Future-proofing Safety

COVID-19 and family violence in Victoria 2020–21

About the Future-proofing Safety project

The Future-proofing Safety project investigated the complex and multi-layered story of family violence during COVID-19. The project aimed to take a system-wide view of service interactions for people who experienced or used family violence during the pandemic.

The survey component of the project, the Service Sector Survey, provided a quantitative assessment of the perspectives of services and practitioners together with qualitative insights on a number of key issues.


* The survey instrument captured:

  • practitioner characteristics including, in non-identifiable terms, the type of service in which participating practitioners work
  • participants’ views on how client experiences of family violence changed during COVID-19
  • participants’ views on how client service needs changed and how services changed to meet these needs
  • the strengths and limitations in the ability of participants’ services to adapt, and the strengths and limitations in the ability of the service system more broadly to adapt
  • participants’ views on key elements of a disaster/crisis response plan for services.
Acknowledgements

The  Future-Proofing Safety project is funded by Family Safety Victoria and led by the Centre for Family Research and Evaluation at Drummond Street Services, with research partners with AIFS and the Centre for Innovative Justice. 

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