Activity details
The CHRISTIE Project aims to build worker and organisational capacity to work collaboratively across services for women, children, young people and families living with domestic and family violence where there are parental issues of mental health and alcohol and other drug use co‐occurring with domestic and family violence and child protection and wellbeing concerns. It aims to embed skills and capacity to enable services to better partner with adult victims-survivors and their children and intervene more effectively with perpetrators of domestic violence.
Implementation progress update
NSW Health commissioned the Interagency Partners Working Safe and Together pilot project, which included Aboriginal personnel in the design and implementation team.
The project is being delivered in 4 NSW local government areas which includes both regional and metropolitan Local Government Areas. It involves domestic and family violence and child protection workers from key sector non-government organisations, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, and workers from government partner agencies including NSW Police Force, Department of Communities and Justice, and NSW Health.
The project includes the delivery of training in the Safe and Together Model, which includes an assessment tool to assist in mapping perpetrators’ patterns of behaviour to improve assessment of risk, impact on children, survivor protective efforts and case management decision making. Following on from training, communities of practice are held over 5 months to embed the frameworks from the model and a shared language and understanding of domestic violence. The communities of practice provide opportunities for practitioners to reflect on their practice development and the use of the perpetrator pattern mapping tool to improve assessment, intervention and outcomes. The project aims to increase workforce capacity to collaborate as interagency partners to increase safety for victims/survivors and children and reduce siloed practice.
A research evaluation of the CHRISTIE Project by the University of Melbourne is occurring as part of the project. The University of Melbourne will produce a report evaluating the effectiveness of the capacity building approach process cycle using the Safe & Together™ Model, to improve interagency collaboration to enhance safety, health and justice outcomes for children, young people, adults and families in early 2026.
More information
- Learn about the National Plan to End Violence against women and children 2022-2032.
- Read the First Action Plan 2023-2027.
- Browse the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan update.