The Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia have engaged the Safe & Together Institute from the United States of America to deliver court-wide training based on the Safe & Together Model™ developed by leading expert, Mr David Mandel.
The Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia and Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, the Hon Will Alstergren, explained that this training is one of many initiatives of the courts that are aimed at providing safer family law outcomes. These initiatives include the new Notice of child abuse, family violence or risk, the Lighthouse Project, National Judicial College of Australia training, small claims property list (PPP500), co-location of police and departmental families and communities personnel in court registries and the COVID-19 list.
The call for continued professional development and training has been addressed in a number of inquiries including in the 2017 Australian Parliamentary Inquiry into a better family law system to support and protect those affected by family violence which specifically recommended that family law practitioners receive training in the Safe & Together Model. The Safe & Together Model has been endorsed by many of Australia’s leading family and domestic violence experts and the approach underpins a suite of research projects funded by Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety.
Source: The Federal Circuit Court of Australia, The Courts engage internationally recognised expert to undertake family violence focussed training, [media release], 21 April 2021.
