What MARAM practice guidance is being developed?
Family Safety Victoria (FSV) is developing child and young person-focused MARAM Practice Guides and tools.
Consults on the draft Practice Guides and tools commenced 30 July 2025 and concluded 12 September 2025. A broad range of stakeholders participated in user testing and review of the resources. Consultation participants provided feedback through feedback forms and focus groups. FSV will work to reflect the feedback and finalise the Practice Guides and Tools for release in early 2026.
These new Practice Guides and tools will support professionals to respond directly to children and young people experiencing family violence and wellbeing needs or using family violence. It will also ensure professionals respond with a trauma and violence-informed, and age and developmental stage lens.
The Practice Guides and tools will cover:
- direct family violence risk and wellbeing assessment and management of children and young people victim survivors
- direct family violence risk assessment and management when responding to young people using family violence in the home or in intimate partner/dating relationships.
What has been achieved so far?
The new Practice Guides and tools are informed by a range of recent reviews and studies into children and young people’s experiences of family violence including the I Believe You report published by Monash University in February 2023.
In July 2024, Swinburne University concluded the Delphi study. This was used to test family violence risk and wellbeing factors for children and young people experiencing family violence. The findings were used to develop the identification and assessment tools. This included both survey and focus groups with subject matter experts, including practitioners from prescribed workforces.
This has built on a variety of stakeholder engagements and research undertaken since 2022, including 41 consults held with over 500 professionals across MARAM prescribed workforces.
FSV continues to meet monthly with youth advocates involved in the I Believe You research to ensure the voices of children and young people are centred in the Practice Guides and tools.
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