On the 14^th of August 2019, Victoria saw the launch of a new family violence reporting tool for frontline police officers, designed to foster timelier and more accurate incident reporting.

The reporting tool, a mobile application, will provide Victoria police officers with increased guidance through risk assessment and management processes while working in the field.

The app equips police with more targeted questions to ask when conducting risk assessments. It can also swiftly assess the likelihood of reported violence escalating within the next 12 months.

Coinciding with the launch, over 9,500 iPads and iPhones have been issued to officers across the state.

The development and launch of the app delivers on one of 277 recommendations from the Royal Commission into Family Violence.

On average, police respond to a family violence incident every seven minutes in Victoria.

On the 9^th of August 2019, The Council of Australian Governments endorsed the fourth and final action plan of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022.

Informed by stakeholder feedback from over 600 individuals and 400 organisations plus evidence and data gathered through the Third Action Plan, the Fourth Action Plan strives to “improve existing initiatives, address gaps in previous action plans, and provide a platform for future policy to reduce domestic, family and sexual violence.”

The Fourth Action Plan’s agenda is comprised of five national priority areas, including:

• Primary prevention
• Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and their children
• Respecting and responding to the diverse lived experience and knowledge of women and their children affected by violence
• Responding to sexual violence and sexual harassment
• Improving support and service system responses.

In these coming months, the Commonwealth, state and territory governments will work together to develop a national implementation plan, specifying how the Fourth Action Plan’s priorities will be delivered, monitored and evaluated.

Some grants under the Fourth Action Plan are now open for application and can be found on the Community Grants Hub website and the Grant Connect website.

To view the Fourth Action Plan, click here.