Safety first: Developing a best practice training delivery model for primary prevention and family violence 

The Victorian Government is making a strategic and sustained investment to end family violence in Victoria, including by supporting the development of a large and skilled workforce that can support primary prevention and respond to family violence. 

The Government’s workforce investment includes the introduction of accredited primary prevention and family violence response training courses. This is a new VET sector offering in Victoria that builds on many years of effort to equip the workforce by community-sector organisations, Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, and TAFEs. These courses are delivered to workers who contribute to the prevention of family violence and violence against women and/or who respond to family violence in a range of settings, from specialist family violence services to intersecting services in the justice sector and child and family services, universal health and education services, and in businesses.

The then Department of Education and Training, in partnership with Family Safety Victoria, engaged Nous to develop the Best Practice Education Model for accredited primary prevention and family violence training delivery to build assurance about the ability of trainers and registered training organisations (RTOs) to create an environment in which trainers could teach safely and learners could learn effectively and safely and go on to work effectively and safely in the community and different services.

Family violence creates serious risks to the lives, health and wellbeing of individuals, families and communities in Victoria. In their community roles, workers in primary prevention and family violence response typically encounter challenging situations that include disclosures of family violence, ongoing risks for clients, and the risk of vicarious trauma and burnout.

Trainers and trainees may also encounter challenging situations in the classroom itself, in addition to navigating backlash and a reinforcing of myths about family violence. Accredited training therefore seeks to equip trainees to work in the community in ways that are consistent, effective, sustainable, inclusive, and culturally safe for both service users and for themselves. 

“Our extensive collaboration with industry experts in family violence, primary prevention, and vocational education and training was central to this work,” says Director Abigail Nduva. “Their intimate knowledge and lived experience of the challenges faced by their sectors meant that we could continuously test how effective the model would be in responding to likely and important operational issues.”

Nous developed the Best Practice Education Model over the course of six months. From the outset, we recognised that learners’ outcomes would depend not only on what they learn, but also on how they learn and who they learn from. It was therefore essential that the Best Practice Education Model be shaped by practice expertise. 

Following a desktop review of good practice, we facilitated an iterative and collaborative design process with industry representatives from the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, the Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria/Domestic Violence Victoria (now established as Safe and Equal) in partnership with No to Violence, Victorian TAFEs, VET sector consultants and the two commissioning departments. 

We also interviewed a further 27 Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations and other organisations to learn from their expertise in the intersections between primary prevention and family violence and health, education, disability, cultural and linguistic diversity, LGBTIQ+ communities, and young people.

This process allowed us to collaboratively develop a model that was consistent with Australian training standards and which embedded a set of principles that we developed through the consultations.

The Best Practice Education Model is intended to support a primary prevention and family violence trainer and their employing RTO to deliver accredited courses safely and effectively by providing guidance on: 

1. The essential vocational competencies that a primary prevention and/or family violence response trainer needs to possess to confidently, safely and effectively deliver accredited family violence and primary prevention training in a Victorian RTO. The model explains the rationale for the competencies, and gives guidance on how the competencies can be demonstrated.
2. Guidance on assessment approaches for assessing trainers’ vocational competencies. Assessment guidance in the model is intended to: outline industry expectations that trainers’ vocational competency is assured; offer suggestions about how RTOs can employ their assessment approaches in ways that are relevant to primary prevention and family violence training; and support the case for ongoing professional development of trainers.
3. Guidance on professional development strategies to maintain and enhance trainers’ competencies with a view to assisting trainers to maintain their core competencies and become increasingly sophisticated in their competency over time, while also protecting their own health and mental health.

In recognition of Aboriginal people’s unique historical and contemporary experiences of dispossession, discrimination and violence, the model includes a deliberate focus on equipping trainers to create culturally safe, responsive, and engaging learning experiences for Aboriginal learners, as well as ensuring that Aboriginal trainers are well supported.

Published in August 2024, the model was designed for practical application across a range of different training situations and environments. It captures what matters most for safe, culturally safe, and effective training delivery, and RTOs and trainers are expected to draw from the model to prepare their own plans and strategies. 

It is anticipated that the implementation of the Best Practice Education Model over time by RTOs, in collaboration with industry and the Victorian Government, will increase sector capability and capacity and contribute to a Victorian training architecture which is effective, safe, culturally safe and industry-informed. In doing so, it will contribute to a formal, contemporary, high-quality, and sustained approach to workforce development. 

“The best practice education model gives trainers and training institutions clarity on what is required to create effective, safe, and culturally safe learning environments,” says Principal Annette Madvig. “As a result, it helps direct their planning, support trainers, and guide the delivery of training to learners who are committed to helping prevent and respond to family violence.”