Council Hosts Domestic Violence Training

Wagga Wagga City Council is proudly hosting subsidised training covering domestic and family violence, coercive control, and digital safety to upskill local frontline workers and volunteers in organisations where domestic and family violence is not a primary function.

The three training sessions will be held in November this year.

This opportunity is funded by Council in our commitment to the No More Silence about Domestic and Family Violence initiative.

Community Development Coordinator Alex Osgood said service providers had identified the need for more accessible training options to support victim-survivors, particularly with the introduction of new coercive control laws as of 1 July 2024.

"Domestic and family violence is more than just physical abuse and can happen in any home," Alex Osgood said.

"The introduction of coercive control laws in NSW criminalises coercive control in both current and former intimate partner relationships.

"It is essential for local support services and community members to understand how these laws operate in practice."

According to the 2021-22 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Personal Safety Survey, approximately one in four women (27%), and one in eight men (12%) in Australia experienced violence by an intimate partner or family member since the age of 15 years.

"It is well known among social services that domestic and family violence goes largely under-reported," Alex Osgood said.

"A barrier to reporting is identifying what an abusive relationship actually looks like, what evidence person needs to prove a case, and what they can do to protect themselves in the future."

Council is collaborating with Paula Smith at Upstream Educators who has an impressive record of developing evidence-based training in this space whilst also being an active domestic violence investigator.

"Paula has a wealth of knowledge and is a captivating facilitator," Alex said. "She will cover three key topics informed by the Wagga Domestic Violence Liaison Committee: coercive control, online and tech facilitated abuse, and financial and economic abuse."

"This training will provide participants with a deep understanding of how to recognise different types of abuse and how to appropriately respond."

The low-cost and fully catered sessions in the Wagga Wagga Civic Centre are open to local frontline workers and volunteers in organisations where tackling domestic and family violence is or is not a core responsibility.