Census to Shine a Light on ‘Hidden’ Family Violence Workers
28 April 2017 at 1:31 pm
A new census has been launched to find Victoria’s “hidden” family violence workers.
The census, which is a result of the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence, gives workers the opportunity to have a voice on the key issues affecting them.
The information collected will be used by the Victorian government to shape the 10-year Family Violence Industry Plan to be released in December 2017.
Victorian Council of Social Service CEO Emma King told Pro Bono News they wanted to get a sense of how big the workforce was.
“This is about finding Victoria’s ‘hidden’ family violence workers,” King said.
“Victoria’s family violence workforce is much broader than people think.
“Family violence touches people across a whole range of jobs and professions, not just specialist frontline responders.
“We want to get a sense of just how big and diverse the entire workforce really is, including the so-called ‘hidden’ workforce.”
Think it's for you, it probably is. Think it's not? Probably STILL is. Take the #familyviolence #workforcensus @ https://t.co/8q8LhqXY3h📝 pic.twitter.com/EL0BUCE6fM
— VCOSS (@VCOSS) April 20, 2017
The Department of Premier and Cabinet has engaged KPMG to design and deliver the census, which was developed in consultation with family violence practitioners, service providers, trade unions and workers, with the support of VCOSS and Domestic Violence Victoria.
Questions relate to demographics and occupational data, qualifications, access to professional development, workload, working conditions and remuneration, health and wellbeing and future intentions.
It is voluntary and does not collect any personal identifiers such as name, address or date of birth.
According to the state government strong participation in the census will help it address the industry challenges highlighted by the Royal Commission into Family Violence and enable a more systematic approach to workforce planning and development.
King said the census was for anyone whose job brought them into contact with survivors or perpetrators.
“This census is for people working in education, health, community organisations, housing services, journalists, academics, financial services, child and family services and more,” she said.
“Anybody whose job brings them into contact with survivors or perpetrators. Even if you think the census is not relevant to you, it probably is.
“The more we learn about all the different people who interact the with family violence in Victoria, the better we can tailor policies and workforce support.”
The workforce census is open until 5 May 2017. For more information see here.
