Safe at Home is an integrated whole of government criminal justice response and intervention system to family violence that aims to
- Improve the safety and security for adult and child victims of family violence in the short and long term.
- Ensure that offenders are held accountable for family violence as a public crime and change their offending behaviour.
- Reduce the incidence and severity of family violence in the longer term.
- Minimise the negative impacts of contact with the criminal justice system on adult and child victims.
Safe at Home represents a partnership between six State Government Departments and comprises of eleven business units. The Department of Justice is the lead agency, and Tasmania Police is the gatekeeper to the integrated response. Victims, children and perpetrators enter the Safe at Home service system when a family violence or family argument report is made to Tasmania Police.
Policy
Victim safety is paramount. A pro-intervention policy is employed, supported by a human services response to victims, children and offenders.
Integrated Case Coordination (ICC)
Integrated case coordination is a key feature of Safe at Home – it acts as a safety hub in each region for family violence cases, ensuring that all risk and safety aspects of family violence cases are discussed and appropriate actions are taken. Integrated case coordination meetings are held on a weekly basis throughout Tasmania and are attended by service providers in the Safe at Home service system.
Risk Assessment
As part of the Safe at Home response, a shared evidence-based risk assessment screening tool was developed by Tasmania Police and the Department of Justice. The tool is used by operational police when attending a family violence incident to assist in assessing the risk of a victim experiencing future violence, supports consistent operational responses, and it informs the ICC process.
Governance
A robust governance framework was developed and implemented to allow frank discussions to be held between different agencies to resolve practical and policy issues, and to provide transparent decision making processes.
The Family Violence Strategic Oversight Committee has overall responsibility for the progress of Safe at Home and has representatives from the following departments
- Department of Premier and Cabinet
- Department of Justice
- Department of Police, Fire & Emergency Management
- Department of Communities Tasmania
- Department of Health
- Department of Education
Each of these departments is represented on the Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC). The IDC has been responsible for the development and ongoing implementation of the Safe at Home program.
Regional coordinating committees have been formed to coordinate service delivery in each region.
Information System
The Safe at Home Information Management System (SIMS) has greatly enhanced the performance of Safe at Home. SIMS became operational in 2012 and incorporates business rules that reinforce the integrated response to family violence. The system supports the nomination of case coordinators, transfer of workflow activities from one agency to another, produces notifications to review expiry of family violence orders, and provides a transparent record of ICC decision making and accountability.
Please contact us for more information.