SASVic acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional and ongoing custodians of the lands on which we live and work. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. We acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded and recognise First Nations peoples' right to self-determination and continuing connection to land, waters, community and culture.
SASVic also acknowledges victim survivors of sexual violence who we work for every day. We acknowledge the pervasive nature of sexual violence, and the impact that it has on survivors and their communities. We celebrate the powerful advocacy of survivors that is changing systems and policy.
SASVic Member Update
Hi everyone,
'When you change the government,' Paul Keating famously said in 1996, 'you change the country'. While Saturday’s historic election didn’t change the ruling party, it did reshape the parliament—particularly the lower house—and, arguably, strengthened the Albanese Labor government’s mandate.
What might this mean for action on sexual violence? Can we hope this newly endorsed government will take meaningful steps to change the country in this area?
We've listed below all the successful election candidates who made commitments on sexual violence. We're also working closely with our national peak, NASASV, to influence the federal government's approach.
Closer to home, I'm pleased to announce that the board has approved Windermere's application to join SASVic. A warm welcome to Windermere's Manager of Health and Community Services, Emily Pen, who will serve as their SASVic representative.
Finally, it was fabulous to have 55 sector staff from 11 member services successfully complete the two-day workshop for AIM3 Assessment of Adolescents who Display HSB. There was 100% attendance and everyone passed the assessment. The training was delivered by Marcella Leonard MBE, co-author, with Professor Simon Hackett, of the AIM3 Model of Assessment for Adolescents who have Sexual Harmed. I look forward to hearing how it influences your work. A big thank you to Emily Roberts and Rae Schmidt here at SASVic for the power of work they did to make this happen.
In solidarity,
Kathleen
CEO, SASVic
PS If you missed watching the Left Write Hook documentary on a writing and boxing group for survivors, it's now on Netflix Australia.
Contents
Featured
We're recruiting! Senior Multicultural Rights and Access Project Lead
We're looking for an experienced and confident senior project officer to scope out and implement work to strengthen collaboration between specialist sexual assault services and multicultural organisations on sexual violence, including grassroots organisations. The details:
- two-year, fixed term contract
- FTE: 4-5 days a week
- base salary of $80,000 - $108,000 pro rata, depending on experience
- applications close 14 May.
What will federal Labor do to address sexual violence?
After Labor's landslide victory at last weekend's election, here is what we can expect for sexual violence policy at the federal level - and what's missing.
Labor has committed $366.9 million over five years from next financial year to extend the National Partnership Agreement for specialist family, domestic and sexual violence services.
Legal services are also getting funding.
There will be $800 million for women's legal services, community legal centres and family violence prevention legal services. There will be $19.6 million over three years to extend specialist trauma informed legal services and expand them to every state and territory. Justice System Navigators will be part of this funding.
Following the Australian Law Reform Commission report, Labor committed $600,000 in FY 25-26 to research the attrition of sexual assault cases and scope an independent complaints mechanism to review police decisions not to purse charges.
March's budget included $12.8 million over five years for a targeted grants program for specialist and community support services to support victim survivors of CSA and young people at risk of HSB.
We can also expect the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence to be legislated.
Labor has not committed to properly funding specialist sexual assault services, creating a national prevention framework, or creating a national sexual violence workforce strategy. These were all priorities that the National Association of Services Against Sexual Violence (NASASV) and Fair Agenda campaigned for in the lead up to the election.
There is a small number of politicians in parliament who have committed to supporting increased federal funding to sexual assault services, though fewer than there were before the election. These include:
- The Greens
- Independents Kate Chaney, Helen Haines, David Pocock, Allegra Spender, Zali Steggall, and, if she wins her seat, Monique Ryan.
How the Victorian Government can take action on sexual violence this budget
The Victorian state budget is under two weeks away, on 20 May. In the lead-up, we'll be doing some media around what to look for in this budget that demonstrates the government has taken action on sexual violence.
Our priorities include:
- Prevent the funding cliff – A quarter of the sector's funding will end on 30 June 2025, and we've called on the government to prevent this from happening and convert this to ongoing funding.
- Invest $600k in an emergency response to child sexual abuse and harm in schools, in collaboration with the Department of Education – Services across Victoria are receiving calls almost daily to help respond to child sexual abuse and harm for specialist support, but we don't have funding to do this work.
- Invest $2.85m in a sexual violence recovery package - This package would include designing a new funding model, expanding groups and providing more accessible support options.
- Invest $1.05m in specialist training for lawyers, judges, magistrates, and police – Specialist training for legal professionals has been recommended by multiple inquiries.
