Victoria

State services

Immediate support for anyone experiencing family and domestic violence, call Safe Steps on 1800 015 188, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Adults, children and young people experiencing family and domestic violence, families who need extra support with the care of children and professionals seeking advice or information on family and domestic violence, call The Orange Door from 9am–5pm, Monday to Friday.

• Find the contact information for your area on The Orange Door website

Confidential information, counselling support and referrals for anyone experiencing family and domestic violence, visit 1800 RESPECT or call on 1800 737 732, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

For personalised emotional, cultural and practical support to Aboriginal women and their children experiencing family and domestic violence or non-Aboriginal people who are experiencing family violence and are parents of Aboriginal children, call Djirra during business hours on 1800 105 303

The Salvation Army services Victoria

We provide a wide range of services and initiatives across Victoria with a focus on the prevention of, response to, and restoration and healing from the effects of family and domestic violence.

All our programs and services can be accessed through

Prevention, Early Intervention and Supporting Families

Ballarat, Melton, Wyndham and Hobsons Bay

This portfolio delivers several key programs aimed at improving parenting capacity and family connection, and promoting family stability.

Karinya Support Services

City of Ballarat

Karinya Support Services supports families in the City of Ballarat with specialist case management support for homelessness and family violence, supported accommodation, and family violence therapeutic interventions. This comprehensive service includes onsite childcare, parent and child playgroups with evidence-based parenting programs, and specialist children's support such as case management, youth mentoring and afterschool programs.

• Find out more about Karinya Support Services

Children and Parenting Support Services

Melton, Wyndham and Hobsons Bay

Children and Parenting Support Services (CaPSS) supports families in the cities of Melton, Wyndham and Hobsons Bay by offering a variety of structured parenting programs including Tuning into Kids and Teens, Bringing up Great Kids, 123 Magic, Baby Makes 3, culturally specific clubs, supported playgroups, autism and mental health support groups, intensive individual parenting support, and other programs aimed at strengthening family capacity and connection.

• Find out more about Children and Parenting Support Services

Specialist family violence youth advisor

Sunshine and Barwon

The specialist family violence youth advisor supports youth workers at Youth Client Services in Sunshine and Barwon.

Case Management Support Services

Bayside Peninsula, Western Melbourne, Brimbank Melton, Northeast Melbourne, Hume Merri Bek, Barwon and Inner Gippsland regions of Victoria

Our Case Management Support Services provide specialist family and domestic violence case management support to women and children victim survivors residing in the Bayside Peninsula, Western Melbourne, Brimbank Melton, Northeast Melbourne, Hume Merri Bek, Barwon and Inner Gippsland regions of Victoria.

The services are based on a holistic case management approach and provide support to assess and manage risk and safety, assistance exploring safe, secure and affordable housing options, access to financial support, and information, resources and referrals to other services.

Case Management Support programs include:

• Family and domestic violence outreach
• Family and domestic violence crisis case management
• Strength2Strength mental and physical healthcare program
• Family and domestic violence crisis brokerage
• Flexible support packages 

Integrated Men’s Services

Our Integrated Men’s Services support men who want to end their use of violence in their relationships. Our programs have been developed to encourage men to take responsibility for their use of violence and increase their understanding of the impacts of their behaviour towards their family members and children. We offer the following programs to support men:

• Men’s Behaviour Change program
• Men’s case management
• Post-participation

We also support impacted family members through our Family Safety Advocate.

Men’s Behaviour Change program

Our voluntary Men’s Behaviour Change program aims to promote the safety of victim survivors by holding men who use violence towards family members accountable for their behaviour. This 20-week program is for men who want to end their use of violence and holds the safety and freedom of those impacted by violence at the centre of design and delivery.

Men’s case management

Our men’s case management provides a timely and flexible response to men who use violence but whose situation may be too complex for the Men’s Behaviour Change program. Case management aims to keep men who use violence in view of services and relevant authorities, contributes to a ‘safe at home’ approach, assists in engagement with programs aimed to stop family and domestic violence, and provides a tailored response through the coordination of specialist services including mental health, alcohol and other drug, and housing services.

Post-Participation

This program is offered to men who have partly or fully completed the Men’s Behaviour Change program. It is designed to help mitigate an escalation in risk for partners and family members once men are no longer engaged in the program by reinforcing behaviour change and accountability learnt during the program. For those who did not complete the Men’s Behaviour Change program, it can also be a space for further reflection on, and accountability for the use of, violence within relationships. It attempts to reengage the man with the program or refers to more appropriate support services. 

Family safety advocates

Also referred to as ‘family safety contact’ or ‘partner contact’, our family safety advocates support the impacted family members of men who use violence attending intervention programs. Support includes risk assessment, safety planning and establishing a counterpoint to the under-reporting of violence by the person using violence.

Alexis Family Violence Response Model

The Alexis Family Violence Response Model is a collaborative service between The Salvation Army and Victoria Police. The program embeds two specialist family violence practitioners in various Victoria Police Family Violence Investigation Units. One specialist family violence practitioner works with the victim survivor and children, and the other works with the person using violence. This enables a specialised, targeted and collaborative whole-of-family response to serious risk for families who:

• Fall outside the scope of traditional family and domestic violence services
• Do not normally engage well with intake opportunities through The Orange Door
• Have had repeated family and domestic violence incidents and the risk for serious escalation is imminent
• Are experiencing complex intersecting issues like alcohol and other drug use, mental ill-health and disability

Participants receive 12 to 18 weeks of tailored case management support including in-depth risk assessment, psychoeducation, early intervention strategies, implementation of preventative measures, referrals, and access to brokerage and funding to address immediate needs and facilitate engagement in the program.

Supported Accommodation and Afterhours Crisis Responses

Our Supported Accommodation and Afterhours Crisis Responses provide a broad suite of programs providing holistic, wraparound support to victim survivors experiencing, or at the risk of experiencing, family and domestic violence including:

• After-hours crisis and transition support
• Short and long-term refuge accommodation
• Transitional accommodation
• Therapeutic family and domestic violence interventions for women, young people, and children in supported accommodation

Our supported accommodation services can be accessed through The Orange Door.

Specialist family violence support

Support is provided by specialist family violence practitioners who support with a range of needs including:

• Risk assessment and safety planning
• Advocacy with court, police and support services
• Relocation support
• Information about and support exploring safe, secure housing options
• Information and referrals to appropriate support services such as legal or housing services
• Access to brokerage and funding programs

After-hours crisis and transition support

After-hours crisis and transition support provides after-hours responses to victim survivors placed in emergency accommodation following a risk assessment by The Orange Door, Safe Steps or a local specialist family and domestic violence service.

The Exit Pathways Program 

The Exit Pathways Program delivered by The Salvation Army under the name ‘Heading HOME’ aims to support victim survivors of family and domestic violence to exit refuge and crisis accommodation into safe, stable and secure private rental accommodation. The program aims to empower victim survivors to independently maintain stable housing long term. Heading HOME supports victim survivors to find, apply for, and maintain suitable private rental tenancies through 12 months of practical, financial and psychosocial support.