Supporting the Primary Care Response to Family Domestic and Sexual Violence Pilot

It is anticipated that full time GPs can see as many as 5 patients experiencing violence each week. Family, domestic, and sexual violence are often hidden from others in the community.

The silent nature of abuse means that it can be hard to have the conversation about abuse. Victim-survivors of violence and abuse are more likely to tell their GPs about their experiences more than any other professional group.

Therefore, primary care providers play a critical role in supporting people who are experiencing family, domestic and sexual violence.

Adelaide PHN and Country SA PHN, in partnership, have received Commonwealth funding to participate in Round 2 of a national pilot to strengthen the capacity of the primary care sector to respond to family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV) (including child sexual abuse), and to support primary care practices to create a space where victim-survivors feel safe to share their story and seek help.

This project is being delivered by Adelaide PHN in partnership with Country SA PHN.

About the Project

The Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence (FDSV) project focuses on the development and delivery of training, resources and capacity building activities for primary care staff to enhance their capacity to recognise and respond to FDSV, as well as a range of system integration activities to ensure that victim-survivors receive an improved quality of support.

The FDSV project aims to improve integration and coordination between the primary care and the FDVS sector. Project activities target general practice-based primary care workers, including health professionals (general practitioners (GPs), practice nurses and allied health staff) and administrative staff (practice managers, receptionists and administration).

The FDSV project aims to contribute to the following outcomes:

Enhancing general practice-based primary care workers’ awareness of FDSV and their capacity to identify and support DFV victim-survivors
Enhancing relationships and collaboration between the primary care and FDSV sectors to ensure coordinated responses to those affected by FDSV
Increasing primary care sector referrals to FDSV support services
Improving the support experience and outcomes for FDSV victim-survivors.

A key attribute of the FDSV project is its flexibility in model design and implementation, utilising a tailored model developed in response to the local needs and service context.

The project will focus on three core components; training, system integration, and influencing the system for sustainable change.

Round 1 of the Project

In 2019, 6 PHNs were funded as part of a national pilot to support primary care services to recognise and respond to family and domestic violence. Each PHN developed a model of support based on local needs as part of a place-based commissioning approach.

The models developed by the PHNs all had slight differences but were built on similar core components:

Whole of practice approach – which involved not only general practitioners but practice nurses, practice managers and administrative staff,
Workforce capacity building - through formal (CPD accredited) training and informal training for the primary care sector,
The creation of a local link/system integrator role - usually an organisation with expert knowledge of the local FDV sector who was funded by the PHN to build relationships with general practices in their region, deliver informal and formal training to the primary care sector, support the strengthening of referral pathways between general practitioners and specialist support providers and undertake quality improvement practices,
System influence activities.

Round 2 of the Project

In the 2022-2023 budget the Commonwealth Government announced additional funding for the Supporting the Primary Care sector response to Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence pilot. The funding intends to expand and enhance the work undertaken by the 6 PHN pilot sites who participated in Round 1. This expansion encompasses both:

The establishment of additional family and domestic violence pilots to locate a pilot in each state and territory,
And the addition and integration of supports to improve primary care response to and health system navigation by victims-survivors of sexual violence and child sexual abuse to both the existing and new pilots.

Adelaide PHN in partnership with Country SA PHN received funding to take a statewide approach to the FDSV pilot. The project objectives are as follows:

Support primary health care providers to implement a model of support to assist in the early identification and intervention of FDSV, and coordinate referrals to support services;
Increase the capacity and capability of the primary care workforce to better care for victims-survivors of FDSV and persons living with FDSV;
Improve the primary care system integration with the broader FDSV service response system and health service navigation for victims-survivors of sexual violence.

There are four stages to this project:

Exploration of need and establishing project team;
Planning and undertaking co-design;
Implementation of pilot and integrated modules;
Monitor and evaluate.

