Responding to family violence

Bec Flakelar (Director, Safe at Home, Department of Justice) is interviewed by Kelly Ford (Group Director, Mental Health Reform Services, Department of Health) for our Family Violence Prevention Month series

In their conversation, Kelly and Bec speak about Tasmania’s integrated response to family violence through the Safe at Home program, which brings together agencies across government to share information and coordinate support.

They discuss the importance of information sharing, early intervention, and the many ways in which victim-survivors are supported after making a report. 

Bec also shares advice for workplaces on recognising signs that a colleague may be experiencing or using violence, and how to respond with empathy, listen without judgement, and connect people to appropriate help. 

Resources:

• Safe at Home
• Department of Health Mandatory Reporting of Child Safety and Wellbeing Concerns Protocol

Support:

If this episode has raised any concerns for you, you can call 1800 RESPECT, that’s 1800 737 732, to talk to a counsellor from the national sexual assault and domestic violence hotline.

Alternatively, you could call Tasmania’s Family Violence Counselling and Support Service on 1800 608 122.

If you have concerns about your safety or that of someone else, please contact police or call 000 for emergency help.    

Transcript

Dorian Broomhall:

This episode contains reference to acts of family and sexual violence. If you have experienced violence or sexual assault and need immediate or ongoing help, contact 1800RESPECT. That's 1-800-737-732 to talk to a counsellor from the National Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Hotline. If you have concerns about your safety or that of someone else, please contact police or call 000 for emergency help.

Molly Hanson:

This episode was recorded on the land of the Palawa People. We acknowledge and pay respect to all Tasmanian Aboriginal people and to their deep history of storytelling. We also acknowledge the disproportionate rates of violence faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

Kelly Ford:

Hi, my name's Kelly Ford. I'm the Director of Mental Health Reform Services at the Department of Health here in Lutruwita, Tasmania. This Family Violence Prevention Month, we're speaking with experts about the impact of family violence in our community, how to recognise and respond to family violence and how we can prevent it from occurring in the first place.

For this episode, I spoke with Bec Flakelar, the Director of Safe At Home at the Department of Justice. In our conversation, we spoke about the Tasmanian government's integrated criminal justice response to family violence. We spoke about the importance of information sharing and the many ways in which victim survivors are supported through next steps after making a report.

Bec provides advice on how we can recognise and support colleagues who may be impacted by family violence. She suggests how we may approach these conversations and how we can help victim survivors access community supports. Let's begin. Okay Bec, what is Safe at Home?

Bec Flakelar:

Safe at Home is, the formal role is that it's the Tasmanian government's integrated criminal response to family violence. In general terms, think of it as an overarching umbrella for the state where collaboration is key.

So in 2004, the Family Violence Act was established, and in line with that Safe at Home was born. So it's led by Department of Justice, and the principle of it is that we can't, as one agency, fix or respond to family violence on our own. It's everyone's responsibility.

So the premise is that it's a range of government departments. So you've got the Department of Justice, you've got Department of Police and Fire and Emergency Management, you've got Department of Health, you've got Department of Premier and Cabinet in there as well, and you also have Department for Education and Young People, so DECYP.

So when Safe At Home was created in 2004, information sharing, that is the biggest thing. So our act allows for us to information share, because as you would see from a lot of different inquiries, responses, lived experience, feedback is that people are wanting to not have to tell their story over and over again, but at the same time they want the information sharing to be fluid enough that the response can be enacted.

So that is a big one for Safe At Home and that's what we do with each of those government departments. So, making sure the information is being shared across different departments. One of the biggest things that Safe At Home does is our integrated case coordination meetings that, to those in the sector you may have heard of ICC meetings.

So we have them. There are four meetings held around the state each week in each of our four regions. Those meetings, you have members of all those departments literally sitting around a table and they discuss the family violence matters.

Now to become a Safe at Home, I say "client" in inverted commas or to get the Safe at Home system response, a police response has to have been acted. So in other words, a family violence needs to have been reported to Tasmania Police. So think of them as a gateway to Safe at Home.

