Better practice in responding to family violence

This principle underscores the importance of building a culture of awareness in addressing family violence. By taking a whole of organisation approach to raising awareness and for training, organisations can enable early detection of family violence and support employees to respond safely and appropriately.

In order to build a culture of awareness, organisations need to:

• educate, train and support employees to understand and show empathy
• tailor training for customer focused and senior roles
• support staff to understand their role and limitations.

Staff that understand how they can assist victim-survivors in their roles and who feel supported by senior management are better positioned to provide effective assistance. This includes staff knowing the limitations of their role and offering victim-survivors referrals to specialised teams and external agencies when they think it’s appropriate to do so.

An organisational culture that supports awareness of family violence helps employees respond appropriately and with confidence to issues as they arise. Businesses can do this by initiating conversations with staff about family violence and providing them with information to help them understand the complexities of family violence and be empathetic.