Family violence

Strategies to end violence will not work if they are imposed on the community, therefore any intervention must be Community led, developed and driven. This framework by Dana Shen, Rosie Schellen and Dan Moss aims to assist practitioners in mainstream services to develop their confidence in asking child-focused, culturally-sensitive questions in their role in providing safety for children whose parents experience family violence.

There are many ways that organisations can help practitioners to work proactively and in culturally sensitive ways with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents. These include (but are not limited to) providing supervision and training on child-focused ways to identify and respond to presentations of family violence; providing cultural supervision and mentoring from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff to support meaningful and confident engagement; and working collaboratively with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to co-design appropriate and effective responses to families who are affected by violence.

This resource is an example of a family and domestic violence practice profile when working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.