So once family violence has been reported to Tasmania Police, every single report of family violence is looked at by Safe at Home partners. So at those ICC meetings, we go through every single family violence incident or event that has occurred, and they are discussed.

Now it's not just a big chitchat around the table and everybody sort of walks away. The idea is that we have our Safe at Home chairperson who coordinates and leads the meeting. We go through each of the family violence matters that have come through, and all the agencies represented around that table then interrogate their own agency's databases to see what information they hold on each of the parties.

So the parties that I'm talking about is that we have the perpetrator, we have the victim survivor, and we have affected children. So Safe at Home covers across all. And what they will do is they will have a look at what intelligence they hold. And think of it a bit as a puzzle, putting different pieces of a puzzle together.

So for example, Tasmania Police have attended an incident or an event. They will know one part of the information, but then discussing it around that table, you've got a whole range of other information, expertise, experience that will start to draw out what's really going on for those parties.

So around that table, for example, is you've got your police family violence unit, you've got police prosecution, you've got community corrections, Tasmanian Prison Service, you've got the advice from referral line or Child Safety. You've got education in there, you've got court support liaison service, you've got defendant health liaison service. I think I've captured everybody.

So as you can see, a really broad range. And they'll start to have a look at it. And even just from noting some of those different business units, you can see that their primary focus would be on a particular party. So for example, police prosecution more so would be the intervention or disruption for perpetrating as a court matter. Whereas, our family violence counselling support service, very importantly was one of those in the sense that their focus would be on the victim survivor and affected children through their response and what they can offer.

So they will have a conversation about the risk and the safety measures of what needs to happen for those parties, whether it is perpetrating intervention or recovery and support and safety planning for victim survivor and affected children, and then they'll be tasked out.

So as I said, it's not just a big talk fest. People leave with an action. It'll be allocated to a particular area as initial follow-up and saying, for example, "Family Violence Counselling Support Service, could you make contact with the victim survivor? Make sure that they're aware of what supports are available and help with warm referrals."

It could be Child Safety. "Do you have an open matter that you're looking into in relation to the children? Will this now feed into your risk and safety planning? Is there any action that needs to be taken there?"

It could be Community Corrections. The perpetrator is involved in one of your behaviour change programmes. "What pieces of information are you hearing from that?" It could also be very importantly, are the protections that are already in place appropriate? So for example, is there a protective order in place? If there is, is it the right protective order? Is it actually providing the right level of protection that is required?

So that is a really, really important part of the Safe at Home system and what's available. Another thing that we also offer is that we offer financial and practical support. So we have two main programmes. So we have the Keeping Women Safe in the Home programme. That's a nationally funded programme which is topped up by state money. That is around security upgrades.

So we're really looking at wanting to create a place of safety for the victim survivor and their children in the sense that it could be as practical, as we need to re-key the locks for an incident that has happened.

Kelly Ford:

Yeah.

Bec Flakelar:

We might need to instal security screen doors, for example, on the front or the back of the house to buy some time if the perpetrator were to come to the home. It could be things like, do we need to have a look at changing window locks or having sensor lights on the property to make it more visible?

So we look at doing that. That is a very well-used programme which could be seen positively or negatively and the fact that we have to do it, but it's a great programme that we can provide, and gives them a sense of security in their own home in addition to, for example, one of those protection orders.

The other one that we have is a state-funded programme which was born out of COVID times really, is our flexible support packages. So think again, very practical support of somebody who has suffered at the hands of the behaviour and family violence and has left the relationship. And what comes with being subjected to family violence might be a range of practical vulnerabilities.

So for example, the package there can be up to $6,000. It's not a financial handout though, as in a cash handout that some other programmes do have because our approach is a holistic approach, that we want the support to be there as well.

So the flexible support package funding could be used for things like, it's not possible to remain where they are. They do need to relocate. So we could assist with bond or upfront rent. We could assist with either replacing furniture that was damaged due to family violence or replacing due to the fact they've had to relocate and it's not available.

