Family, Domestic & Sexual Violence
Adelaide PHN and Country SA PHN, in partnership, have received Commonwealth funding to participate in Round 2 of a national pilot to strengthen the capacity of the primary care sector to respond to family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV) (including child sexual abuse), and to support primary care practices to create a space where victim-survivors feel safe to share their story and seek help.
About the Project
The Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence (FDSV) project focuses on the development and delivery of training, resources and capacity building activities for primary care staff to enhance their capacity to recognise and respond to FDSV, as well as a range of system integration activities to ensure that victim-survivors receive an improved quality of support.
The FDSV project aims to improve integration and coordination between the primary care and the FDVS sector. Project activities target general practice-based primary care workers, including health professionals (general practitioners (GPs), practice nurses and allied health staff) and administrative staff (practice managers, receptionists and administration).
The FDSV project aims to contribute to the following outcomes:
- Enhancing general practice-based primary care workers’ awareness of FDSV and their capacity to identify and support DFV victim-survivors
- Enhancing relationships and collaboration between the primary care and FDSV sectors to ensure coordinated responses to those affected by FDSV
- Increasing primary care sector referrals to FDSV support services
- Improving the support experience and outcomes for FDSV victim-survivors.
A key attribute of the FDSV project is it flexibility in model design and implementation, Adelaide PHN will develop and implement a tailored model developed in response to the local needs and service context. Adelaide PHN’s tailored approach will focus on three core components, being training, system integration, and influencing the system for sustainable change.
In 2019, 6 PHNs were funded as part of a national pilot to support primary care services to recognise and respond to family and domestic violence. Each PHN developed a model of support based on local needs as part of a place-based commissioning approach. The models developed by the PHNs all had slight differences but were built on similar core components:
- Whole of practice approach – which involved not only general practitioners but practice nurses, practice managers and administrative staff,
- Workforce capacity building - through formal (CPD accredited) training and informal training for the primary care sector,
- The creation of a local link/system integrator role - usually an organisation with expert knowledge of the local FDV sector who was funded by the PHN to build relationships with general practices in their region, deliver informal and formal training to the primary care sector, support the strengthening of referral pathways between general practitioners and specialist support providers and undertake quality improvement practices,
- System influence activities.
In the 2022-2023 budget the Commonwealth Government announced additional funding for the Supporting the Primary Care sector response to Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence pilot. The funding intends to expand and enhance the work undertaken by the 6 PHN pilot sites who participated in Round 1. This expansion encompasses both:
- The establishment of additional family and domestic violence pilots to locate a pilot in each state and territory,
- And the addition and integration of supports to improve primary care response to and health system navigation by victims-survivors of sexual violence and child sexual abuse to both the existing and new pilots.
Adelaide PHN in partnership with Country SA PHN received funding to take a statewide approach to the FDSV pilot. The project objectives are as follows:
- Support primary health care providers to implement a model of support to assist in the early identification and intervention of FDSV, and coordinate referrals to support services;
- Increase the capacity and capability of the primary care workforce to better care for victims-survivors of FDSV and persons living with FDSV;
- Improve the primary care system integration with the broader FDSV service response system and health service navigation for victims-survivors of sexual violence.
There are four stages to this project:
- Exploration of need and establishing project team;
- Planning and undertaking co-design;
- Implementation of pilot and integrated modules;
- Monitor and evaluate.
The pilot was independently evaluated by the Sax Institute and the models developed were well received by the stakeholders. Key outcomes included;
- Enhanced primary care sector capacity to recognise and respond to FDV
- Enhanced relationships between FDV and primary care sectors
- Increased primary care sector referrals to FDV services
- Improved outcomes for FDV victim-survivors
For more information regarding the evaluation of Round 1 of the pilot, please see the evaluation report: Evaluation of the Improving Health System Responses to Family and Domestic Violence Primary Health Network Pilots
If you would like to be involved in some way, or just kept informed, please contact the FDSV project team at:
fdsv@adelaidephn.com.au
Get Involved
It is anticipated that full time GPs can see as many as 5 patients experiencing violence each week. Family, domestic, and sexual violence are often hidden from others in the community. The silent nature of abuse means that it can be hard to have the conversation about abuse. Victim-survivors of violence and abuse are more likely to tell their GPs about their experiences more than any other professional group. Therefore, primary care providers play a critical role in supporting people who are experiencing family, domestic and sexual violence.
