Background
The Victorian Government committed to Australia’s first Royal Commission into
Family Violence during the 2014 election campaign. The Royal Commission was formally established in February 2015 and is due to deliver its report and recommendations by 29 February 2016.
The Royal Commission will focus on finding practical ways to protect those at risk, prevent family violence, and improve integration and coordination of response efforts across the sector.
The closing date for submissions to the Royal Commission is 29 May 2015. It is expected there will also be public hearings and community consultations convened but dates have not yet been set. The Commissioner has indicated the focus of the consultation process will not be on hearing from a large number of individual victims/survivors about their personal and individual circumstances.
VCOSS submission to the Royal Commission into Family Violence
Family violence has consequences for the justice, health, housing, corrections and other systems. It is a leading cause of homelessness for Victorian women and a contributor to mental ill-health, poverty, unemployment and educational disengagement. It also has potential life-long impacts on children who experience or witness it.
As the peak body for the social and community sector in Victoria, VCOSS reflects a wide diversity of members working across a range of areas. Our submission to the
Royal Commission into Family Violence will examine the role and capacity of community organisations across the social services spectrum (especially those that may not identify as family violence services) in preventing and responding to family violence and how to enable community organisations to work collaboratively with each other and with the health, housing, education, justice and related systems.
The focus of the VCOSS submission will be:
 The role of community organisations across the spectrum of prevention, early intervention and responses to family violence.
 Good practice examples of: o Prevention programs that address the underlying causes of family violence including gender inequality. o Early intervention with at risk families, including where services are demonstrating integrated service delivery so vulnerable families can more easily access services.

o Partnerships between community organisations and other services
(including health, education, police and justice services) to improve or better integrate responses for victims/survivors of family violence.
 Identifying the long term impacts of family violence on victims/survivors
(including children) and the supports required after the immediate crisis response across a range of social needs: housing, mental health, employment and educational engagement, legal assistance.
 The barriers to the provision of this support to victims/survivors of family violence (including geographic barriers, financial and funding constraints and skill and expertise gaps).
 Improving support for specific at risk population groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, CALD people and people with disabilities.
Consultation process:
VCOSS will be consulting with members and key stakeholders in Melbourne and regional areas of Victoria to inform our submission to the Royal Commission.
Member-only consultation sessions will be held in April 2015:
 Geelong - Wednesday15 April 2015, 11am-12:30pm
 Broadmeadows – Monday 20 April 2015, 2pm-4pm
 Shepparton – Wednesday 22 April 2015, 11am-12:30pm
 Dandenong – Monday 27April 2015, 10am-12noon
 Melbourne CBD – Wednesday 29April 2015, 10am-12noon
Members outside of consultation areas and other stakeholders are encouraged to contact VCOSS directly to provide information.
Some questions for consultation participants include:
 What role does your organisation see itself having in family violence prevention?
 Do you have any good practice examples of prevention programs in your community?
 Are staff in your organisation confident in identifying, referring and supporting victims/survivors of family violence? If not, what assistance might they need?
 What important partnerships already exist or should be developed to improve early intervention and responses to family violence?
 What are the main challenges/barriers for people in seeking assistance for family violence? What could be done to reduce or overcome these barriers?
 What are the main gaps in response services for victims/survivors of family violence, both in the immediate crisis response period and in the longer term?