A new focus on family violence

Editorial: Danielle Ford

Photography: John Pallot

A young Frankston woman is one of the many people to have seen the benefits of Victoria Police’s new family violence risk assessment tool.

In early 2019, Sarah* (not her real name) was headbutted in the face by her partner, something that had happened on a number of previous occasions.

Attending police at each incident filled out a Family Violence Risk Assessment and Management Report, as is required for every reported incidence of family violence.

But when police were called to this latest attack, they were equipped with a new risk assessment and management tool, the recently launched Family Violence Report.

The report is completed at the scene on police-issued mobile devices and instantly gives officers a set of in-depth, scientificallydeveloped questions to ask victims of family violence, resulting in a score as to the likelihood of abuse escalating within the next 12 months.

Officers attending Sarah’s incident completed the Family Violence Report and through the questioning deemed her case to be high-risk.

The risk scoring in the report ensures decision making is no longer a subjective judgement made by frontline officers.

The report’s risk assessment tool is now the first step in determining the police response and the ongoing management required to prevent or reduce future family violence.

As Sarah’s case was deemed high-risk, the investigation was handed over to the local Family Violence Investigation Unit (FVIU) and investigators were able to build an excellent rapport with her and her family.

Sarah has now left the violent relationship and has been engaging with police and specialised family violence services.

With officers attending thousands of cases like Sarah’s each year, Family Violence Command Senior Sergeant Kirei Blackley said the ability to identify the level of risk is fundamental to continued victim support, child protection and offender management.

The new Family Violence Report can now be completed by police at the scene of an incident, helping officers get thorough answers to the report's in-depth, scientifically-developed questions. (File image).

“There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to mitigating family violence,” Sen Sgt Blackley said.

“Each situation will have its own unique set of circumstances that will mean some courses of action will help and others won’t.

“In Sarah’s case, there was a history of incidents and there had already been intervention orders placed on the offender. He obviously didn’t adhere to these orders, meaning simply issuing another one wasn’t likely to stop the offending from occurring.

“The new Family Violence Report looks at the whole situation, including history of incidents, to help our investigators develop a course of action that is most likely to lessen particular situations.”

According to Sen Sgt Blackley, who is a part of the Family Violence Report project team, what makes the report so beneficial is that it was built from real-world, Victorian cases.

Developed in conjunction with Swinburne University and Forensicare, the report was created through extensive research conducted on more than 14,000 Victoria Police family violence cases.

“It’s a tool that’s been developed for use in Victoria based on research done on actual Victorian cases. That makes it quite unique, with solid scientific backing,” Sen Sgt Blackley said.

Sen Sgt Blackley has travelled to several countries to present at domestic violence management conferences, particularly about the development and implementation of the Family Violence Report.

While she said there are other police organisations using evidence-based reporting, Victoria Police is leading the way by using real police cases to develop the research.

Once the report had been developed, an extensive two-year trial period was conducted in two North West Metro Region divisions, with data showing the report had a significant impact in both areas.

“While we had all this amazing scientific research done to develop this new report, what made us really stand back and think this could make a huge impact was the data we saw from the pilot period,” Sen Sgt Blackley said.

“Both divisions saw at least a 30 per cent reduction in family violence incidents during the pilot, which are really impressive figures.”

The Family Violence Report was rolled out state-wide in July and is one part of the Victoria Police Family Violence Response Model.

The model was created in response to recommendations made to Victoria Police following the Royal Commission into Family Violence and several Coronial inquiries.

It also included the introduction of a mandatory organisation-wide education program, the creation of the Centre for Family Violence at the Victoria Police Academy and the formation of Family Violence Investigation Units across the state.

“Family violence is one of the biggest issues the community and our officers face,” Sen Sgt Blackley said.

“While no one thing will put an end to the incidents, we are seeing great results from the initiatives being rolled out across Victoria.

“Any case we can reduce or eliminate is a win and we will keep reviewing our processes to ensure we can provide the best support to all victims of family violence.”