The Allan Labor Government is making sure people affected by family violence get the support they need – with a new program to help attract, recruit and retain frontline workers in the family violence and sexual assault sectors.

Minister for Prevention of Family Violence Vicki Ward today joined the sector to announce $1 million will be invested in the new Workforce Vacancies Demonstration Program.

Four brand new, innovative programs will trial new ways to attract, recruit and retain workers, with a focus on local partnerships. 

Uniting Vic. Tas will receive funding to support the family violence workforce across Bayside and Peninsula – designing a centralised recruitment and placement program to help students and early career professionals find roles across the family violence sector. 

The program involves 14 partner agencies and will deliver professional development and mentoring for employees. It has been developed with Victorians who have lived experience and is based on the work of victim-survivor advocate Geraldine Bilston and the Wisdom in Practice mentoring model. 

Mallee Sexual Assault Unit and Mallee Domestic Violence Service will use the funding to give new employees professional development opportunities such as courses or training. They will also offer frontline workers mentoring from senior employees to improve retention by ensuring they feel supported to grow within their roles. 

Burnout and stress are reported at high frequency in the family violence sector, and Nexus Primary Health will deliver the Goulburn Demonstration Project which will encourage retention and recruitment of staff with secondments to agencies. They will also create shared induction and education programs for staff throughout the region. 

In the Central Highlands, WRISC Family Violence Support will build a culturally safe workplace to recruit and retain Aboriginal staff, to deliver culturally sensitive and appropriate responses to family violence in Aboriginal communities. The project will include a cultural safety and student pathways program and new supervision model.   

This program builds on our package of reforms announced recently, that will drive action at every stage – responding to victims when violence occurs, delivering a stronger justice response that holds offenders to account, and continuing Victoria’s world-leading prevention response, stopping violence before it starts.