Application
This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to work with the user of domestic and family violence with a focus on promoting the safety of others. It includes the ability to establish linkages between referring agencies, services providers, and statutory agencies including the criminal justice system to prioritise safety.
This unit applies to workers who operate with significant autonomy in therapeutic professional service roles in the community sector. The activity is self-directed.
The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State/Territory legislation, Australian/New Zealand Standards and industry codes of practice.
Elements and Performance Criteria
ELEMENT | PERFORMANCE CRITERIA |
Elements define the essential outcomes | Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. |
1. Establish and maintain the safety of other people as the primary focus | 1.1 Analyse existing case information about the user of domestic and family violence as the basis for work 1.2 Explain and reinforce during the period of the intervention the key principles 1.3 Recognise and share information 1.4 Assess all interventions with the user for their impact on the safety of other people 1.5 Document and prepare case notes for the user that makes specific reference to issues affecting the safety of others |
2. Make a responsibility assessment | 2.1 Explain the rationale for assessment to the user in terms of its contribution to enhancing the safety of other people 2.2 Evaluate the user’s acceptance of responsibility for their actions 2.3 Explore issues of blame, minimisation and denial with the user in order to analyse ownership of responsibility for the violence and abuse 2.4 Identify, encourage and strengthen indicators which demonstrate acceptance of responsibility 2.5 Identify in case notes areas where responsibility has been demonstrated, details of the user’s goals for behaviour change and the agreed processes for change |
3. Undertake ongoing risk assessment | 3.1 Assess risk to safety of other people during every contact with the user 3.2 Engage and explore with the user to whom or what they attribute responsibility for use of violence and abuse 3.3 Reappraise over the period of the intervention current and previous behaviours and levels of risk as indicators of future risk 3.4 Record and act upon, in accordance with policy, discrepancies between the user’s account of their potential for violence and abuse and the account of risks to others safety and other workers 3.5 Assess behaviour for evidence of recognition of responsibility and actions in minimising risk to the other people |
4. Develop processes to support limited confidentiality | 4.1 Provide to relevant stakeholders, a clear and comprehensive written explanation of the limits to confidentiality 4.2 Obtain written acceptance of the parameters and need for limited confidentiality 4.3 Take action in response to risk according to documented protocols relating to safety of others 4.4 Maintain, over the period of the intervention, processes to respond to threats to the safety of other people |
5. Establish processes for involvement of partners and children | 5.1 Monitor work practices to ensure that they are consistent with statutory processes and services that promote safety of all people 5.2 Make reasonable efforts to contact the partner and children experiencing the domestic and family violence and abuse and offer information and support 5.3 Offer those that have experienced the violence and abuse opportunities to provide information to inform the intervention 5.4 Explain to those people who have experienced the violence and abuse that contact does not place them under any obligation |
Evidence of Performance
The candidate must show evidence of the ability to complete tasks outlined in elements and performance criteria of this unit, manage tasks and manage contingencies in the context of the job role. There must be evidence that the candidate has:
worked intensively with at least 3 different users of domestic and family, including:
establishing and maintaining the safety of other people as the primary focus of the intervention
conducting an assessment of responsibility with the user
conducting and documenting initial and ongoing risk assessment
developing and documenting processes to support limited confidentiality
establishing processes for intervention to be informed by:
partners
children
preparing reports and case notes that reflect the complexity of practices and processes used in work with users of domestic and family violence
collaborated with other services, including the criminal justice system
used the following counselling skills and violence intervention models:
challenging/confrontation.
Evidence of Knowledge
The candidate must be able to demonstrate essential knowledge required to effectively complete tasks outlined in elements and performance criteria of this unit, manage tasks and manage contingencies in the context of the work role. This includes knowledge of:
legal and ethical considerations for the domestic and family violence work, and how these are applied in organisations and individual practice:
codes of conduct
discrimination
duty of care
human rights
mandatory reporting
practitioner/client boundaries
privacy, confidentiality and disclosure, including limited confidentiality rationale and processes
records management
rights and responsibilities of workers, employers and clients
specific legislative frameworks that apply to domestic and family violence, including the following types of legal orders:
apprehended violence orders (AVO)
domestic violence orders (DVO)
violence restraint orders (VRO)
probation and parole orders
interstate orders (ISO)
child protection orders
family court order
work role boundaries – responsibilities and limitations
work health and safety
current and emerging domestic and family violence research, theory and practice
principles for working with user of domestic and family violence who behave violently and abusively
tactics and dynamics of violence and abuse
principles of good practice in relation to providing integrated services for working with users of domestic and family violence and abuse
domestic and family violence assessment instruments and how they are used
intervention models and practices
gender and power issues/politics of abuse
inter and intra agency protocols and policies (needs more)
collaborative practice in domestic and family violence, including benefits, different models and opportunities
principles of risk assessment in domestic and family violence
self knowledge, including own biases and the potential impact on work practices.
Assessment Conditions
Skills must have been demonstrated in the workplace or in a simulated environment that reflects workplace conditions. The following conditions must be met for this unit:
use of suitable facilities, equipment and resources, including:
client information
risk assessment tools
organisation policies and procedures
modelling of industry operating conditions, including:
scenarios that involve complex interactions and problem solving with other people.
Assessors must satisfy the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015/AQTF mandatory competency requirements for assessors.
Foundation Skills
The Foundation Skills describe those required skills (language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills) that are essential to performance.
Foundation skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit of competency.