CWSW welcomes the Ombudsman’s review of the Family and Domestic Violence Response Team (FDVRT) model and recommendations for ongoing improvement, tabled today in State Parliament.
When we consider how to respond to the crisis levels of family and domestic violence in WA, it is critical that we are brave, honest and transparent in how systems are succeeding or can be improved. We owe those who have died, been harmed or impacted by family and domestic violence no less than our most committed, courageous approach to this task. The review is an important opportunity to examine this part of the family and domestic violence response system, and commit to ongoing improvement and change to better protect victim-survivors.
The FDVRT is a key part of the family and domestic violence response system. It can be a crucial lifeline for victim-survivors, with the ability to identify risk and act across Government agencies to provide safety, support and accountability. We fully support the WA State Government’s work to continue evaluating and improving the work of the FDVRT, to ensure that risk is accurately assessed and acted on, victim-survivors are connected with the right supports, and the risks of perpetrators are kept firmly in view and responded to.
Since the work of the review commenced, we know many positive steps have been taken to address some of the issues outlined in the review and we strongly commend that work. But we can and must continue to strive to be better, be responsive and ensure the system provides the safety victim-survivors deserve.
