Victim Survivors' Advisory Council Expression of Interest

VSAC formal meetings occur online or in person six times per year. The content of these meetings can vary, but typically can include different teams responsible for designing or developing particular projects or programs bringing their work and asking for the Council's perspectives and views. In general, members are asked questions related to improving outcomes for people with lived experience of family violence. Sessions where VSAC members are asked questions about a particular topic are called consultations.

Examples of consultations within formal meetings include:

• consultation on the Family Violence Reform Rolling Action Plan 2025-2027 under the 10-year plan for change
• consultation on a law reform project relating to protection for children and young people in Family Violence Intervention Orders
• Consultation on the development of legislation to respond to non-fatal strangulation

These meetings can also include meeting with key decision makers, such as Ministers in Government and can involve VSAC members presenting on the Council’s priorities.

Formal meetings run for four hours and members can expect to prepare by completing 30mins to 1 hour of pre-reading before the meeting. Pre-reading supports members to understand background information so they can contribute meaningfully to discussions.

Here is an example of a formal meeting agenda from 2024:

1. (10:30 - 10:35am) Welcome and introductions. Acknowledgement of Country and victim survivors of family violence.
2. (10:35 - 10:55am) Updates from Family Safety Victoria
3. (10:55 - 11:05am) Break
4. (11:05am - 12:35pm) Consultation 1: family violence and sexual assault workforce capability frameworks. (VSAC providing feedback on the personal and professional capabilities of practitioners)
5. (12:35 - 1:05pm) Break
6. (1:05 - 2:05pm) Consultation 2: Child-focused research project (VSAC providing input to ensure children and young people receive the support they need)
7. (2:05 - 2:25pm) Member updates
8. (2:25 - 2:30pm) Closing remarks

In addition to the VSAC formal meetings, there are regular opportunities for VSAC members to be involved in a range of consultations, co-design or advisory processes on family and sexual violence system reform.

These types of opt-in sessions involve seeking input from a small number of VSAC members to participate in workshops, online discussions or to provide written feedback on a particular issue.

Opt-in consultations are circulated on a weekly basis and members are invited to submit an expression of interest for any work they are interested in or where they have relevant experience.

Examples of consultations include:

• participating in training videos for police on how to engage with children and young people experiencing family violence
• providing feedback on a national campaign to stop violence before it starts
• joining an advisory group for a conference to ensure children and young people’s voices are represented.

Being a member of VSAC does require a dedicated time commitment during business hours. We will speak to prospective members about the time commitment through the application process.

Creating a separate email address to use for all VSAC-related communications can also help organise different parts of your life. In the beginning it can be difficult to figure out what to get involved in because there are lots of opt-in projects, consultations, and workshops but after a while you will find you can filter some of the engagements coming through based on your interests, experience and capacity.

It’s okay not to have any previous advocacy, leadership or advisory experience. Focus on the skills and strengths you will bring to the role of VSAC member in your application. Members have a range of experiences in advocacy and everyone is at a different stage in their journey.

It can be daunting when you’re first starting out to understand how your lived experience applies within the family violence system. Members are not expected to be experts across all areas of the family violence system and Family Safety Victoria organises regular information sessions for members on different aspects of the family violence reforms to support your learning.

At the start of each member’s term, Family Safety Victoria meets individually with members to understand your preferences and requirements for learning and development. The VSAC Secretariat will provide ongoing support for this development including arranging mentoring, facilitating your attendance in training programs and other identified opportunities.

Continuing VSAC members are also an excellent source of knowledge for new members in relation to advocacy and learning and development.

It depends on your individual preference and circumstances. Some members are comfortable engaging in public-facing engagements and advocacy. Others prefer to do their advocacy work anonymously, choosing to use pseudonyms and opting out of public-facing events or photography.

VSAC members are not expected to share any personal details of their story, although you may choose to do so. There are lots of opportunities to contribute to the family and sexual violence reforms while maintaining your privacy and Family Safety Victoria will provide support to protect your identity.