The Supporting the Primary Care sector response to Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence pilot here in SA will give primary care providers the tools to get their patients the right support at the right time. If you would like to be involved with this work, there are a range of opportunities to be involved for primary care providers, representatives from the FDSV response sectors, and those with lived experience of FDSV.
The FDSV Project team spoke to people with lived experience of FDSV, primary care providers, and representatives from the FDSV response sectors across regional and metropolitan South Australia through one-on-one conversations, focus groups, and surveys. The team aimed to understand how primary care providers currently support their patients’ experiencing violence and where there might be gaps or ways that this support could be improved. The team also learned how primary care and specialist FDSV response services currently work together and how this could be improved.
The outcomes of the needs assessment will be published in a report on the Adelaide PHN website.
Two advisory panels have been put together to support the work of this project.
The first, a GP Advisory Panel represents the primary care sector across South Australia and will advise the project team on matters related to all phases of the project, including collaborative design and implementation of the model. The GP Advisory Panel will assist the project team to effectively engage with and support General Practice to ultimately build their capacity to recognise, respond to, and refer patients who may be at risk of or who are experiencing violence or abuse. The GP Advisory Panel will be expected to provide general advice regarding the primary care sector, whilst also advocating for their own communities. Recruitment for the GP Advisory Panel has closed at this time but may re-open in future if more members are needed.
The second, a Lived Experience Advisory Panel, has been convened by LELAN to shape and co-design how responses to victim-survivor disclosures and links to additional support can be enhanced and expanded through this model.
To centre victim-survivors in building the supports they need and use, LELAN will be convening this Panel and are additionally contributing to partnership and decision-making processes.
LELAN is the independent peak body in South Australia by, for and with people with lived experience of mental distress, social issues or injustice. LELAN’s systemic advocacy targets the mental health and social sectors in South Australia, whilst their thought leadership and expertise on lived experience expertise and leadership is borderless.
At this time, recruitment for the Lived Experience Advisory Panel has closed but may re-open in future if more members are needed.
A series of consultations with community and collaborative design activities will take place between September and December. There will be a range of opportunities for individuals to take part in the design of the pilot model.
It is important that the collaborative design activities include the views of those who will be most affected by this model. This includes primary care providers, the FDSV response sector and people with lived experience of FDSV. In addition, activities will be catered towards communities that are disproportionately affected by violence and abuse and often experience inappropriate or ineffective services. This includes those from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, multicultural communities, LGBTIQA+ communities, and people living with disability communities.
Specialist facilitators from a range of priority communities have been engaged to make sure the activities in this phase are culturally safe, accessible and inclusive, and trauma-informed. We are currently working with the specialist facilitators to plan these activities and will have more information soon. If you’d like to be kept informed, please feel free to reach out to us at: fdsv@adelaidephn.com.au
If you work in primary care and are keen to learn more about FDSV or access existing tools, resources and training modules, head to the Learn More tab for a range of evidence-based resources. Many of the resources are free and developed specifically for health professionals.
There will be two main commissioning activities involved in the implementation of the pilot model. The first will involve seeking training providers that can deliver formal workforce capacity building modules to primary care providers. The second will involve a system integration model that will be designed during the collaborative design and consultation phase and will likely be delivered by a specialist FDSV response service.
It is expected that commissioning activities will take place in the latter half of 2024 for the training providers and the first quarter of 2025 for the system integration model. Interest will also be sought from primary care providers who wish to participate. To ensure that services are able to participate meaningfully in the tender process, the Adelaide PHN and Country SA PHN will provide regular updates on the progress of the collaborative design phase, as well as providing pre-market briefings.
