Capabilities for specialist practitioners

There are specific capabilities for specialist family violence practitioners. These describe growing levels of expertise in specialist practice. Levels of expertise are set out across 4 levels:

entry
mid
senior
expert.

These capabilities recognise increasing levels of skill for practitioners as they develop. They help define more senior practice roles and career pathways in specialist practice. Increasing specialist expertise is specialist family violence practice delivered with increasing levels of:

professional autonomy and judgement
managing comprehensive risk and complexity
system collaboration
reflective practice and supervision
service and system improvement
applying and building on evidence and research.

These capabilities build on the capabilities outlined in ‘Capabilities for all workers across the service system’.

Entry - Works with supports provided, follows best practice policies, procedures and guidelines and seeks supervision and support as required.
Mid - Demonstrates some professional autonomy and judgement in case management and decision making.
Senior - Manages complex cases with professional autonomy and uses discretion and judgement.
Expert - Operates with high levels of professional autonomy and leads, influences and informs standards for practice in the organisation.
Entry - Conducts comprehensive risk assessments, implements risk management plans and seeks support from more senior staff as required.
Mid - Conducts comprehensive risk assessments and manages somewhat complex cases.
Senior - Conducts and manages complex and high-risk cases and provides specialist advice.
Expert - Leads the management of complex and high-risk cases, provides specialist advice and advises on best practices at the organisational level.
Entry - Engages with other service providers and professional networks and supports ongoing collaboration.
Mid - Builds professional networks within the sector, coordinates with several agencies and shares information and resources.
Senior - Establishes partnerships and agreements and drives inter-agency collaborations.
Expert - Informs and influences systemic change initiatives and leads collaborations across the sectors and systems.
Entry - Manages self and workload, engages in supervision and critical reflection and supports and improves practice.
Mid - Provides advice, support and feedback under guidance and engages in supervision and critical reflection to support practice.
Senior - Develops practice skills in others using supervision frameworks and engages in supervision and critical reflection to enhance practice.
Expert - Provides experienced practice leadership and supervision, sets practice direction and engages in supervision as part of ongoing development.
Entry - Identifies areas for service improvement based on feedback and data and engages in quality improvement activities under supervision.
Mid - Contributes to system improvements and uses feedback to inform this work.
Senior - Takes part in organisational improvement initiatives involving several stakeholders and analyses and reports on the effectiveness of these.
Expert - Informs and advocates for system-wide improvement strategies and coordinates with stakeholders to strengthen system responses.
Entry - Understands the importance of evidence-based practice and engages with relevant contemporary research to inform daily work.
Mid - Applies and contributes to evidence-based practices and integrates research findings into daily work.
Senior - Critically analyses, contributes to and distributes research findings and uses findings to inform organisational practice and policy.
Expert - Leads the critical evaluation of contemporary and emerging evidence, drives its implementation, development and dissemination and uses this to shape policy and practice standards.

Updated 12 December 2025