Information shared with the Council is for the purpose of that meeting only, people are advised not to share or discuss this information. Any information shared is done with permission and must always be de-identified for privacy and safety reasons.

We encourage VSAC members to have their own therapeutic and personal support systems in place.

Members have access to confidential debriefing support from an external provider for the term of their appointment and for six months after their membership on VSAC concludes.

The secretariat can talk to you about your individual circumstances and any adjustments required to facilitate your participation on the Council.

Background

Current and former VSAC members have described their time on the Council as personally and professionally beneficial and satisfying with many opportunities for mutual learning and growth for members. Members are strongly motivated by wanting to improve the family violence system for the benefit of all victim-survivors.

Members of VSAC have the opportunity to provide their advice and insights to the Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence as well as other government departments and services responsible for how the state prevents and responds to family and sexual violence.

This work can understandably be challenging and uncomfortable at times for those who have experienced trauma and violence. While Family Safety Victoria provides and encourages participation in individual and group de-briefing sessions to Council members, it is important to note that VSAC is not a therapeutic group, nor a substitute for counselling or other forms of therapeutic intervention.

VSAC members are encouraged to ensure that they have personal and professional therapeutic and personal supports in place during their term on VSAC.

Self-reflection tool

This self-reflection tool may help you in determining your goals and readiness to participate on VSAC.

We encourage you to reflect on the following questions to help you consider if this work is for right you. You do not need to send us your responses but we may ask you to verbally share a summary of your reflection if your application proceeds to interview.

You may want to revisit these questions every six months or so as a critical reflection exercise.

Questions

• What motivates you to be involved in VSAC?
• What do you want to achieve from your participation on VSAC?
• Have you had sufficient time since your experience (or that of your family member) to feel ready and safe to participate?
• Are you prepared to listen to the experiences and views of other members, which can potentially be distressing to hear?
• What do you bring to your participation on VSAC (ideas, information, knowledge, skills, experience)
• Do you understand the time commitment expected of this role and will you be able to commit?
• What type of support do you need to participate (training, resources, mentoring etc)?
• Do you have any legal or privacy considerations that might impact on your capacity to participate on VSAC?
• What do you do for self-care?
• What support systems do you have in place? (These can be formal such as services and informal like community, friends and pets.)

Payment rates: Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council members

The below table outlines payment rates for people with lived experience providing advice to government on the family violence reforms. The sitting fee for the Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council is based on government guidelines for board members and hourly rates are aligned to other similar lived experience programs across community and government sectors.

• Amounts for sitting fees are determined by Victorian Government’s Appointment and Remuneration Guidelines for a Group C board.
• The sitting fee is only paid to VSAC members.
• Sitting fees are paid for participation in key governance groups on which VSAC is represented (including the Family Violence Reform Advisory Group and the Dhelk Dja Partnership forum). This is due to the time commitment involved and the strategic nature of these groups, which report to the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence.
• The hourly rate is fixed to ensure participants in a group are paid the same amount, and for consistency across activities. There is a minimum payment of two hours for online meetings and three hours for face-to-face meetings. Hourly rates are paid to VSAC members for the activities outlined in the table.
• The number of hours assigned to an activity will be discussed and agreed to in advance to ensure expectations and payment are clear prior to a VSAC member undertaking any work. For example, agreement would be reached in advance for attending a workshop to include 1-hour pre-reading and 2-hour workshop, 3-hours in total.
• VSAC appointments are sessional in nature: appointees are not expected to work a set number of days per week.

Mechanisms for payment

• VSAC members are appointed as sessional members and paid through the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing payroll system.

Travel guidelines

• Where a VSAC member needs to travel for their engagement with government, they can seek reimbursement for travel costs. General principles are:
  • the default method of travel should be by the most economical and direct route
  • when accessible, safe and appropriate, public transport is the preferred method of travel
  • when using private vehicles government will reimburse for mileage costs and car parking (calculated at $0.88 per kilometre)
  • if a person has specific accessibility or safety requirements or is unable to use public transport, FSV can seek approval to issue a digital cab pass.