Evaluation of Round 1 of The Pilot

The pilot was independently evaluated by the Sax Institute and the models developed were well received by the stakeholders. Key outcomes included;

Enhanced primary care sector capacity to recognise and respond to FDV
Enhanced relationships between FDV and primary care sectors
Increased primary care sector referrals to FDV services
Improved outcomes for FDV victim-survivors

For more information regarding the evaluation of Round 1 of the pilot, please see the evaluation report: Evaluation of the Improving Health System Responses to Family and Domestic Violence Primary Health Network Pilots

Project Design

A series of community consultations and collaborative deign activities were held to provide an opportunity for individuals living or working in the pilot regions to take part in the design of the pilot model.

The collaborative design activities aimed to capture the views and experiences of those who were most affected by the model. This included:
- People with lived experience of FDSV (including adult survivors of CSA)
- Primary care providers (GPs, practice nurses, practice managers and anybody else who shapes the primary care environment)
- Organisations who provide services to people experiencing FDSV.

In addition, activities were catered towards communities that are heavily affected by violence and abuse and often experience inadequate access to acceptable services. This includes those from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, multicultural communities, LGBTIQA+ communities, and people living with disability communities. Specialist facilitators from The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI), Purple Orange, National Indigenous Network Initiative (NINI) and the Lived Experience Leadership and Advocacy Network (LELAN) were engaged to make sure the activities in this phase were culturally safe, accessible and inclusive, and trauma informed.

Needs Assessment - Closed

In the design of this project, there was significant attention given to understanding the lived experience of FDSV. Through one-on-one conversations, focus groups and surveys, The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI) were commissioned to produce a report that outlined the support people are already getting, and where there might be gaps or ways that this support could be improved. Please find the link to this report here.

Advisory Panels - Closed but may reopen in future

Two advisory panels were put together to support the work of this project. The first, a GP Advisory Panel represented the primary care sector across South Australia and advised the project team on matters related to all phases of the project, including collaborative design and implementation of the model.

The GP Advisory Panel assisted the project team to effectively engage with and support General Practices to ultimately build their capacity to recognise, respond to, and refer patients who may be at risk of or who are experiencing violence or abuse. The GP Advisory Panel are expected to provide general advice regarding the primary care sector, whilst also advocating for their own communities. Recruitment for the GP Advisory Panel has closed at this time but may re-open in future if more members are needed.

The second, a Lived Experience Advisory Panel, was convened by LELAN to shape and co-design how responses to victim-survivor disclosures and links to additional support can be enhanced and expanded through this model. LELAN is the independent peak body in South Australia by, for and with people with lived experience of mental distress, social issues or injustice. LELAN’s systemic advocacy targets the mental health and social sectors in South Australia, whilst their thought leadership and expertise on lived experience expertise and leadership is borderless.

At this time, recruitment for the Lived Experience Advisory Panel has closed but may re-open in future if more members are needed.

Local Link Service Implementation

In July 2025, Relationships Australia South Australia (RASA) was commissioned by Country SA PHN to provide the local link service in the Country SA PHN pilot site in the
Flinders and Upper North Local Health Network (LHN) region, encompassing the far and upper northern areas of country South Australia.

The local link team are working with participating general practices in strengthening and supporting the capacity of these practices to effectively respond to FDSV and child sexual abuse (CSA) through a whole of practice, trauma informed approach.

This looks like:
• The development of referral system for clinical staff to the local link team
• Triage and case management for clients, regardless of how they enter the system
• Support with risk assessments and safety planning
• Warm referrals to appropriate FDSV or CSA support services
• Ensuring cultural safety and accessibility for priority populations

Three General Practices in Whyalla are currently participating in the pilot:
• Doctors on Playford
• Doctors at Westland
• Bunyarra Medical Clinic

If you are located in Port Augusta or Whyalla region and would like to speak to Country SA PHN about your general practice becoming part of the project, please contact [email protected]

Community of Practice (CoP) Meetings

Quarterly CoP meetings will be co-led by RASA, APHN and CSAPHN. The meetings will focus on practical problem solving, sharing of best practice, and enhancing cross-sector collaboration. If you are an interested stakeholder and would like to participate in the CoP, please contact [email protected] for more information.

