Forum: First Response to Non-Fatal Strangulation

When non-fatal strangulation occurs, the first response matters.

For victim-survivors, early recognition, skilled care, clear documentation and coordinated referral can change the pathway to safety, health and justice.

This landmark Tasmanian forum brings together leading experts, lived-experience advocates and specialist family and sexual violence practitioners for a practical, sector-wide conversation about how we identify and respond to non-fatal strangulation.

If you work in general practice, ambulance, police, accident and emergency, family violence or sexual violence response, this forum is designed for you.

Why attend?

Non-fatal strangulation can be difficult to detect, yet it is a serious indicator of escalating risk and can have immediate, delayed and long-term health impacts. This forum will strengthen your confidence to recognise the signs, understand the risks, respond safely and contribute to a more consistent first-response system.

You will hear from legal, medical, neuropsychological, research, paramedic and lived-experience voices, with a focus on practical insight you can take back to your work with victim-survivors.

What you will gain

• A clearer understanding of non-fatal strangulation as a high-risk form of family and sexual violence

• Practical knowledge to help identify signs and symptoms, including where injuries may not be visible

• Greater confidence in referral pathways, forensic medical examination processes and access to care

• Improved approaches to documentation that support safety, continuity of care and justice outcomes

• Shared language and stronger cross-sector connections across Tasmania’s first-response workforce

• General practitioners can self-record the activity via myCPD

Speakers and expert panel

Join an expert line-up including:

• Professor Heather Douglas, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne — leading author on non-fatal strangulation

• Lucy Lord, CEO, Red Rose Foundation

• Dr Meredith Stronach, General Practitioner and Forensic Medical Examiner.

• Dr Christine Padgett, Lecturer at UTAS, Psychologist and brain injury researcher

• Dr Chantal Roddy, Neuropsychologist

• Ben Plant, Team Leader, Ambulance Tasmania

• Erin Giles - Lived Experience Advocate for Change.

Who should attend?

This forum is for professionals who may be the first point of contact after non-fatal strangulation, including general practitioners, ambulance and paramedic staff, police, accident and emergency clinicians, forensic and medical practitioners, and family and sexual violence workers.

Whether you respond at the scene, in a clinic, in an emergency department, through investigation, or in ongoing specialist support, your role is part of the safety net. This forum will help connect that safety net.

Be part of a stronger first response

This forum is an opportunity to learn from specialists, listen to the lived experience of others, and build the shared understanding needed to improve outcomes for victim-survivors across Tasmania. Register now and be part of a more informed, coordinated and effective response to non-fatal strangulation.

Coming soon