Clothing, for example, if they've had to leave and they've got no clothing for themselves or their children. It could be practical things, like they suffered financial abuse in the sense that they didn't have access to money. So therefore they have debts from, for example, power bills that were in their name that has just been racked up. Can we look at paying that off?

So it's really quite broad. All of these packages that I've spoken about are on our website as well, and they can be applied in line with a support service though. So as I said, victim survivor is not going to apply on their own. They'll have a service that will support them to do that.

Kelly Ford:

Supporting them.

Bec Flakelar:

Yep.

Kelly Ford:

Yeah.

Bec Flakelar:

Absolutely. So if they've reported to Tasmania Police and there's protective orders in place, we can have a look at eligibility, and it's an assessment. Once again, it will go to those ICC meetings so that they can also offer some other suggestions knowing the story and going, "Oh, maybe they need this, or maybe we can have a look at that for them and see what else we can do."

So those financial packages, as I said, quite heavily used, but certainly I think is a fantastic response that we can offer whilst they're on their road to recovery. That's a very short version.

So we do a whole range of things. We also engage in both Tasmanian context as well as national about legislative upgrades, policies, procedures, frameworks as well, but that is the operational function of Safe at Home. Yeah.

Kelly Ford:

You talked before about being able to access Safe at Home on a report to police and that police intervention. Who can make that report to police? Can anyone make that or is that have to be the victim?

Bec Flakelar:

No. Well, police will respond to concerns for welfare and family violence from a range of ... It could be the victim survivor themselves, it could be an affected child, it could be a neighbour. It could be a mandatory reporter.

So for example, if somebody becomes aware of family violence in which there are children, there's mandatory reporting mechanisms that will need to kick in, and that's not only to the child safety service, but also Tasmania police so that their response can be made.

So it can be a range of factors that get into a police family violence report, and they use their mechanisms to try and understand what has led them to be there on that day, noting that it's a particular point in time, but that doesn't mean about what's just happened. For example, today, what has been the lead-up to this because what we're seeing is that generally, we find that if people are reporting to police, matters have been ongoing for weeks, months, years beforehand.

And it might be the first time that somebody has felt that, especially as a victim survivor, that they are strong enough to report and want a level of intervention, or it might be that, for example, a neighbour has heard it maybe a couple of times and gone, "Tonight is the night. I'm worried and I'm going to tell someone."

So what we're looking at there is the police will start to be curious, ask those questions around not only what's happened now, "Has there been things that have happened before? Can you provide examples around that?" noting that a victim survivor might then be hesitant when a police officer does attend. They might be thinking, "Oh, no. What's going to happen next? Maybe I don't say what's happening for fear of what the repercussions might be from the perpetrator," or there's a whole range of reasons.

And as we are well aware, there are many victim survivors who won't make a formal report to police for a whole range of reasons. As I said, they're not ready. They don't know what comes next. They're worried about what could be perpetrated further should they report. Guilt, shame, a whole range of things.

So, what we've been trying to do a lot with Safe At Home in the last couple of years is be far more outward-facing, noting who we are. "We're here. We're not a faceless group of people. This is what we can offer. These are the processes." So people are more informed around what will happen or what could happen, what's available to them rather than just being a bit scared of losing that control in the sense of once it's out there, then what happens?

Kelly Ford:

Then what happens?

Bec Flakelar:

Because it won't necessarily always just be a criminal response, for example, orders, charges, going through court. It's not all about that. And a measure of success is not successful charges being laid, in my opinion. It's around what the response is.

So one, can we prevent further behaviour from the perpetrator happening, and the abuse in the first place would be fantastic, which is why a lot of focus is on intervention. But also, what can we do to support the victim survivor and children now? How do they recover? What are their next steps? Who's around them for that?

So I think that's really important and that's one of the biggest reasons, I believe Safe At Home has endured for that long. Only yesterday I had somebody from Queensland say, "It's quite odd that especially a government unit has been around for so long." I mean, it's now 2026, started in 2004, "So what is the success?"

