The government has released two guides setting out best practice for dealing with family violence at a systems-wide level.
National Network of Family Violence Services chief executive Merran Lawler, Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Marama Davidson, and Women's Refuge chief executive Dr Ang Jury. Photo: RNZ / Anneke Smith
The documents mark the third stage of Te Aorerekura, a 25-year strategy to end family and sexual violence in New Zealand.
Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Marama Davidson unveiled them in front of sector stakeholders at the Beehive today.
They gave both specialist family and sexual violence organisations and general workforces the tools to respond appropriately, she said.
"Let's face it, people working right across government, local government, education, health, law, courts and even retail and hospitality are impacted by family violence.
"And we all benefit from the knowledge reflected in these frameworks to know that we're providing the right response every time it is needed."
The two guides are titled the Specialist Family Violence Organisational Standards (SOS) and the Family Violence Entry to Expert Capability Framework (E2E).
The SOS sets out standards needed for organisations delivering specialist family violence services while the E2E sets out requirements to operate safely and effectively at entry, enhanced or expert levels.
The aim of both is to help people who need sexual or family violence help access it more easily knowing they are being guided by those who are equipped to do so.
Davidson said it was thanks to input from experts, female leaders, survivors, disabled and rainbow communities that the frameworks were now in place.
"We have reached out and they have answered. Specialists from across the family violence sector have given generously of their wisdom and insights into the trauma and violence informed knowledge and skills people need for us to build a responsive system.
"Among specialists, these skills and understanding have been built over decades of leading in the space and today we are grateful and humbled that this wisdom and knowledge shapes frameworks that are available to us all. "
Women's Refuge chief executive Dr Ang Jury said the guides cemented a shared understanding of what family violence was and how to respond to it.
"We, in the specialist sector, have been talking for literally years if not decades about the need for a shared understanding of what this family violence thing is; what it looks like, what it smells like what it feels like.
"These frameworks provide that. There is going to be no excuse now for people who say, 'Well, I didn't know what was an appropriate response'. When [the minister says] people can use it, I would say I would go further than that and say they should use it."
Jury said Women's Refuge was already actively implementing both frameworks in its organisation and said she wanted to see them applied in the court system.
"I would really like to see this starting to feed its way into the legal system with our lawyers and judges and in our medical system, particularly primary health; doctors, nurses, those sorts of people."
National Network of Family Violence Services chief executive Merran Lawler said the government now had to back up the frameworks with financial investment.
"There is a lot of upskilling that needs to take place and that requires some investment and a commitment to investing in that upskilling. Ultimately, we'd like to see these documents not as 'nice to haves', but as mandatory requirements for anybody working in the family violence sector."
While Te Aorerekura was a 25-year plan, Davidson said some progress indicators, such as decreased referrals to relationship counselling, would be able to be measured in the shorter-term.
Jury and Lawler said they supported a new, independent oversight body to oversee progress on the implementation of the frameworks.