Communities for Children (C4C) Bendigo partnered with the Centre for Non-Violence (CNV) to develop this foundational family violence training package for Early Childhood Education and Care workers in the City of Greater Bendigo (CoGB).

It was designed to recognise the importance of acting early and the critical role early years services play in addressing family violence.

This training is self-paced. You can access it at any time, and work through it at your own speed.

This training provides foundational knowledge to help every staff member better understand and respond to family violence. Local Early Childhood Education and Care organisations informed us that the need for this is significant. They also informed us that staff time is extremely limited, and that accessible training is needed.

Significant reforms have occurred across both early years and family violence service systems in Victoria. There is an increased awareness of family violence as a significant community issue, the gendered drivers of violence against women, and the impact on children. The Victorian Government has implemented information sharing and family violence reforms to improve the wellbeing and safety of Victorian children and reduce family violence. The three inter-related reforms to reduce family violence and promote child wellbeing and/or safety are:

  • Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS),
  • Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS), and
  • Family Violence Multi Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) Framework.

Kindergarten and long day care services are prescribed as Information Sharing Entities under all three reforms. Therefore, it is critical that Early Childhood Education and Care workers are aware of their new obligations.

This training was specifically developed for people who work in kindergartens, long-day care services and supported playgroups in the CoGB. It includes prevalence data and referral pathways pertaining to the CoGB.

However, many early years workers in Victoria would find this training useful. If you work outside of the CoGB you will need to independently investigate what your prevalence rates and local referral pathways are.

This training is free.

This training package is comprised of four videos. Topics include:

  • Understanding Domestic and Family Violence and local prevalence
  • How you can help a child who has experienced trauma
  • Introduction to MARAM, including responsibilities under MARAM
  • Tool to help you navigate a disclosure and respond appropriately and confidently
  • Local, Bendigo based referral pathways as well as Victorian or National services.
  • Intervention Orders
  • Understanding primary prevention of violence in early years settings, impact of gender stereotypes and tools and tips for creating change

The videos are accompanied by a Participants Handbook which contains all the resources discussed in the videos.

Ideally learners would work through the videos sequentially, but this is optional.

You can watch the videos multiple times and/or rewatch the videos after completing the training at any time. This may be particularly useful if issues arise in the workplace and a refresher is needed.

This training package can be completed individually or in small groups.

If you want to undertake this training in one sitting, we recommend you allocate one and a half hours to watch all the videos and read the handbook. More time would be needed for discussion with colleagues and managers.

The playing times of the videos are:

  • Video 1 – 15 minutes,
  • Video 2 – 16 minutes,
  • Video 3 – 19 minutes, and
  • Video 4 – 23 minutes.

Yes, the videos have CC, which you can switch on or off.

We are very keen to hear from you.

At the end of each video there is a QR code that you can use to access a short survey to tell us if this training has helped you or not.

Alternatively, C4C Bendigo can be contacted via:

Yes. After you have watched video 4, scan the QR code and complete the survey. At the end of the survey provide your name, organisation and e-mail address so we can send you a Certificate of Completion.

This is voluntary. You do not have to complete any of the surveys, nor are you required to give us your contact details.

Identifying Family Violence

Responding to Family Violence within early years settings

Impacts of Family Violence on Children

Primary Prevention of Family Violence within early years settings