So I couldn't really answer it other than the fact that I think that the fact that it's a collaborative approach, that it is shared across community is the reason, I think we have those responses. But I think the reporting to Tasmania Police is obviously the catalyst for our response going forward.

But the more we can educate around what that means and what family violence is, especially so that victim survivors can recognise and go, "That's family violence. I'm a victim of family violence and I have some choices that I can make."

Kelly Ford:

I wanted to pick up on something that you talked about in terms of that integrated case coordination and that cross-agency information sharing. That's always been, I think, a barrier for government agencies in lots of areas. How has Safe At Home overcome those barriers?

Bec Flakelar:

It makes sense, doesn't it? It makes sense that you wouldn't just have one particular department trying to respond and resolve something that crosses over so many facets of life.

So, having that collaborative cross-agency approach is absolutely instrumental. And you see that in all the commission inquiries that come out. I remember going to one in Sydney with the recommendations and they just said, "You need to share your information. You are working in silos as agencies because what you know over here, the other people have no idea. They're potentially duplicating services. You've missed something because you haven't been talking."

So that's always stuck with me about, to me, that's a no-brainer, but we need to do it safely. So our act, our legislation provides that we can do that. The PIP Act allows us to share the information for the relevance of family violence and protecting parties. So we are able to do that and we have systems that allow us to do that.

So for example, police, when they have a report, they have what we call the FVMS, so Family Violence Management System. That's their reporting system. So when family violence is disclosed to them, whether they attend or get a phone call or a report, that's captured there. Now, Safe At Home partners do have access to that, so they get to see straightaway, police notes, what happened when they attended, what was the response to it from a police perspective, what's in place.

And as I said, once that then comes into the Safe at Home system, we have our SIMS, which is Safe At Home Information Management System. Everybody loves an acronym. Think of it as our case management database. So in that captures the minutes from the ICC meeting, so what was discussed and the outcomes and the tasks.

It allows the other agencies to see what the trajectory is, because we don't just discuss the case once and that's it. We discuss that case for the term of a protective order, noting that the risk and safety is going to change at various points along the way for different events. Especially if there's a separation, we know that people separating prior to, during, and after, a lot of red flags can go up. Family law court matters, settlement matters, new partners coming in, relationships with children with the various parents and how that's managed, custody arrangements. So we discuss that throughout.

So that integrated response of putting the little pieces together. And as I said, drawing on the intelligence that's coming from the community sector about, they know these families, they see them in their communities, they know what's happening. They have those really, more informal conversations.

They will notice certain nuances of what's going on, dynamics of families that will piece together, for example, just thinking of a health context. We might look from the health system and go, "That victim survivor," for example, "Has had six emergency presentations in the last month for "non" family violence-related matters. But were they, or were they because of family violence, and how that's being reported?"

So we can start to piece a few things together. So that awareness and education for all parties is really important. We're doing a lot of work now, and there's a lot of programmes around the health sector, for example, the GPs and the hospital presentations because you might go to a GP to talk about something else and it could be ailments or conditions or something like that, but are they, or are they as a result of family violence and the behaviour this person is being subjected to? And is that a way of drawing that out?

And that might be the first person that there's a level of awareness and going, "What you're experiencing is family violence." And for somebody to go, "Oh no, that's not me. That's the lady you see on TV that has a bruise on her face. I haven't got bruises. No, but what you're doing, that's having then a physical impact on your body. So this is where those health conditions are coming from."

So there's little bits and pieces of information of somebody's life that are captured in a whole range of interactions that aren't just going to be government. It is government, it's your friends, family, but it's that information sharing pathway where possible, safely using our legislative requirements and our acts that can allow us to do that.

So we do refer to ourselves as nation-leading because we have a lot of states and charities coming to us to see what our approach is here and why it has worked. And as the gentleman I was speaking to yesterday, this programme has lasted so long because we're sharing that information, and it's a collective response.

Kelly Ford:

Yeah.

Bec Flakelar:

Yeah.

Kelly Ford:

And in that information sharing, that's providing a protection to the victim survivor?

