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Research and Evaluation

1 Family violence reform overviewThe Victorian Government is developing the second Family Violence Reform Rolling Action Plan 2020 – 2023 (RAP2) as part of its commitment in the 10-year plan: ‘Ending Family Violence: Victoria’s plan for change’. RAP2 will be launched at the end of 2020 as the plan for the next phase of the long-term reform of Victoria’s family violence system.   

Over the period of the first RAP (2017 – 2020) we have delivered key parts of the reform and we are beginning to make a difference to the lives of victim survivors. For example, the first specialist family violence courts are up and running, investment in housing and support pathways is enabling us to help more families, quicker, with better and more stable housing options. More than 1,480 Victorian schools have signed on to the whole school approach to Respectful Relationships to create a culture of gender equality and respect and change the story of family violence for future generations

While more than two thirds of the Family Violence Royal Commission recommendations have now been implemented, we are nearly four years into a 10-year plan to rebuild the family violence system. Through RAP2 we will continue to deliver the key parts of the reform such as the continued roll out of The Orange Door, building a specialist family violence workforce and providing training in risk assessment (MARAM) and information sharing. We will have an increased focus on perpetrators and prevention which will embed the reforms to ensure the family violence system is sustainable and enduring. 

We will continue to incorporate what we have learnt so far, and from coronavirus (COVID-19), into the reform, to ensure it is responsive and adaptive. As the reform evolves from implementing the Royal Commission recommendations we will tell the community how we are going by measuring our progress through reporting against the Family Violence Outcomes Framework (FVOF).

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Our RAP2 priorities are 10 themes and projects that we will prioritise for the next three years to ensure we remain on course to deliver long-term reform. 

Underpinning the 10 priorities are these 3 reform principles which inform our approach to all our activity.

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Consultation content

Research and EvaluationThis package of information highlights what government has done so far, and what it intends to do over the coming three years, to ensure a coordinated approach to research and evaluation.

Priority area overview: summarises what government is doing and shows how our research and evaluation activities support the achievement of FVOF outcomes as we continue to implement Royal Commission recommendations.

Achievements since 2016: showcases key achievements during RAP1.

Rolling action plan 2020 – 2023: sets out the activities government proposes to deliver for this priority over the next three years.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) impacts: reflects on how coronavirus (COVID-19) has impacted our research agenda.

Reform principles: shows how the three reform principles have influenced our approach to the design of our research and evaluation strategy.

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2 Priority area overview

Reform IntentCoordinating and increasing research and evaluation across the family violence reform will strengthen our understanding of how to prevent violence before it happens, improve our ability to respond to family violence and allow us to track the progress of the reform more effectively. A strong evidence base tells us what is working, what needs to be adjusted, and where to focus our efforts for the greatest effect.

How we are strengthening our research and evaluation capability

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The Family Violence Outcomes Framework (FVOF)The FVOF articulates the government’s vision to end family violence.

The four FVOF domains reflect the long-term outcomes sought through the collective efforts of the reform.

The FVOF represent the key priorities in preventing and responding to family violence and clarifying what constitutes success.

Activities in this priority area will likely have the greatest impact in achieving outcomes against the following highlighted FVOF domains:

Royal Commission into Family Violence (RCFV)With more than two-thirds of the Family Violence Royal Commission recommendations now implemented, delivery of activities under this priority over the next three years will continue to support recommendation implementation. Updates will continue to be provided via the vic.gov.au website.

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3 Achievements since 2016

Building capacityWe have been building the capability and capacity to undertake effective evaluation:

Established a primary prevention research agenda and capacity within Respect Victoria

Developed policy and guidelines for evaluation of family violence initiatives for government staff

Developed an evaluation training program, including accessible staff learning resources such as an E-Learn on family violence evaluation for government staff.

EvaluationWe are regularly evaluating our policies and programs:

Evaluations have been conducted of several reform projects. Some examples include:

o The Orange Door: evaluation of the establishment, operations and initial service offering of the first four sites

o Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme

o Therapeutic interventions for victim survivors

o Community-based perpetrator interventions and case management trials

o Respectful Relationships.

