Career and future intentions

The WP Survey explored the employment experiences and career trajectories of family violence and sexual assault specialists, including questions on their future career intentions.

Length of employment

Results from the survey indicate that the vast majority of people who responded were new in their roles, and many were new to their sector.

31% of those who responded (327 persons) had less than one year's experience working in their current role within their organisation. 63% (663 persons) had only been employed in their current role for 2 years or less, with 89% (941 persons) employed in their current role for 6 years or less (Table 17).

Table 17: Overall, how many years' experience do you have working in your current role within your organisation?

Source. Question 14, WP Survey 2022

In comparison, 31% (322 persons) had been employed in their current sector for 2 years or less, with 63% (654 persons) employed in their current sector for 6 years or less (Table 18).

Table 18: Overall, how many years' experience do you have working in your sector?

Source. Questions 15A, 15B, 15C and 15D, WP Survey 2022

85% of young people (under 35) had worked in their current role for 2 years or less, compared to 52% of those 35 and over. 52% of young people had worked in the sector for 2 years or less, compared to 19% of those 35 and over.

Prior to their current employment, 20% of young people (under 35) were studying, compared to only 10% of those 35 and over. 44% of young people (under 35) were working in a related sector prior to their current role, compared to 52% of those 35 and over.

62% of people working in large organisations had 2 years or less experience in their current roles, compared to 56% of those working in ‘other’ organisations. However, fewer people employed in large organisations had 2 years or less experience in the sector (25%), compared to 29% people working in ‘other’ organisations.

A larger proportion of people without job security had less experience in their current role. 61% of those securely employed had 2 years or less experience, compared to 76% of those insecurely employed. 34% of people employed on an insecure basis had 2 years or less experience in the sector, compared to 30% employed on a secure basis.

Prior employment or study

Prior to their current role, the most common role identified amongst those who responded was work in a related sector, with 48% (502 persons) stating they worked in a related sector (Table 19). 14% (150 persons) stated they worked for another organisation in the same sector, 13% (136 persons) stated they were studying and 13% (135 persons) stated they were working in an unrelated sector.

Table 19: Immediately before commencing employment in your family violence role, were you…

Source. Questions 16A, 16B, 16C, 16D, WP Survey 2022

People in secure employment were more likely to have worked in a related sector prior to their current role. 49% of those working in secure employment were working in a related sector prior to their current role, compared to 41% of people not in secure employment. In contrast, 21% of those in insecure employment were previously working for another family violence organisation or agency, higher than 14% of those in secure employment.

49% of those delivering services into the regions were working in a related sector prior to their current role, about the same as those in metropolitan Melbourne. 53% of those working in a large organisation were working in a related sector prior to their current role, compared to 47% of those working in an ‘other’ organisation.

Amongst those undertaking a student placement prior to their current role, 70% (50 persons) were undertaking a student placement in the same organisation or in another organisation from the same sector (Table 20).

Table 20: Were you undertaking a student placement…

Source. Question 16E, WP Survey 2022

Amongst those working in another organisation, 89% (131 persons) worked for another organisation in Victoria (Table 21).

Table 21: Were you working in another organisation or agency…

Source. Question 16F, WP Survey 2022

Intention to leave

Almost a third (32%) of those who responded to the survey expressed an intention to leave their role at any time (Table 22), with another 4% likely to leave their role to due to expiration of their employment contract. Of those who responded, 22% stated their intention to leave their current role in the next 12 months.

Table 22: Thinking about your future, do you have plans to leave your current role?

Source. Question 17, WP Survey 2022

When respondents who expressed an intention to leave were asked further about what they intended to do, only 30% stated they intended to work outside the sector, with 35% stating they intended to continue to work within the sector and 24% stating they were unsure (Table 23).

Table 23: Do you intend to leave your current role for another role... (family violence, sexual assault, child and family services)

Source. Questions 18A, 18B, 18C, 18D, WP Survey 2022

There was little difference whether persons worked in the Melbourne metropolitan area or the regions on whether those persons planned to leave their roles in the next 12 months. Although people in the regions were more likely to be looking for a role outside the sector. Of those who were looking to leave their role, 37% of those working in metropolitan Melbourne were looking to stay in the same sector, compared to 33% of those working in the regions.

A larger proportion of young people expressed an intention to leave their role in the next 12 months. 49% of people under 35 have no plans to leave their role, compared to 54% of those 35 and over. 24% of people under 35 intend to leave their role in the next 12 months, compared to 20% of those 35 years or older.

However, a larger proportion of young people were likely to look for another role in the sector. Of those who are looking to leave their role, 41% under 35 are looking to leave their current role for another role in the sector, compared to 32% of 35 and over who are looking to leave their role for another role in the sector. This difference was largely due to a much larger proportion of those 35 and over looking to retire.

A much larger proportion of people employed on an insecure basis were looking to move on from their roles. Only 38% of those employed on an insecure basis had no plans to leave their role, compared to 54% of those securely employed. Furthermore, 25% employed on an insecure basis planned to leave the sector in the next 12 months, compared to 20% of those employed on a secure basis.

Reasons for intention to leave

From respondents who indicated a voluntary intention to leave, the survey then asked to nominate the 3 top reasons they were planning to leave their current job. The top 3 reasons given for planning to leave their current role were career prospects (110 mentions), excessive levels of demand (103 mentions) and insufficient income/salary (82 mentions) (Table 24). The other top reasons included lack of advancement opportunities (82 mentions) and organisation not valuing my work (53 mentions).

Table 24: What are your top 3 reasons for planning to leave your current job in the time frame indicated?

Source. Question 19, WP Survey 2022