Accommodation guidelines

• Accommodation may be provided for VSAC members to participate in meetings or other engagements on a case-by-case basis. For example, where a member lives in a rural or remote area is required to participate in a city-based session early in the day or where it is unsafe for them to drive long distances before and after their participation.

The role of a VSAC member

The role of a Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council member includes the following primary functions: 

• provide advice to the Victorian Government on the different and diverse experiences of family violence from the victim survivors' perspective to inform family violence reform initiatives
• provide advice and insights to the Victorian Government to influence the design, development and evaluation of services, programs, policy and law reform.
• identify issues and options for consideration by the government which have the potential to improve outcomes for people experiencing family violence.

VSAC advises the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence who appoints members to the Council. VSAC is a formal advisory council and operates within the Victorian Government’s standard appointment and remuneration guidelines for governance bodies.  

VSAC members participate in at least six formal meetings per year where the Council provides advice on specific issues related to the design, development and evaluation of a range of programs, policies, services and legislation.

Role accountabilities

VSAC members will be required to:

• provide insights and advice to government on the design, development and evaluation of a range of programs, policies, services and legislation based on their lived experience
• work as a member of a team to find a shared perspective on issues relating to the design of programs, policies, services and legislation.
• attend regular meetings and participate in discussions.

Key selection criteria and personal qualities

Suitable candidates will have:

• an ability to translate your lived experience of family violence and the Victorian family violence system into advice for the government and other key stakeholders on systems change, policy development and service design
• willingness to work as a member of a team, including listening to and respecting different perspectives, being open minded and curious, and collaborating to form collective positions on key issues
• an interest in growing both professionally and personally, through learning about new perspectives, issues and government processes. This includes developing a strong understanding of how the VSAC advisory role interacts with government and the broader community sector.

Members from diverse communities

The Victorian Government is committed to ensuring that government boards and committees reflect the rich diversity of the Victorian community.

We encourage applications from people of all ages, Aboriginal people, people with disability, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and from lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, gender diverse, intersex and queer people. We will provide adjustments to the recruitment process upon request.

Members are appointed to ensure the composition of the group reflects the diversity of the community. While members may provide advice on behalf of members of their community or from the perspective of their identity group, they are not expected to assume a formal representative role on behalf of their communities.

Term of the role

The Victims Survivors’ Advisory Council is comprised of 15 positions.

Members are appointed for a three-year term, with a staggered annual membership and renewal process, with half of the Council concluding their term every 18 months when a new half of the Council commences. This enables a continuous process of renewal and to enable longer serving members to support newer members with orientation to the group.

Family Safety Victoria, part of the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH), is committed to protecting personal information provided by you in accordance with the principles of the Victorian privacy laws.

Read more about the Victorian Government's privacy policy.

The information you provide will be made available to a small number of staff in at FSV who are involved in the recruitment process for the Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council 2025 – 2028, as well as a representative of the Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council, who will be on the interview panel and have access to information on recommended applicants.

The collection of sensitive information on whether you are part of a diverse community group will be used to ensure that the Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council includes a diverse range of voices and experiences of family violence.

The primary role of the Council is to provide advice on policy and service design, and delivery and law reform as part of the family violence reforms, which commenced following Victoria’s Royal Commission into Family Violence in 2016. The collection of sensitive information on people’s engagement with the family violence system since 2016 will ensure that new members have recent experience that can inform ongoing reform work.

By submitting an application, you consent to Family Safety Victoria collecting and using any personal and sensitive information which you provide in your responses for the purposes outlined above.

If your submission includes any information about racial or ethnic background, sexuality, criminal records and/or religious beliefs it is understood that you consent for us to collect this data. However, applicants are not obliged to disclose this information.

You are entitled to access and correct your personal information. If you would like to access or correct the information you have provided, please contact us by email at FSV.Engagement@familysafety.vic.gov.au. In some cases, requests for personal information may be handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic).