WDVCAS Conference at Doltone House

Our South West Sydney (SWS) and Sydney (SYD) Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service (WDVCAS) teams attended the annual WDVCAS conference at Doltone House during the first week of August.

The highlight for the SWS WDVCAS team was the opportunity for the team to present on the success of a pilot program called the ‘Co-Location Pilot’ which placed Caseworkers from Justice Support Centre at the Fairfield Police Station.  This is a collaborative approach between Justice Support Centre and the Police at Fairfield Police Station, with the intention of improving responses to Domestic and Family Violence (DFV).  The DFV Specialist workers support people approaching the station for assistance with DFV matters. The SWS WDVCAS team provided a video presentation which highlighted the following key findings:

• enhanced collaboration between Justice Support Centre and the Police
• shared learnings between Justice Support Centre and the Police
• improved victim experiences
• the benefits of early intervention.

The strong foundation built by our team and with the ongoing support and collaboration from the police has been instrumental in making the project a success. This success has resulted in the Co-Location Pilot being extended for a further year, and doubled in its size by increasing the number of locations to 10 across New South Wales.

The SYD WDVCAS team found it very informative listening to speakers on various topics such as how domestic violence impacts on the elderly and younger women. Professor Carson from Macquarie University gave an update on her important research on First Nations Peoples engagement with services, while the Senior registrar of the Family Court gave a very interesting talk on the Lighthouse Project which aims to provide better support for families who have experienced violence and are now in the court system.

Watch the WDVCAS team video here.