| Aboriginal | While acknowledging the diversity of Aboriginal people in Australia, in this document the term ‘Aboriginal’ has been used to refer to all people of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent. |
| Affected family member | A person who has experienced family violence, also known as a victim survivor. The term is predominantly used in police and court proceedings to refer to the person to be protected by a family violence intervention order. |
| Applicant | A person who applies for a family violence intervention order. This can be a Victoria Police member applying on behalf of the affected family member. |
| Case management | A collaborative support service for both victim survivors and perpetrators of family violence. Case managers assess risk, develop safety plans and goals, monitor progress and provide a connection to a range of required services, based on individual needs. |
| Child FIRST | Child and Family Information Referral and Support Teams (Child FIRST) aims to link vulnerable children, young people and their families to the support they need. It is a central referral point to a range of community-based child and family services within local catchment areas, and is now located within The Orange Door model. |
| Child Protection | Child Protection receives and investigates reports of child abuse, risk of significant harm to children or children being inadequately cared for by their families. It can refer children and families to support services and, where required, can make applications for protection orders to the Children’s Court for the protection and permanent care of children. It is also responsible for administering protection orders made by the court. |
| Community services | Local support services for individuals and/or families that may include information, advice, practical help, financial help or a combination of services. Community services often address the needs of diverse groups. |
| Diverse groups | Groups that may have different experiences of family violence and different needs, and who may be experiencing additional barriers to seeking help and receiving support due to particular background or personal characteristics. These include children and young people, older people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people within culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people within the LGBTIQ+ community, people living in rural, regional and remote communities, people with a disability, male victims, women prisoners and women who work in the sex industry. |
| Family Safety Victoria | A division of the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (comprising some portfolio responsibilities of the former Department of Health and Human Services) with dedicated responsibility for delivering key elements of family violence reform. This includes the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme, The Orange Door network and the Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management reforms. |
| Family violence | Any violent, threatening, coercive or controlling behaviour that occurs in current or past familial relationships, including by intimate partners, family members and/or nonfamily carers. |
| Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme |
Established in legislation, the scheme enables sharing of information between authorised organisations to support the assessment and management of family violence risk. |
| Family violence intervention order (FVIO) |
A court-issued order to protect people from further family violence. |
| Family Violence Multi- Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) Framework |
A framework to help identify, assess and manage family violence risk. A range of organisations are required by law, under the Family Violence Protection Act 2008, to align their practices and policies with MARAM, which replaced the former common risk assessment framework or ‘CRAF’. The MARAM Framework is supported by operational practice guidance and risk identification, screening and assessment tools. |
| Family Violence Report | Risk assessment and management tool completed by Victorian police officers after every family violence incident. Reports are informed by the officer’s observations and include an assessment of the severity of risk based on responses from all parties involved. Reports automate referrals to The Orange Door, community agencies and/or Child Protection, where required. Also known as an ‘L17’. |
| Family Violence Safety Notice | A police-issued notice that provides immediate protection for a victim survivor by placing temporary conditions on a family member who is using family violence before an intervention order application is heard in court. |
| Intersectionality | Describes how systems and structures interact on multiple levels to oppress, create barriers and overlapping forms of discrimination, stigma and power imbalances based on characteristics such as Aboriginality, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, colour, nationality, refugee or asylum seeker background, migration or visa status, language, religion, ability, age, mental health, socioeconomic status, housing status, geographic location, medical record or criminal record. This compounds the risk of experiencing family violence and creates additional barriers for a person to access the help they need.+ |
| LGBTIQ+ | An inclusive initialism that refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender / gender diverse, intersex and queer people. |
| MARAM | See Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) Framework. |
| Principal Strategic Advisor | A key leadership position in each of the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing areas. Principal Strategic Advisors lead local Family Violence Regional Integration Committees and have a strong focus on integration and collaboration of services, driving implementation of the reforms and capacity building of the workforce. |
| Respondent | A term used by police and the courts to describe the alleged family violence perpetrator. They are the person against whom an application for an intervention order has been made, or against whom an intervention order or Family Violence Safety Notice has been issued. |
| Response | Family violence 'response' refers to the model and specialist family violence service system designed to respond to cases of family violence by supporting victim survivors and holding perpetrators to account. It aims to prevent the re-occurrence of violence. |
| Royal Commission into Family Violence | Established in 2015, the Royal Commission was tasked with finding ways to prevent family violence, improve support for victim survivors and hold perpetrators to account. The Royal Commission provided its report, which included 227 recommendations, to the Victorian Government on 29 March 2016. |
| Safe Steps | A 24/7 statewide specialist support service for victims of family violence. Services include information and referral, crisis response, specialist family violence risk assessment, safety planning, and access to supported crisis accommodation. |
| Specialist Family Violence Court | Specialist court model delivered through the Magistrates' Court of Victoria that provides enhanced safety features including separate entrances for victim survivors and remote hearing facilities. Specialist Family Violence Courts are staffed by specially trained magistrates and court staff, partner agencies and other court-based services to deliver a coordinated response. Magistrates at Specialist Family Violence Courts have powers to mandate counselling orders for perpetrators. |
| Specialist family violence services | Services with expertise in family violence that provide crisis responses and case management to victim survivors. |
| Statewide Family Violence Integration Advisory Committee | A statewide group that supports discussion, collaboration and knowledge building across Family Violence Regional Integration Committees, and provides a linkage mechanism to connect local committees with Family Safety Victoria and other statewide bodies. Consists of Principal Strategic Advisors from across the state. |
| The Orange Door | A network of local entry points to women’s and children’s family violence services, services for men who use violence and family services. It undertakes triage to assess and manage risk and connect people to the services they need. |
| Therapeutic interventions | Facilitated by a professional practitioner, actions designed to improve an individual’s health and wellbeing as a result of family violence trauma. Intervention responses include group sessions, family work, individual counselling, coaching and ongoing peer support, with the long-term goal of rebuilding self-esteem and confidence and reducing social isolation. |
** Definition from Department of Premier and Cabinet (2017): Free From Violence: Victoria’s Strategy to Prevent Family Violence and all Forms of Violence Against Women.
+ Definition from Department of Premier and Cabinet (2018): Everybody Matters: Inclusion and Equity Statement.
Updated