Bec Flakelar:

Yeah, and which could mean a range of things. As I said, it might not just be an order. It's not about that. It's, is the home secure? Do they have the right people helping them with their therapeutic recovery? The trauma that they need to work through that, both mentally, physically, spiritually, and the impact of then still thinking about children, of raising those children, protecting those children.

Do the children still have access to the perpetrator in a safe way? And how do they manage that knowing that they're still trying to recover from their experiences with that party, but being the parent who's helping facilitate that ongoing relationship? It's so complex, but noting who to turn to so that they're not having to start from scratch every single time.

Kelly Ford:

Yeah. And building in those interventions that change that cycle of violence.

Bec Flakelar:

Yes. I think a lot of the education and awareness that we've been doing over the years has been, especially you would've heard a lot about coercive control.

Now we in Tasmania have had coercive control in the term of emotional abuse in our legislation since it started. Very, very difficult to identify and to ... When I talked about the legal part, like charges, we've seen obviously some very recent high-profile matters in which that has happened, which has brought it to the fore.

But also, talking about coercive control and emotional abuse and that more sinister pattern of behaviour, the education and awareness from that has been, I think, instrumental in our response to family violence because previously those parties potentially would be sitting there and going, "That's not me. That's just the way they are. That's just them." It might be just them, but what they're doing to you is family violence and it's unacceptable.

Kelly Ford:

Yeah.

Bec Flakelar:

But that in itself, even having that awareness and acknowledgement can be really difficult too because then you start to associate yourself with being a victim of family violence. And as I said, some people have the shame and guilt with that. "And why didn't I see that? Why didn't I stop that?" You have to stop that.

Kelly Ford:

Stop that.

Bec Flakelar:

That thought process from happening and going, "No, no, no, you didn't do anything. You did not do this. That person is doing that to you. And how can we help you now?" So that is a really big challenge, but the pieces of work that we've been doing around the coercive control with workshops that we've been running, education and awareness around what Safe at Home is, what responses are available there in both, government and non-government, really proud of it because we need to take that stigma off.

We need to lift that off because people are walking through life with this grey cloud over them feeling that that's just the way their relationships are or their life is. And no, there's other ways.

Kelly Ford:

There's a better way.

Bec Flakelar:

There are, absolutely and doing something about it. So yeah, very proud that we are doing that. And even we see the rates of family violence increasing, that's not necessarily a bad thing because that's where the awareness piece is.

So we're seeing confidence in people, in systems to report. Knowing what is available to them afterwards, people are reporting breaches. So they include in the rates of family violence, those figures as well. So if people are responding and going, "Well, no, there's a protective order and they've breached it and I need to report that." So you can see the pattern of behaviour, and does it need to be further intervention is required to stop that behaviour?

So I see that as an improvement. I mean, I would love for the figures to drop and never exist, and we all be out of a job, ideally.

Kelly Ford:

Wouldn't that be a lovely-

Bec Flakelar:

That would be amazing. I would love that. Yes.

Kelly Ford:

As a manager myself in the public service, I feel some responsibility to support my colleagues and the people who work to me, to provide that information and support. What are some of the things do you think that managers should be looking for as signs of say, someone who's a victim survivor?

Bec Flakelar:

It's going to present in so many ways. Just knowing your staff, knowing your peers, your colleagues. Somebody may present far quieter, they might present that they don't really sort of have ... Their confidence has dropped in some way. They may be absent from work.

Similarly, they might be spending a lot of time at work and not taking breaks or leave. They might be taking a lot of phone calls or feeling distracted by messages because it might be the perpetrator checking in on them, see what they're doing.

They may have injuries that you notice. You may have bruises that are far more outward than the more sinister internal emotional abuse, coercive control signs that is just chipping away at someone's identity, confidence.

So they're going to present in a whole different ways. I think the biggest thing is to be aware. And should somebody not seem their usual selves, not necessarily to go and ask them about it, but you might have other people in your teams who know them far more. And just going, "How is ... Is everything going okay with them? Have you got any concerns?"