Learn More about FDSV

Under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032, many resources have been commissioned by the Commonwealth Government to increase the capacity of mainstream services to better respond to people experiencing family, domestic and sexual violence.

We all have a role to play in ending violence against women and children. Mainstream services, like primary care, are not expected to be specialists in responding to violence and abuse but as trusted members of our communities, they can be effective first responders.

The links below include a range of training modules and short resources for individual professionals to improve their knowledge, as well as some useful toolkits and information packages which may be helpful to use in your practice with patients and clients.

This section of our website will be regularly updated as new resources are released. If your organisation has a resource that you think would be useful for the primary care workforce, please reach out to the FDSV project team at: [email protected].

Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence

In August 2025, the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence released its report and published 136 recommendations for change. Please find link to report here.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

The RACGP publish the White book for health professionals – Abuse and violence: working with our patients in general practice.

HealthPathways South Australia

HealthPathways is an online portal that provides GPs and other health professionals with easy access to comprehensive, evidence-based assessment, management, and localised referral resources for specific health conditions.

HealthPathways SA currently has a suite of pathways available to support health professionals with patients who may be experiencing violence and abuse, with more in development.

The child abuse and neglect pathway provides questions and responses on issues such as disclosure, safety screening, resources, and mandated reporting.

The pathway acknowledges cultural variations in parenting practices and the challenges surrounding limited resources available to migrants and refugees.

The domestic and family violence pathway provides help for clinicians to discern who and when to screen for domestic and family violence and includes a structured online DV risk assessment and guidance for escalation to multi-agency protection and support services.

Health Professionals can sign up free and access HealthPathways SA here.

HealthPathways SA is a partnership between SA Health, Adelaide PHN and Country SA PHN.

National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse

In March 2024, The National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse (National Centre) launched initial foundational resources for the Strengthening Primary Health Care Responses to Sexual Violence and Child Sexual Abuse project, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

The initial suite of resources includes two written reference guides and a short video, which are available on the National Centre website: Strengthening Primary Health Care Responses - The National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse

Outside of the resources developed specifically for the primary health care workforce, The National Centre website includes a range of resources including webinars, knowledge summaries, and reports. It is a great place to stay up-to-date on the latest evidence about child sexual abuse.

The Safer Families Centre

The Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence delivers the Readiness Program training for frontline healthcare workers. The Safer Families Centre is a partnership with:

the University of Melbourne
the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
the Blue Knot Foundation
Phoenix Australia.

The Safer Families Centre has a range of self-paced learning modules that have been accredited through the RACGP for CPD. In addition, there is a series of RACGP hosted webinars available on the Safer Families website. Finally, the Safer Families website has a variety of clinical tools to support your work with patients.

Recognising and Responding to Sexual Violence in Adults

Monash University has partnered with the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine to develop and deliver a three-unit Course for health practitioners in Recognising and Responding to Sexual Violence which commenced in 2021 and will continue until 2027.

Monash University is seeking expressions of interest from AHPRA registered and Australia-based practicing health practitioners providing primary health care services to undertake the RACGP and other medical college CPD-accredited training at no cost.

You can enrol in single or multiple units.

More information and registration can be found here.

The Zahra Foundation Australia

The Zahra Foundation Australia are deeply committed to addressing the critical issues of financial abuse and coercive control - forms of domestic and family violence that have a profound impact on individuals' lives.

Financial abuse occurs when someone controls access to money and resources, often leaving the victim unable to make decisions about their finances or those shared in a relationship. This form of abuse is subtle yet deeply harmful, affecting one in six women in Australia and present in 60% of domestic and family violence situations.

Zahra Foundation Australia has developed an education campaign with multiple resources that clearly outline what financial abuse is, how it manifests, and where to find help. Additionally, they offer essential advice not only for victims and survivors but also for their colleagues, friends and family members.

These resources can be accessed through their website – The Zahra Foundation – Resource Library.

Contact Information

If you would like to be involved in some way, or just kept informed, please contact the FDSV project team at: [email protected]

Published on: January 14, 2025

Last updated on: April 28, 2026