Recognising a person’s family history and context is important for many people experiencing family and sexual violence. By family, we mean families in all their forms, chosen families and kinship networks.
By taking this approach, we benefit from the leadership of Aboriginal services. These services go beyond individual needs to work with people in their broader family and cultural context. This approach emphasises the different needs and connections between family members.
[O]ur approaches will benefit everyone in Victoria – Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, and will inform Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal services. We want to ensure that our specialist expertise, wisdom, and our whole of family and whole of community approaches are adopted across the system to create a future where everyone can heal, address their trauma and live free from violence.
– Koori Caucus members, Dhelk Dja: Safe Our Way
The Orange Door
Our ongoing commitment to The Orange Door is fundamental to the whole-of-family approach.
Before the Royal Commission, police could refer a family to 4 different services following a family violence incident. People did not know where to go for help before things reached crisis point. There was no clear public access point. Families could end up being sent from one referral to another with no actual progress.
This was not an effective system for Victorians who needed help.
The Orange Door changed this. It brings together services that can wrap around a family, getting them the help they need.
The Orange Door helps:
- people experiencing and using family violence
- parents and carers who need help with the care and wellbeing of children and young people.
In doing so, The Orange Door looks at the risks, needs and experiences of all family members and creates a tailored plan to help them.
An interdisciplinary team works together to address immediate safety and child wellbeing concerns, while also connecting people to services that address their longer-term needs. This can include specialist case management support through family violence services and family services, as well as longer-term interventions for people using violence. It can also include a broader range of supports such as help to secure housing, access drug and alcohol services, or to get legal assistance.
We created the Central Information Point and a statewide client database for The Orange Door so that practitioners can access accurate and up-to-date information about all family members. This means The Orange Door practitioners can make better informed decisions and create more effective and tailored strategies for their clients.
We have also supported each Orange Door through an unprecedented investment in senior practice leadership. Each Orange Door network provides Integrated Practice Support, which is delivered by Practice Leaders. Each area-based partnership includes the following Practice Leaders:
- Aboriginal Practice Leader
- Victim Survivor Practice Leader
- Adult Using Family Violence Practice Leader
- Integrated Practice Leader
- Child and Young Person Practice Leader.
The senior roles help guide practitioners in their work with different family members.
Many of the actions in this plan will continue to strengthen and improve The Orange Door, which is still a relatively new and evolving model.
Our actions will include:
- continuing to strengthen Orange Door practitioners’ ability to support children and young people
- helping services within and outside of The Orange Door (such as schools) work better together – so families can get the help they need more quickly and get seamless and coordinated support
- creating a new program to better identify and respond to elder abuse
- continuing to develop Orange Door partnerships so agencies can offer the community an integrated service.
Engaging families to prevent violence before it starts
Families play an important role in preventing violence before it starts. Parents and caregivers can guide young people through early relationships and online environments, helping them develop respectful and safe interactions.
There is an opportunity to promote respectful and equitable relationships when someone becomes a parent for the first time.
We will help new parents challenge gendered expectations and model healthy relationships. By doing this, we can positively influence the beliefs, attitudes and behaviours of the next generation.
Keeping families safe and housed
We help families when violence occurs.
We will continue to improve refuge and crisis accommodation options for victim survivors at immediate risk of harm, including through completion of the refuge development and build program.
Too many women and children are becoming homeless due to family violence – in the current housing crisis, and with family violence occurring at alarming rates, it’s time to think differently and actively change the system to support them to stay safe at home.
– Jocelyn Bignold, Chief Executive Officer McAuley Community Services for Women, Safe at Home launch
We are committed to initiatives that support victim survivors to access a range of safe accommodation options beyond the point of crisis.
The Safe at Home program (launched in March 2025) helps victim survivors stay in their own homes if it is safe to do so. Safe at Home removes the burden of leaving the home from the victim survivor by offering the whole family wraparound supports. This includes supporting the adult using family violence through:
- case management services
- flexible funding so they can find alternative accommodation.
In addition, Personal Safety Initiatives (PSIs) provide tailored security upgrades to improve safety and stability at home.
Women and children who can stay together in stable accommodation of their choice are more likely to feel safe, be financially secure and keep important community connections.
Children and young people can also continue their education, bringing them both short and long term benefits.
We are using all the levers within our control to build more social and affordable housing and house as many people as soon as possible.
The Big Housing Build and Regional Housing Fund will invest:
- $5.3 billion to build 12,000 new social and affordable homes
- $1 billion to build more than 1,300 social and affordable homes in rural and regional Victoria, respectively.
This includes providing 1,000 homes for family violence victim survivors through the Big Housing Build.
As at June 2024, social housing allocations for victim survivors were the highest they have been since the Victorian Housing Register started.
In addition, 10% of all new social housing will be built for Aboriginal Victorians.
We are also investing in new specialised accommodation options for young people on their own. This will give an extra 130 young people in need of housing a safe place to live. These accommodations will be within integrated learning and accommodation centres, known as youth foyers. This will also make it easier for young people to connect to employment and other support services.
Our actions
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