Inform, influence and shape
Provide expertise and leadership on all matters relating to family violence and the family violence system in the Barwon Area
Who we are
The Barwon Area Integrated Family Violence Committee (BAIFVC) provides leadership, advocacy and specialist expertise to strengthen, integrate and improve the family violence response system and help end family violence across Victoria’s Barwon Area. The Barwon Area is defined by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and comprises four municipalities located to the south-west of metropolitan Melbourne. These are the City of Greater Geelong, Colac-Otway Shire, Surf Coast Shire, and the Borough of Queenscliffe.
BAIFVC has representation from specialist family violence services as well as broader cross-sector organisations and alliances whose work intersects with family violence response, early intervention and prevention. Committee members, including the Leadership Group, are all senior leaders involved in strengthening the family violence system and ending family violence in the Barwon Area
Our planning context
BAIFVC is one of 14 regional family violence committees or partnerships that exist across Victoria. As local system governance structures, these committees are integral to the success of the Victorian Government’s current agenda to transform family violence under Ending Family Violence: Victoria’s plan for change.
Ending Family Violence is the Victorian Government’s plan to deliver on all the recommendations of the historic Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence which concluded in 2016. Since its release, Ending Family Violence has seen an unprecedented breadth and pace of family violence reform and transformation across Victoria, with initiatives set to continue over several years.
BAIFVC is well-placed to inform, influence and shape the priorities and directions of the state-wide family violence reform agenda as the Victorian Government implements initiatives of Ending Family Violence across Victoria, including in the Barwon Area.
Local system focus. We have a steadfast focus on the family violence system as it exists and is understood in the specific geographic and system (or place-based) contexts of the Barwon Area.
Family violence lens. We maintain resolute focus on evidence-based understandings of family violence in our accountability to the diverse experiences, choices, safety and long-term recovery of victim survivors, and by keeping perpetrators accountable and squarely in view through an integrated system approach.
Across all workforces. We are strongly focused on reaching into and building the capacity and capability of all workforces in sectors that intersect with the family violence system in the Barwon Area, especially in achieving more consistency in family violence risk identification, assessment and management.
Our history
BAIFVC was formally established in January 2014. Prior to 2014, the BAIFVC was part of a larger Barwon South-West Integrated Family Violence Committee (BSWIFVC). The BSWIFVC was impacted by structural changes that occurred within the then Department of Human Services divisions and geographic boundaries which resulted in the creation of two separate areas: the Barwon Area, and the Wimmera-South West Area.
Our vision
Our communities are free from family violence and the fear of family violence; our people are equal, respected and thriving.
Our purpose
BAIFVC exists to drive family violence system integration and improvement to achieve safety, choice and accountability. We do this through our leadership, influence, collaborations, partnerships and innovations.
Our values
ACCOUNTABILITY
ADAPTIVENESS AND AGILITY
BARWON AREA’S UNIQUENESS
CULTURAL SAFETY
INTEGRITY
PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS
RESPECT AND TRANSPARENCY
RESPONSIVENESS, INCLUSIVITY AND ACCESSIBILITY
Our strategic priorities at a glance
System integration and improvement
Workforce capability and capacity
Data and evidence
Effective governance
Acknowledgement of victim-survivors
The BAIFVC acknowledges the strength and resilience of all victim survivors of family violence regardless of ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age and ability. We remember those who did not survive, and acknowledge friends and family members who have lost loved ones. We recognise that our efforts must be informed by the voices and lived experience of victim survivors. We also keep forefront in our minds all those who are experiencing family violence today for whom we undertake this work.
Contact Us
Barwon Area Integrated Family Violence Committee
16 Ballarat Road
Hamlyn Heights
Geelong 3215
P: 03 5278 8112
Email: [email protected]
The Barwon Area Integrated Family Violence Committee acknowledges the First Nations Peoples and traditional custodians of the land and waterways across Barwon, the Wadawurrung people of the Kulin Nation, and the Gulidjan and Gadubanud people of the Eastern Maar Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in the Barwon Area, and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia. We recognise the leadership of Aboriginal communities and Elders in Victoria in preventing and addressing family violence, and improving outcomes for Aboriginal people, children, families and communities.