- Invest $1.6m to build capacity of men's behaviour change programs to identify and respond to sexual violence and improve data systems so we know which interventions are effective – This ask was reinforced by the recently released Inquiry into Perpetrator Data report, and we hope to see the inquiry's recommendations reflected in the state budget papers.
Advocacy & evidence
Please send any questions you have about our work in this area to amy.webster@sasvic.org.au
New data on the prevalence of intimate partner violence
Almost half of Australian women (48.4 per cent) and about 2 in 5 men (40 per cent) have experienced intimate partner violence since the age of 16, newly released data from the Australian Childhood Maltreatment Study (ACMS) shows. The survey asked about three types of intimate partner violence, finding:
- about a third of women and a quarter of men have experienced physical intimate partner violence
- 18.2 per cent of women and 4 per cent of men have experienced sexual intimate partner violence
- almost half of women (45.1 per cent) and over a third of men (36.6 per cent) have experienced psychological intimate partner violence.
The rates of IPV were significantly higher among LGBTIQA respondents, with 70 per cent of non-heterosexual and 69 per cent of gender diverse respondents having experienced IPV.
Survey shows Australians want action to protect children online
While child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) barely got a mention this federal election, a new survey shows the vast majority of Australian adults (86 per cent) agree the Australian Government should do more to keep children safe from CSEA online. Led by Childlight at the University of New South Wales, the survey found almost three quarters (73 per cent )of the 1,005 respondents believed children were not safe on social media. It also found very high levels of support for measures such as age verification, a ban on 'nudeify' apps, and stricter regulation on major tech platforms requiring them to detect and remove CSAM.
Have your say on how the government implements the Beaumaris inquiry recommendations
The Victorian Government wants to hear from the community on a range of topics that relate to the recommendations of last year's Beaumaris inquiry. The anonymous survey will be open until 6 June at 11:59pm. Anyone can fill it out, from victim survivors and practitioners to interested community members. The government is also holding informal morning tea consultations with the principal of Beaumaris Primary School, which you can learn more about on the survey page.
Prevention
Please send any questions you have about our work in this area to jaeme.opie@sasvic.org.au
Ask a Mate: New app with positive role models for teenage boys
A new app is giving teenage boys answers to their questions on sex, consent, relationships, gender and violence. Created by Queensland-based charity Beyond DV, Ask a Mate features short video answers by role models, or "mates," such as high-profile AFL players and musicians.Others involved in the project include Professor Michael Flood from the Queensland University of Technology, the Brisbane Lions football club and Moonward Apps.
New resource on how pornography is creating dangerous sexual scripts
A new resource by Respect Victoria outlines the potential harms of pornography and gives tips on how to have conversations about it with young people. The resource includes information on:
- the depiction of strangulation and other violence
- deepfake pornography
- how pornography can create sexual scripts
- the impact of pornography on young people.
Men who watch manosphere influencers more likely to have negative views on feminism, poor mental health
Young men who engage with 'men or masculinity' influencers are more likely to agree with traditional gender roles and have negative views on feminism, according to a new survey of over 3,000 16-25-year-olds from Australia, the United States and the United Kindgom.
Led by Movember, the research confirmed the popularity of the so-called 'manosphere,' with about two thirds (63 per cent) of survey respondents saying they watch at least one men or masculinity influencer regularly. This percentage was higher among the Australian survey participants (68 per cent).
Of the men who watch these influencers:
- 70 percent agreed "women have it easier than men"
- 69 percent agreed "women use feminism to keep me down"
- 67 percent agreed "women should fulfill their traditional roles as wives and mothers
- 55 percent agreed "women don't care about men."
The survey also found these men experienced worse mental health and were significantly more likely to have tried risky health behaviours like taking diet pills, steroids and testosterone injections than men who did not watch men or masculinity content.
Legal policy
Please send any questions you have about our work in this area to jacqueline.bell@sasvic.org.au
Private Members Bill Could Progress Urgent Reform on Vicarious Liability
Victorian Parliament is set to debate a private members Bill next week that would make churches vicariously liable for child sexual abuse committed by priests before 2018, righting the injustice of last year's High Court ruling. Find out how you can help support this urgent reform below.
As many of you will know, in November last year the High Court handed down a landmark ruling on vicarious liability in Bird v DP. The High Court held that, for institutions to be held vicariously liable for abuse, there must be a contract of employment between that institution and the person who committed the abuse. This decision overturned long-standing, existing precedent across Australia that relationships that were "akin to employment" (although with no formal contract of employment in place) were covered by vicarious liability. Because clergy are not appointed under contracts of employment, this decision means that churches can no longer be held vicariously liable under common law for sexual abuse committed by priests.