And if somebody was then experiencing family violence, hoping that they felt supported and trusted to speak up and get some advice. And the best thing that you can do if somebody does that is to listen and believe them. Let them tell their story as much as they're willing to.

And then there's a whole range of ways in which you can respond, which each department has their own policies and guidelines. There was excellent family violence and workplace training modules that were put out that people can go and refer to. Not expecting everybody to be an expert, absolutely not, but it's being a kind human and acknowledging what that person is saying and how they're feeling and what they're going through, and then we can start to put things in place.

So knowing who to go to which would be outlined, there's a whole range of services that can help in particular areas as well.

Kelly Ford:

If we have a colleague or a coworker who's disclosing to us their particular situation, what's the best approach, I suppose, to linking them to some services, noting that I'm not the expert, but there are experts out there?

Bec Flakelar:

Absolutely. It's one of those catch-22s in that, human nature is that we want to fix things for people, which is really quite hard, but you have to be led by them about what they're wanting to do. This is their story, this is their experience.

For proactive intervention and support, the pathway is reporting. It is reporting to Tasmania Police, and that can be done in a bunch of ways. They can call the non-emergency line. They could go into a police station. They could contact one of the support services, and we can organise and contact Tasmania Police to make sure that they're going to speak to the right person in one of the family violence units.

So getting in touch and going, "Okay, when would somebody be available? Could they come out and speak to us, or is it a case that we go to the police station?" Whatever they'd feel more comfortable with. And that then, in turn, as I've just spoken about, will sort of kick into a more proactive response with options available.

As I previously said though, some people wouldn't be ready for that stage. So it's more about having that conversation. And there are a lot of helplines that they could then be referred to either by phone to have conversations around until they are ready to, or perhaps get some support informally whilst they're making their decision, because some of the decisions may be that they're still in the relationship, want to leave, don't know how to leave, wouldn't know what the next steps are.

So there can be a lot of conversations about how that could work, safety planning being put in place. What agencies are going to support you through that? The trickier part is, as I also mentioned, which is around the mandatory reporting obligations if there's children involved, because as an agency, you really need to check your department's policies and procedures around what you as a manager or a peer, a colleague would need to do if somebody was disclosing family violence towards them and having affected children.

Kelly Ford:

Yeah, that's really important. I know that the Department of Health has some really good resources to support those things, and one of those things is a workplace safety plan.

Bec Flakelar:

Yes. The basics are around making sure that we have a safe and secure work environment, not only for victim survivors, but for everybody else who works in that area. So for example, it could be really basic things around general behaviour in there. If somebody became hardened, or access to building. If somebody is a protected party or feels that their partner is going to be aggressive and actually come to the workplace. It's about really talking to your manager around, what are the actual specific concerns and what safety can we put in place for not only the physical environment, but also the emotional environment of that person, as well as other staff in the building?

So that could be around how they enter and exit the building, what times they enter and exit the building, who has access. It could be around Tasmania, Hobart, very small place. Who knows who? Do they know that person's partner or ex-partner? Are they inadvertently passing on information or location status or about how they're presenting?

So it's about an understanding and awareness, but again, that all comes down onto the knowledge that we have about the situation and how much the staff member or the victim survivor is willing to share as per what we can put in place.

But definitely, check in with your policies and procedures that you would have with each of your agencies because there are practical checklists, there are referral pathways, contact points that can really lead you because as I said, nobody's expecting you to be an expert, but as long as you know the correct pathway to take, to make sure that they are in touch with somebody who knows the process.

Kelly Ford:

Yeah. I think most public servants would know their EAP providers and be able to make those sorts of referrals. Are you able to talk about some of the community services that might be available?

Bec Flakelar:

When I talk about Safe At Home and it being a government department system, one of the biggest, and I will say improvements because we didn't do this well since 2004. We have definitely grown. Family violence has, sadly increased, but the awareness has also increased.

And what we are really trying to educate everybody on is, it is that everyone's responsibility. So therefore it can't just be a government response either. We have some amazing non-government colleagues and agencies, organisations out there who are generally engaged with these families well before a government response. So well before it's been reported, to example, Tasmania Police, and then Safe at Home system would kick in.