DataWe are building an evidence base that will inform future decision-making:

Published the first annual service delivery report for The Orange Door

Building a Family Violence Database to facilitate access to sector-wide family violence incident data to support analysis of priority topics through data dashboards, infographics and short research papers

Published the Family Violence Data Collection Framework.

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4 Rolling action plan 2020 – 2023

Proposed activities

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5 Coronavirus (COVID-19) impacts

Service delivery adaptation, learnings and innovations during coronavirus (COVID-19)Coronavirus (COVID-19) impacted some planned evaluations and also the development of a family violence research agenda, which was due to be delivered by mid-2020. Alongside restarting pre-planned activities, several research projects are underway to assess the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on family violence and service provision. 

NB: This is an interim summary of the impacts, adaptations and innovations which have arisen as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19). These will continue to be monitored and considered as the final RAP2 is developed.  

Research and evaluation of the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) Improved cross government data-sharing during coronavirus (COVID-19), fast-tracking work

already underway on reporting and analytics.

Targeted research is being commissioned to better understand family violence risk and appropriate responses during extended emergencies.

The Department of Health and Human Services Centre for Research and Evaluation is partnering with Family Safety Victoria to conduct a series of rapid reviews, focused on the impact and effectiveness of a range of coronavirus (COVID-19) triggered service, practice and operational changes.

Respect Victoria is assessing the capability of the primary prevention workforce to assess organisational enablers and barriers to primary prevention work during coronavirus (COVID-19).

Respect Victoria has commissioned studies into the drivers of violence during coronavirus (COVID-19) on key populations: Older Victorians and LGBTIQ communities.

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Research and evaluation activities impacted by coronavirus (COVID-19) The capacity of the workforce in the family violence sector has been focused on frontline

service delivery and consultation, and engagement on research and evaluation during this period has been challenging.

Research methodologies tend to rely on the option (and often preference) to interview people in person to build rapport and gain deeper insights from the interviewee. Delivery of research and evaluation activities in the short to medium term will require a shift to relying on phone or online meetings.

Both coronavirus (COVID-19) and recent bushfires illustrate the additional factors that need to be considered in evaluation design because of the impact on individuals, services and the system more broadly. This has the potential to make research more complex and costly.

The second evaluation of The Orange Door program and an evaluation of the Risk Assessment and Management Panels (RAMPS) were both impacted. Subject to capacity, detailed evaluation planning phase is scheduled to recommence from August.

The commissioning and progress of primary prevention action research has been impacted due to the resource capacity of potential providers in the family violence sector.

Respect Victoria commissioned training for primary prevention practitioners in partnership with the Gender and Disaster Pod.

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6 Reform principlesThe principles that underpin the reform have influenced our approach to the design of our research and evaluation strategy.

Lived ExperienceExamples include:

The second evaluation of The Orange Door will focus on client impacts and outcomes. Interviews and surveys from people with lived experience of The Orange Door service will be critical to inform this evaluation

Feedback from victim survivors who have been supported to keep safe through Risk Assessment and Management Panel (RAMP) will be included in the program’s evaluation

The family violence research program will commission research that explores the lived experience of those who have experienced family violence.

Respect Victoria’s victim survivor engagement plan will consider lived experiences in policy and research development.

IntersectionalityExamples include:

Analysis of the experiences of clients from diverse backgrounds in the second evaluation of The Orange Door

Evaluation of the Rainbow Tick and HOW2 capacity building initiatives

Respect Victoria’s Intersectional Strategy includes a focus on improving data collection and research to respect intersectional experiences, ensuring commissioned research programs have a focus on understanding the intersectional drivers of violence and what works to prevent it

Everybody Matters Inclusion and Equity Statement 10-year monitoring and evaluation framework is in development.

Aboriginal Self-DeterminationExamples include:

Research and evaluation frameworks that enable Aboriginal people to define the metrics of success in research and evaluation of initiatives in Aboriginal communities.

The Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability Plan (MEAP) which has been prepared to accompany the Dhelk Dja agreement. The MEAP outlines how the Dhelk Dja Partnership Forum can monitor and evaluate its strategy, including conducting an evaluation study.

Respect Victoria will commission Aboriginal-led Primary Prevention Research to understand the drivers of family violence and initiatives for its prevention in Victorian Aboriginal communities.

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