Beyond Survival:
Family Violence & Policing
The Beyond Survival Project (formerly Policing Family Violence project) responds to police accountability issues, duty failures and harms related to family violence policing, and seeks to intervene into and prevent the criminalisation of victim-survivors.
We can provide legal assistance in the areas of interventions orders and family violence legal support, criminal law assistance or referrals and advice on civil remedies. We also provide social work support and run a narrative therapy ‘storytelling project’ with people experiencing the intersecting impacts of family violence and harms related to policing.
If you or someone you are supporting has experienced an issue with family violence policing, including:
“Mis-identification”: Being wrongly identified police as the perpetrator of family violence, including being listed as the respondent on a police-initiated intervention order and/or facing criminal charges related to this;
Police duty failures and breaches of the Victoria Police Code of Practices for the Investigation of Family Violence, including things such as failures to enforce breaches of intervention orders, failures to adequately consider and assess the safety needs of children
Discrimination or bias in police responses, including on the basis of race or cultural heritage, sexuality, disabilities, or mental health issues
Situations where the person using family violence is a police officer or employee of Victoria Police
Police responses leading to criminalisation or other harm to the person experiencing family violence
Other situations where family violence policing has caused harm or raised police accountability issues
Referrals
Download a warm referral form (MS Word)
Email the completed referral to advocacy@flatout.org.au
Please note that the Beyond Survival Project is made up of a small team. We meet fortnightly to discuss new referrals and will be in touch with any questions. Referrals are assessed and triaged on an individual basis based on priority intake criteria and our current capacity. In periods that we are waitlisted, we will do our very best to come back with a warm referral pathway.
Thank you for your understanding and patience.
The Policing Family Violence: Changing the Story project
is an integrated project of Flat Out, The Police Accountability Project, The Law & Advocacy Centre for Women, St Kilda Legal Service and Inner Melbourne Community Legal.
The Police Accountability
Project
The Police Accountability Project (PAP) is a specialist, innovative, public interest legal project located within the Flemington & Kensington Community Legal Centre, taking the lead in police accountability law and strategies.
St Kilda Legal Service
The purpose of St Kilda Legal Service (SKLS) is to provide free and accessible access to justice for people experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage, and people otherwise unable to afford legal services, on the key legal issues affecting them, through the delivery of high quality, evidence based services delivered as part of an integrated and coordinated
service system.
The Law & Advocacy Centre for Women
The Law and Advocacy Centre for Women (LACW) is a new kind of legal practice for women. LACW combines excellence in legal advice and representation for women, with a commitment to holistic and preventative case management and engagement with therapeutic services.
Inner Melbourne Community Legal
Inner Melbourne Community Legal is a not-for-profit community organisation that provides free legal assistance to disadvantaged people in the City of Melbourne area. Our mission is to promote social justice and the health and wellbeing of the community through advocacy, education and casework.