So really tapping into the expertise, the experience, the services involved of our NGO colleagues because they are at the grassroots, they're out there. So although, as I said, Safe at Home is government, even our ICC meetings are government personnel around a table, we have that interaction and that shared pathway with the community sector in the sense of, if it has been reported, obviously they can feed information in. It's part of the discussion.

We can feed information out about what's happening so that they're feeling supported from all angles. Obviously, if the victim survivor, for example, is not ready to report, but engaging with that community sector, they can contact us and have de-identified conversations about what might be available, or acknowledging and validating that, that is family violence and there are pathways for that.

So there are a whole range of agencies which I couldn't possibly go through, but again, they would certainly be listed in departmental intranets. Most people might be aware of the 1800RESPECT number. You've got your family violence counselling support service and you've got Relationships Australia, you've got Engender Equality, you've got Salvation Army, Safe Choices.

As I said, I could reel them off and then I'll offend somebody that I haven't mentioned. So more importantly, just to go and check relevant ones. We have a lot on our website as well. We have a list of some services. And actually, our Safe At Home team are working on a Tasmanian Family Violence Service Directory, a very practical directory that is trying to map out what services are actually included in Tasmania.

What is the family violence response here? Because somebody came to me actually from a previous role when I worked out at Hobart City Mission of, "Is there a directory about what's available for family violence?" And I'm like, "No, I don't think there is." Found out that there wasn't.

And so we're trying to create one that captures all the regions, government, non-government. Could be around what's available for victim survivors, what's available for children, what's available for housing, clothing, financial support. What is available for those who are perpetrating violence, because that is a really key factor. Instead of having to respond to it all the time, could we stop it? And in which case the focus needs to be there, too.

So looking forward to that. That is a big piece of work we're trying to do off the side of our desk. It's getting bigger and bigger and bigger. My assistant manager Bill is doing an amazing job trying to pull that all together. So services will start to hear us reaching out to make sure that the information we've got is correct.

We're trying to keep it as simple as, "This is a service. This is how you contact them, and this is what they offer as a referral pathway. And we'll try and keep it up to date." A bit of a blueprint of what's available here in Tasmania because there are so many great services that really, we need to shine a light on and people know that they're there.

Kelly Ford:

That's very exciting.

Bec Flakelar:

It is very exciting. It's big. It is big, but it's good to see that there are so many services out there. As we can't be everything to everybody, we need to share it. In the end, it's actually a community of responsibility. It's a societal issue.

So knowing that we're there for each other and even being able to pick up different things. It's not just clientele that we're working with. It's our peers. It's who we work with, who we live near. It's in our families. It could be your sister, your mother, it could be your son. So it's about being really aware that it's everywhere.

Kelly Ford:

And I think one of the things I've learned over my career is being able to recognise and refer, and not try and be the responder. Knowing where to send people is really important.

Bec Flakelar:

Yep. And it'd be better to over-refer than to do nothing.

Kelly Ford:

I want to pick up on something that you mentioned, which we haven't focused on yet, which is around recognising perpetrators. So again, as a manager and working in public service, what should we do if we suspect someone is a perpetrator of family violence?

Bec Flakelar:

Again, it's around really noting behaviour. The historical perception of family violence was the bruises, the hospital visits, the really physical, visual cues.

I don't believe that you, or you would certainly hope that there was no physical abuse being perpetrated within the workplace. So it's going to be that more sinister, controlling behaviour about somebody, a pattern of behaviour. For example, it could be that if they're perpetrating abuse, it could be somebody that they're working with and they're in a relationship with in the workplace, or it could be outside, but it could be that their manner is very aggressive, very controlling, quite derogatory. Could be victim blaming in conversations, very sexist. Could be that they are constantly on their phone texting, checking in. Could be heated conversations over the phone.