Victorian legislation exists that covers vicarious liability for abuse that occurs after 2018 (the Wrongs Act 1958) , but for abuse committed before then, there is no legal remedy of vicarious liability anymore against many institutions. The High Court's decision is a significant legal ruling that removes the main civil legal remedy for survivors of institutional abuse. We are hearing that victim survivors with matters currently listed are in high states of distress. Courts are now postponing matters and institutions are reducing or removing settlement offers.
There is a solution that can address the circumstances caused by Bird v DP, and that is the introduction of new legislation that makes certain provisions of the Wrongs Act operate retrospectively. Rachel Payne MP from the Legalise Cannabis Party has introduced a private members bill to this effect that is due to be debated on 13-14 May. Leading plaintiff lawyers have reviewed the Bill and support it. SASVic is engaging with other stakeholders to advocate urgent legislative reform, but if your organisation would like to add its voice, Judy Courtin Legal has developed a pro-forma letter that can be adapted and sent to your local MPs.
We extend our deep gratitude to all members in working together to develop a surge response for victim survivors impacted by this High Court ruling. As many of you will know by now, we have established a process where victim survivors impacted by the Bird v DP decision can be prioritised for short term support (whether by their local service or out of region). We have emailed plaintiff law firms across Victoria who practice in abuse law, with an update on the priority support available to their impacted clients. We are engaging with stakeholders to advocate for urgent legislative reform.
Please feel free to contact Jacqui if you wish to discuss SASVic's work in this area and ways to get involved in advocacy.
Other news
Nominations open for the Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Awards
The Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Awards recognise and reward good practice in prevention or reduction of violence and other types of crime in Australia.
The Institute of Criminology is searching for projects of all sizes working toward a safer community that were fully operational before 1 February 2024.
Nominations close Thursday 17 April 2025.
ABC article: Sexual abuse survivor who had his teenage years 'stolen' finds community through group therapy
This past weekend, an ABC article shared Travis Finalyson's experiences of the justice system and accessing support through specialist sexual assault services. Travis is a survivor of child sexual abuse. His abuser was his uncle Arthur Eaton, a primary school teacher convicted of child sexual abuse of children at multiple schools.
In the piece, Travis talks about the counselling that he received from SE CASA and CASA House, and how group therapy was incredibly beneficial to him. He says, 'The way these guys listened to me, I didn't feel like I was being judged. I felt genuinely supported.' The article ends with the 'big learning' he wants to share with other survivors, 'From what we understand, there are a lot of survivors out there who are just walking around, living their life in silence...there are so many things you can do - some go through the judicial process, some sue the institution, some seek therapy. But one size doesn't fit all.'
Donovan Pill, a Counsellor Advocate from CASA House, was also interviewed about group therapy for the piece, 'A lot of the men who come to group sessions are intellectually aware of the statistics that tell them they're not alone, but it doesn't feel real until they get to group. It breaks down the feeling of isolation.'
New training from the NCACSA
The National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse (NCACSA) has launched a new online course, 'Understanding and responding to disclosures of child sexual abuse from children and young people.'
It helps participants to learn about the factors that influence disclosure, develop skills to respond with compassion and understand the role of workers and organisations in creating a safe and supportive environment.
The course is 3 hours long and costs $44.
Safe Steps Candlelight Vigil
The Safe Steps Candlelight Vigil will take place on Wednesday 7 May 2025, National Family Violence Remembrance Day, led by survivors and advocates.
The Vigil will honour and remember the people whose lives have been lost to family violence and provide a platform to share stories of resilience and hope.
Date: Wednesday 7 May 2025
Time: 6 - 6.45pm
Location: Family Violence Memorial Gardens, East Melbourne
Follow SASVic for more updates.
Workforce training
Keep up to date with training and event opportunities for the sector by visiting the SASVic Training Page
Webinars and events
Please check with your manager before registering, where appropriate.
Safe Steps Candlelight Vigil
The Safe Steps Candlelight Vigil will take place on Wednesday 7 May 2025, National Family Violence Remembrance Day, led by survivors and advocates.
Date: Wednesday 7 May 2025
Time: 6 - 6.45pm
Location: Family Violence Memorial Gardens, East Melbourne
Resources and links
SASVic and member details
SASVic organisational structure with staff names and positions
Specialist Sexual Assault Sector Map
Here is a map that helps people find their local specialist sexual assault service.
National Association of Services Against Sexual Violence
SASVic is a member of the National Association of Services Against Sexual Assault (NASASV).
Acronyms
Here is a list of acronyms. Please let us know if you've discovered any more we should add.
FVSV Knowledge Hub
The Family Violence Sexual Violence Knowledge on is a one-stop shop for practitioners, program managers, policymakers and funders to access the latest research, resources, case studies, webinars and training opportunities.