abstracts

Announcing NNVAWI's 27th Annual Conference:
Join us from April 28-30, 2027, at the Protea Hotel Cape Town Waterfront Breakwater Lodge.
This year's theme, 'Global Voices, African Leadership: Advancing Science, Solidarity, and Action to End Gender-Based Violence,' emphasizes the critical role of leadership from the Global South in preventing and responding to gender-based violence.

Women Deliver 2026 Conference in Narrm (Melbourne), Australia from 27–30 April 2026 — a bold, inclusive gathering of more than 6,500 advocates from across feminist, grassroots, First Nations, youth-led, LGBTQIA+, and women’s rights movements, alongside world leaders, creatives, private sector changemakers, academics, and media. Accepting submissions. More info here.

Gender-Based Violence and Climate Change Workshop 23-24 July 2026 - Hosted by CEVAW and the Center for Security and Peace Studies, Universitas Gadjah Mada, this workshop invites novel multidisciplinary contributions on the topics gender-based violence and climate change, with research in one or more location/country across the Indo-Pacific (including Asia, the Pacific, and Oceania). More info here.

SVRI: Where research, collaboration, and innovation converge.
The largest and most influential global gathering dedicated to research on violence against women, violence against children, and other forms of gender-based violence, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. 5 - 9 October 2026 - Bangkok, Thailand
More info here.

Children by Choice Reproductive Rights & Abortion Conference Save the Date
Brisbane, QLD on 3–5 September 2026.
Sign up to receive conference announcements and be the first to know when registrations open!

Breaking the Hold: Strangulation Prevention & Response Conference
Brisbane, on the land of the Turrbal and Yuggera peoples
23–24 June 2026
Marking 10 years of the Red Rose Foundation, this conference brings together Australian and international experts to strengthen evidence-led responses to non-fatal strangulation.
Registrations are now open for Breaking the Hold: Strangulation Prevention & Response. More info here

📢Call for Papers

Call for papers: Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Frontline Healthcare Responses: The Sage VAW Journal Special Issue invites interdisciplinary, equity-centred research addressing healthcare responses to TFGBV, including clinical practice, community health, policy and survivor pathways. If you’d like to submit your work, email a 300-word abstract to cerc.healthwellbeing@torontomu.ca by 30 April 2026.

Call for papers: Violence and Harassment: Redefining the World of Work: The Journal of Industrial Relations has issued a call for papers for their Special Issue on “Violence and Harassment: Redefining the World of Work”. Papers may address a range of topics and themes concerning gender-based violence and harassment (including technology-facilitated abuse) in the context of the workplace, organisational, system-level and regulatory responses. The abstract submission deadline is 15 July 2026. Submit here

Publications & Media

📑Publications

Vrankovich, S., Marson, K., Woodley, G., Quain, J. and Saltis, H. (2026). Sexuality education in an age of resistance: Reflections at the nexus of education, health and rights. Health Education Journal. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/00178969261436255.

Taft, A., Young, F., Hegarty, K. et al. A culturally-safe primary care intervention for migrant/refugee women suffering domestic violence and abuse: harmony—a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial. BMC Med (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s1291 6-026-04802-2

Randle, E., Forsdike, K., Hooker, L., Donaldson, A., Ison, J., Fawcett, L., Mulqueen, S., & Fullagar, S. (2026). S06-3: Taking a Partnership Approach to Supporting Community Sport to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence. Baltic Journal of Sport and Health Sciences, 6(Supplement 2), 13. https://doi.org/10.33607/bjshs.v6isupplement2.2117

Have you had any articles come out? Please send them to Hanorah regen.network@latrobe.edu.au for the following newsletter.

📺Media

🎉Congratulations to our very own Dr Freda Haylett who was highlighted on La Trobe's Staff Spotlight

🎧 Listen in to A/Prof Kirsty Forsdike on ABC Morning, talking all GBV in sport. Listen here.

Support Services

Safer Community: Provides expert advice and information for LTU staff and students. Website: https://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/support/wellbeing/services/safer-community
Tel: (03) 9479 8988

Staff Health and Wellbeing: Provides a confidential information, support and referral service to staff. Email: staff.wellbeing@latrobe.edu.au or complete a referral form on the Staff Wellbeing Connect intranet page.

Employee Assistance Program: Free and confidential, short-term support program for a wide variety of work-related and personal problems.
Website: LTU Staff Intranet Tel: 1300 687 327

1800RESPECT: National sexual assault, domestic, family violence counselling service. Website: www.1800respect.org.au Tel: 1800 737 732

Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre: Victoria’s family violence support service. Website: www.safesteps.org.au Tel: 1800 015 188

Sexual Assault Crisis Line (SACL): State-wide, after-hours, confidential, telephone crisis counselling service for people who have experienced both past and recent sexual assault. Website: www.sacl.com.au Tel: 1800 806 292

Djirra: Djirra is a place where culture is shared and celebrated, and where practical support is available to all Aboriginal women and particularly to Aboriginal people who are currently experiencing family violence or have in the past.
Website: www.djirra.org.au Tel: 1800 105 3030

13YARN: One-on-one yarning opportunity with a Lifeline-trained Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Crisis Supporter who can provide crisis support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 13YARN - Call 13 92 76 | 24 /7 Crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

QLife: Counselling for LGBTIQ people, by LGBTIQ people
Website: www.qlife.org.au Tel: 1800 184 527

inTouch: Multicultural centre against family violence
Website: www.intouch.org.au Tel: 1800 755 988

Men's Referral Service: A national counselling, information and referral service for men who use family and domestic violence. If you are concerned about your behaviour, or about someone using violence, call Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491 or visit mrs.org.au

Brother to Brother: Provides phone support for Aboriginal men who need someone to talk to about relationship issues, family violence, parenting, drug and alcohol issues or who are struggling to cope for other reasons. Staffed by Aboriginal men, including Elders, who have a lived experience in the issues that the line offers support for. 1800 435 799 Brother to Brother Crisis Line - Dardi Munwurro

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