It's those little bits and pieces. I think that's a bit harder to try and pick up because I don't think they're going to be very forthcoming to have that conversation with you. So therefore, trying to draw that out would be quite difficult as well. But I would liken it then to state service principles and code of conduct and acceptable behaviour more so.

So if you feel that somebody, you might not know they're perpetrating family violence, but if their behaviour is any of those things that I've just mentioned, then that is something we'd be addressing in the workplace as a workplace issue, and not accepting or tolerating that behaviour.

Kelly Ford:

Yeah.

Bec Flakelar:

So we'll be addressing it with our own policies and processes around that in the first instance. A byproduct of that might be that they are in fact perpetrating family violence. But as a workplace, we're at least addressing that poor behaviour and saying that is unacceptable, and what do we need to do with that?

Because by referring them potentially, in because of that behaviour, that might actually bring a level of acknowledgement for them that the way they're behaving, not only unacceptable in the workplace, also unacceptable in your relationships.

And if that is happening, are you a perpetrator of family violence and where could you get help? Because then what will come from that is there are agencies, there are referral pathways for those people who are using violence. And that again, those referrals are key for them to understand that and to do something about it. It's about that disruption and that intervention piece.

Kelly Ford:

And being brave to call out bad behaviour-

Bec Flakelar:

Yes, absolutely.

Kelly Ford:

... or behaviour in the workplace.

Bec Flakelar:

Absolutely.

Kelly Ford:

Anywhere.

Bec Flakelar:

Yeah. Absolutely. So as I said, it doesn't have to be family violence. That might be a byproduct of it, or it will come out later. But in fact, as a workplace, we don't tolerate that level of behaviour here, and we have a safe workplace.

Kelly Ford:

And creating safe places-

Bec Flakelar:

Absolutely.

Kelly Ford:

... for others.

Bec Flakelar:

Yeah, and respect other people. Yes, absolutely.

Kelly Ford:

Which sort of leads me, I suppose, to how we have those safe and non-judgmental conversations with people and victim survivors in particular. Have you got some thoughts or tips?

Bec Flakelar:

Being really open. I feel like everything I'm going to say, people will be like, "Surely that's a given," because it is to me. Just be a kind, good human. But some key things are again, you can't fix it. You are not there to fix it. It is not your job, but you can be open, listen, don't listen to respond. Let them tell their story. So they're free, so they're thinking the free narrative.

Let them tell their story. Be curious without feeling like you're trying to do a direct interview with them. I liken it to talking to our kids. The best conversations that we get are in a car when we're not looking at each other. I'm not saying you're going to go for a drive with your colleagues to have these conversations, but you know what I mean.

It's less formal. It's an informal conversation, creating a safe place, acknowledging, validating what they're saying, listening, and no victim blaming whatsoever. Believing them. Believe what they're saying and just being there to hear. And don't make promises, acknowledge what they're feeling, and what's happening for them, and that there are people out there who can help.

"And do you want to do that together? Do you want to look through what the options are? Would you like me to call someone? Would you like me to get somebody else to come and have this conversation?" And really just taking their lead.

Kelly Ford:

Thank you to Bec Flakelar from Safe At Home for speaking with us this episode. You can learn more about Safe At Home by visiting safeathome.tas.gov.au. This webpage also features a list of victim survivor support services. More information on mandatory reporting can be found on the child safety and wellbeing page on the Department of Health website, health.tas.gov.au.

Join us again for our next episode when Cat Schofield speaks with Dr. Emma Partridge from the National Primary Prevention Organisation, Our Watch. If you miss them, you can go back and listen to our interviews with Bree Klerck, CEO of the Tasmanian Family and Sexual Violence Alliance and social workers, Dee and Danae from the Family Violence Counselling and Support Service. Thanks for listening.

Dorian Broomhall:

If this episode has raised any concerns for you, you can call 1800RESPECT. That's 1-800-737-732 to talk to a counsellor from the National Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Hotline. Alternatively, you could call Tasmania's Family Violence Counselling and Support Service on 1-800-608-122. If you have concerns about your safety or that of someone else, please contact police or call 000 for emergency help.