Role requirements

They utilise a variety of approaches in their work, including awareness raising, partnership development, community development, advocacy, and structural, environmental, organisational and systems development.

The primary prevention practitioner workforce comprises a range of roles. This chapter summarises the role requirements of this workforce both generally and as they relate to family violence.

Overall, the Census results identified the diversity of activities undertaken by this workforce, and the varying frequencies at which these activities are conducted. As perhaps expected, respondents were more likely to report that they frequently worked on activities that were core to their primary prevention role (such as partnership development and primary prevention initiatives), and undertook family violence response-specific activities less frequently (particularly those related to information requests and client referrals).

Figure 1 illustrates the frequency with which primary prevention practitioners reported that they undertook various core activities as part of their role. Around half of respondents or more indicated that they frequently worked on the following at least weekly:
- developing and maintaining partnerships and networks (64%)
- project management (56%)
- implementation of primary prevention initiatives (49%)
- planning of primary prevention initiatives (49%).
In contrast, over one-in-four respondents reported that they never undertook the following activities:
- staff management (41% – although a notable proportion (39%) indicated that they did this at least weekly, demonstrating the complex and varied nature of roles in this workforce)
- external organisational development, including gender equality audits and developing action plans (38%)
- grant applications, reporting or submissions (26%).
Respondents were also asked about the frequency with which they worked on a number of family violence response related activities as part of their role. As shown in Figure 2, overall, respondents undertook these activities much less frequently (9%-29% daily or weekly) compared to the core activities discussed earlier in this chapter (10%-64% daily or weekly).

Although this workforce reported that they conducted family violence response related activities relatively infrequently, over one-quarter reported that they frequently (at least weekly):
- worked on proactive / voluntary family violence information sharing (29%); and
- were responsible for the identification of family violence (28%).
Conversely, around half of respondents (48%-52%) indicated that they never worked on activities related to information requests and client referrals – this may be due to a range of factors, including the ad-hoc nature of these activities which are not core to the primary prevention role, and the possibility that respondents’ organisations are not prescribed under the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) framework.

Figure 1: Role requirements – Core. Base: All respondents

Most primary prevention workers undertook the following daily or weekly - developing and maintaining partnership and networks; project maagement; primary prevention initiatives - planning and implementation. A few times a year however, 46% spent time undertaking grant applications, reporting or submissions.

Download 'Figure 1: Role requirements – Core. Base: All respondents'

Figure 2: Role requirements – Family violence. Base: All respondents

Over one-quarter reported that they frequently (at least weekly) worked on proactive / voluntary family violence information sharing (29%); and were responsible for the identification of family violence (28%). Around half of respondents (48%-52%) indicated that they never worked on activities related to information requests and client referrals.

Download 'Figure 2: Role requirements – Family violence. Base: All respondents'

Updated 2 July 2021