Held at OurPlace on the Seymour College Campus, the Family Violence and Legal Services Networking Forum allowed organisations — from FamilyCare to VincentCare, and Victoria Police to Northern Community Legal Centre — to connect and hear from other providers about their practices and approaches.
Lee Day, who, through philanthropic funding, co-ordinates the Brotherhood of St Laurence’s Women’s Financial Wellbeing Community Investment Committee in Seymour, said the forum allowed for a streamlined approach in supporting victims of family violence.
“It’s that wrap-around support — they’ve got the right supports when needed, and they’re referred to services, or connected with services, when they’re ready for those particular services,” Ms Day said.
“There’s the crisis support, the therapeutic supports that come later, all the different supports within the community that can support them and their families and children.
“With a more collaborative approach, too, if people have for trust within a particular organisation or service, they usually pass that trust on.”
During the forum, attendees heard from Anglicare Victoria assistant executive director Erin Foot, ArcJustice lawyer Gemma Hazmi, Proactive Policing Unit First Constable Rose Halse, Alison Maclean of VincentCare, among other representatives from local family violence and legal support services.
Attendees, who mostly worked within the space, were able to pose questions to the presenters, forging a professional relationship while also gaining information about other local services in the same industry.
Naomi Mazzone, who is the integrated strategic advisor at FamilyCare and who supports the Child and Family Service Alliance and the Integrated Family Violence Partnership, said opportunities to network allowed services to strengthen the collaborative supports they provided.
“Events such as these allow opportunities for sharing of knowledge and developing professional connections that support being able to provide thorough and collaborative services,” Ms Mazzone said.
“But also, it’s so that we can work together. It’s a really an opportunity for agencies to collaborate, share information and be aware of what’s available locally and the best way to access it.
“Doing it in these spaces that are informal and let people network builds relationships so that they can pick up the phone, ask a question and have those consults.”
Following the forum, attending services will now be able to provide the “wrap-around support” that many victims need.
