RMIT Domestic Violence Policy and Practice Forum

Nine years after the Royal Commission: what has improved and what challenges remain? This one day forum will feature panel discussions and interactive skill-based workshops, offering a collaborative space to reflect, share insights, and explore what more is needed to strengthen Victoria’s response to family violence. The event has been designed for experienced practitioners, newcomers to the sector and students studying family violence.

Opening plenary panel speakers include:

• Joe Ball, Victorian Commissioner for LGBTIQA+ Communities

• Katie Alexander, Survivor Advocate, Victims Survivors' Advisory Council

• Jackie Wruck, Asia Pacific Regional Manager, Safe & Together

• Anastasia Powell, Professor of Family & Sexual Violence (MC)

Workshops include:

• Suze Radford: Partnering with First Nations Clients to Undertake a MARAM Risk Assessment. 

• Ada Conroy: Avoiding Collusion when Working with People that Choose Violence

• Be Bannerman: Queering Trauma Informed Practice

• Sarah Biordi, WESNET: Tech Safety in Practice: Supporting Victim-Survivors of Technology-Facilitated Abuse
  

Closing plenary panel speakers include:

• Tania Farha, Chief Executive Officer, Safe & Equal  

• Phillip Ripper, Chief Executive Officer, No to Violence 

• Kathleen Maltzahn, Chief Executive Officer, Sexual Assault Services Victoria  

• Anastasia Powell, Professor of Family & Sexual Violence (MC)
  

About the Speakers and workshop presenters:

Commissioner Joe Ball (he/him) is a proud transgender man. The Commissioner advocates for the rights, safety and wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ communities. He is a longstanding LGBTIQA+ advocate and former CEO of Switchboard Victoria, with a 25-year career in disability, housing and homelessness, and social services.  During his tenure with Switchboard, Joe lead the establishment of the statewide LGBTIQA+ Family Violence and Mental Health helpline Rainbow Door. In 2020, Joe was honoured as an award recipient in the 50 Outstanding LGBTI+ Leaders in Australia. 

Katie Alexander is a Survivor Advocate who offers her personal knowledge and understanding of family violence, disability, ageing and homelessness to inform collective responses to evolving individual, family and community needs. She is passionate about human rights, social justice and creating safety for all people.

Jackie Wruck is a proud Yindinji woman from FNQ, Cairns/Yarrabah region. She is the Asia Pacific Regional Manager for Safe & Together Institute here in Australia and has a wide range of experiences with the Safe & Together Model. Jackie has assisted in bringing together the Safe & Together Model and the Child Protection Child Placement Principles frameworks in Queensland to assist in keeping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children out of the Child Protection system. She’s been involved with numerous research projects involving the Safe & Together Model, and was the cultural lead for the Walking With Dad’s program in Queensland which is grounded in the Safe & Together model. Jackie has extensive knowledge of diverse sectors Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, High Risk Teams, Housing and homelessness, Child Protection to counselling and advocacy of women who experience Domestic and Family Violence.  

Professor Anastasia Powell is Professor of Family & Sexual Violence, in Criminology & Justice Studies, at RMIT with over 20 years' experience as a criminologist. She has previously worked in policy roles for the Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety. Since 2016, Anastasia has served on the board of directors of Our Watch, is a member of the Australian National Women's Safety Alliance, and a regular advisor to government and non-government agencies on gender-based violence. As an academic, Anastasia is the author or co-author of over 100 scholarly works including the books: The Palgrave Handbook on Gendered Violence and Technology (2021), Sexual Violence in a Digital Age (2017), and Sex, Power and Consent (2010). Anastasia brings together evidence-based and practice expertise, as well as her lived experience of family and sexual violence, to her research, teaching and policy work.

Suze Radford is a proud Ngarrindjeri woman, a Mental Health Social Worker, Family Therapist and Specialist Family Violence Advisor. Suze has over 30 years of experience working across a range of areas, predominantly in mental health and education and in programs with Aboriginal people. 

Ada Conroy has over 25 years of experience in the family violence sector in Victoria, working across family violence case management, crisis response, counselling, outreach, court support, intake, refuge, and training. Ada spent 10 years leading a family violence workforce development team in the northern metro region and is an experienced men’s behaviour change facilitator. In private practice, Ada specialises in reflective practice supervision (individual and group), training, consultation, facilitation, resource development and capacity building for those responding to adult victim-survivors and men who use violence.  

Be Bannerman identifies as gender queer and queer. They work and live on Wurundjeri land. Be is an experienced and passionate advocate, trainer, lifelong learner and nature lover. They endeavor to bring a queer intersectional trauma informed lens to all their work. Be has worked in various roles across gendered violence, including specialising in LGBTQIA+ intimate partner violence and sexual assault response, in queer advocacy and leadership, in trauma recovery, and practice development. They currently work as a Coordinator at the Statewide After-Hours Sexual Assault Crisis Line, in private practice and workshop facilitation. 

Sarah Biordi has trained over 6,000 practitioners in Australia as a WESNET Technology Safety Specialist, working with service providers, telcos, financial institutions, tech companies, app developers, law enforcement agencies, and policymakers, and participated on national and international committees to improve technology safety and privacy for victim-survivors.

Tania Farha is the CEO of Safe and Equal. Previously, Tania has held executive positions across the Victorian Departments of Justice and Community Safety and Premier and Cabinet, including as CEO of the former Office of Prevention and Women’s Equality. Tania worked at UN Women for over four years as a policy specialist in the Ending Violence Against Women Section and worked for Victoria Police for over nine years to improve its responses to family violence, sexual assault and child abuse.

Kathleen Maltzahn is the CEO of Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SASVic), the peak body for Victoria specialist sexual assault and harmful sexual behaviours services. She has spent many years working to combat sexual assault and other human rights abuses, with a focus on violence against women and children.  

Phillip Ripper is a passionate advocate for social justice and has dedicated his career to leading organisations that contribute to building strong, healthy, and connected communities. Previous positions include, CEO of Sunbury, and later, Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health as well as executive roles with Plenty Valley Community Health where he oversaw innovative family violence interventions services including Men’s Behaviour Change Programs as well prevention and community awareness initiatives. 

* A certificate of participation will be provided on request to support workers to meet their Continuing Professional Development requirements.

** Applications for the Graduate Certificate in Domestic and Family Violence are now open. Apply here: https://www.rmit.edu.au/study-with-us/levels-of-study/postgraduate-study/graduate-certificates/graduate-certificate-in-domestic-and-family-violence-gc164