Responding to students living with domestic and family violence

Students of all ages experience domestic and family violence (DFV), regardless of gender, class, race or religion. Working with children and young people every day, school staff are ideally placed to identify and respond to students living with DFV. However, schools can only respond effectively to students when staff hold the knowledge and confidence to not only identify DFV but to implement ongoing support strategies and refer on to appropriate external services. As such, this policy focuses on building staff knowledge by outlining clear evidence-based processes for responding to students who are suspected of or have disclosed living with DFV. This policy also encourages collaboration with local community support services in order to build referral pathways and create future opportunities for collaboration with services outside of the education sector.