If you’d like to be kept informed, please feel free to reach out to us at: fdsv@adelaidephn.com.au
Learn More About FDSV
Under the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–2022 and the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032, many resources have been commissioned by the Commonwealth Government to increase the capacity of mainstream services to better respond to people experiencing family, domestic and sexual violence.
We all have a role to play in ending violence against women and children. Mainstream services, like primary care, are not expected to be specialists in responding to violence and abuse but as trusted members of our communities, they can be effective first responders. The links below include a range of training modules and short resources for individual professionals to improve their knowledge, as well as some useful toolkits and information packages which may be helpful to use in your practice with patients and clients.
This section of our website will be regularly updated as new resources are released. If your organisation has a resource that you think would be useful for the primary care workforce, please reach out to the FDSV project team at: fdsv@adelaidephn.com.au
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP)
The RACGP publish the White book for health professionals – Abuse and violence: working with our patients in general practice.
HealthPathways South Australia
HealthPathways is an online portal that provides GPs and other health professionals with easy access to comprehensive, evidence-based assessment, management, and localised referral resources for specific health conditions. HealthPathways SA currently has a suite of pathways available to support health professionals with patients who may be experiencing violence and abuse, with more in development.
The child abuse and neglect pathway provides questions and responses on issues such as disclosure, safety screening, resources, and mandated reporting.
The pathway acknowledges cultural variations in parenting practices and the challenges surrounding limited resources available to migrants and refugees.
The domestic and family violence pathway provides help for clinicians to discern who and when to screen for domestic and family violence and includes a structured online DV risk assessment and guidance for escalation to multi-agency protection and support services.
Health Professionals can sign up free and access HealthPathways SA here : https://southaustralia.communityhealthpathways.org
HealthPathways SA is a partnership between SA Health, Adelaide PHN and Country SA PHN
National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse
In March 2024, The National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse (National Centre) launched initial foundational resources for the Strengthening Primary Health Care Responses to Sexual Violence and Child Sexual Abuse project, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.
The initial suite of resources includes two written reference guides and a short video, which are available on the National Centre website: Strengthening Primary Health Care Responses - The National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse
Outside of the resources developed specifically for the primary health care workforce, The National Centre website includes a range of resources including webinars, knowledge summaries, and reports. It is a great place to stay up-to-date on the latest evidence about child sexual abuse.
The Safer Families Centre
The Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence delivers the Readiness Program training for frontline healthcare workers. The Safer Families Centre is a partnership with:
- the University of Melbourne
- the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
- the Blue Knot Foundation
- Phoenix Australia.
The Safer Families Centre has a range of self-paced learning modules that have been accredited through the RACGP for CPD. In addition, there is a series of RACGP hosted webinars available on the Safer Families website. Finally, the Safer Families website has a variety of clinical tools to support your work with patients.
Recognising and Responding to Sexual Violence in Adults
Monash University has partnered with the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine to develop and deliver a three-unit Course for health practitioners in Recognising and Responding to Sexual Violence which commenced in 2021 and will continue until 2027. Monash University is seeking expressions of interest from AHPRA registered and Australia-based practicing health practitioners providing primary health care services to undertake the RACGP and other medical college CPD-accredited training at no cost.
You can enrol in single or multiple units.
More information and registration can be found here: https://www.monash.edu/medicine/sphpm/study/professional-education/responding-to-sexual-violence
The Zahra Foundation Australia
The Zahra Foundation Australia are deeply committed to addressing the critical issues of financial abuse and coercive control - forms of domestic and family violence that have a profound impact on individuals' lives. Financial abuse occurs when someone controls access to money and resources, often leaving the victim unable to make decisions about their finances or those shared in a relationship. This form of abuse is subtle yet deeply harmful, affecting one in six women in Australia and present in 60% of domestic and family violence situations.
Zahra Foundation Australia has developed an education campaign with multiple resources that clearly outline what financial abuse is, how it manifests, and where to find help. Additionally, they offer essential advice not only for victims and survivors but also for their colleagues, friends and family members. These resources can be accessed through their website – The Zahra Foundation – Resource Library.