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    Deep dives

    Deep dives explore the implementation of selected recommendations or thematic areas in more detail to understand the strengths, challenges and early insights of implementation observed on the ground.

    The purpose is to highlight early implementation learnings, opportunities for continuous improvement and examples of best practice and innovation.

    Insights from deep dives are examined alongside adequacy assessments and individual recommendations to understand how the 4Cs of implementation (Collaboration, Coverage, Consistency, Communication) are operating in practice.

    To date, the IIS has conducted two deep dive discussions, provided in the fourth progress report (May 2024).

    Background

    High Risk Teams (HRTs) consist of a team of representatives (‘HRT members’) from government and non-government services who, led by a specialist DFV non-government organisation, work together to coordinate responses to DFV identified as having a high or imminent risk of serious harm or lethality.

    The HRT consists of a representative from each of the following core agencies: Specialist DFV NGO (the HRT lead), Queensland Police Service, Youth Justice, Victims Assist Queensland, Queensland Courts, Child Safety, Queensland Corrective Services, Queensland Health, Department of Housing, and a First Nations Cultural Advisor. Additional organisations are referred to as 'Associate Members'. These are not part of the HRT but may refer matters to the HRT and may attend meetings with the HRT to share information on a specific matter. This includes youth services, Family and Child Support Services, Disability and support services, Housing and homelessness services, Sexual assault services, Education, Mental health alcohol and other drug services, Specialist DFV services and a Positive Relationships Cultural Advisor (that sits within the Department of Treaty, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Communities and the Arts. It should be noted that the First Nations Cultural Advisory roles are present in most HRTs including Townsville and Cairns. Further, Specialist DFV services includes organisations that provide specialist DFV support to victim survivors, their children and/or perpetrators, including perpetrator programs.

    HRTs provide for more coordinated and holistic service delivery to support victim-survivors of DFV where an urgent and targeted service response is required.

    Purpose of the deep dive

    In response to Recommendation 18 of Report One the Queensland Government committed to roll out three new HRTs. Implementation is being phased over four years to 2025-26, with the first new HRT rolled out in Townsville in 2023.

    Recommendation 18 of Hear Her Voice Report One:

    ’The Queensland Government continue to roll out integrated service system responses and High-Risk Teams in additional locations. Further rollout of these responses will build upon the lessons learned to date and will be informed by the outcome of the evaluation undertaken in 2019 and any developing evidence base.’

    The OIIS examined the progress of implementation for the new HRT six months after referrals commenced.  The IIS spoke with HRT core agency representatives, other staff in the core agencies and external services in the region to identify lessons learned that could inform implementation of HRTs in the future.

    Implementation insights

    The Townsville HRT has shown strong progress in its first six (6) months of operation and stakeholders involved continue to demonstrate a high level of commitment and dedication to ensuring the team’s ongoing success.

    Key enablers to implementation were: strong service network existing prior to the commencement of the HRT also supported strong buy-in, commitment and coordination from HRT members from the outset. providing sufficient lead-in time prior to receiving referrals. This provided members the opportunity to undertake integrated training, network with other Townsville HRT members, and work with staff from other HRTs to gain practical insights about HRT systems and processes. dedicated funding for the First Nations Cultural Advisor role was identified as a major enabler to improving the accessibility of HRT to First Nations families. The nature of support provided by the First Nations Cultural Advisor shifted over time. active consideration of interpersonal and relational skills in recruitment to ensure HRT members have sophisticated relationship management and collaboration skills. The HRT Coordinator role (within the NGO), and the Integration Manager role (within DJAG) were identified as central to creating a culture of open communication and healthy conflict resolution among all HRT members. Opportunities moving forward: Information-sharing. Stakeholders were largely satisfied with information sharing and coordination among the HRT members, although there is a need to increase the understanding of information sharing obligations across core and associate agencies. Referral pathways. The HRT has established strong referral pathways. Some services in the region still have lower awareness of how to refer. Information on the HRT’s scope, referral pathways, and decision-making points will strengthen understanding among referring agencies. Accountability. Strengthening and communicating feedback loops and escalation pathways within the HRT structure will support accountability of individual agencies within the HRT and enable decision-making to be escalated where needed. Supporting the broader service system. Stakeholders highlighted the limited supports available in the region impacts the types of supports the HRT can coordinate with, and the services they can refer clients to after closing a case.

    The implementation learnings from the deep dive into of the Townsville HRT will help to support the continuous improvement and expansion of HRTs in Queensland and the IIS has proactively shared these learnings with officers involved in the roll-out of new HRT in Redlands and in planning for the future roll-out in Rockhampton.

    Background

    In Recommendation 11 of Report Two, the Taskforce recommended the Queensland Government ‘co-design, fund and implement, a victim-centric , trauma-informed  service model for responding to sexual violence’. 

    The Taskforce provided several important considerations the service model should follow, including that they involve services and agencies working together in an integrated way to meet victim-survivors’ needs.

    In response to Recommendation 11 of Report Two, the Queensland Government committed to ‘co-design a victim-centric, trauma-informed service model for responding to sexual violence, similar to the SART, and implement the model in additional locations’. The type and locations of the future models are yet to be announced, with discussions still underway.

    The OIIS met with the SART in Townsville and a number of sexual assault services to understand the enablers and challenges to building coordinated and integrated service responses to sexual assault. The purpose was to identify any key implementation learnings that could help inform the expansion of SARTs, or other multi-agency models for sexual assault, in other Queensland locations.

    The Sexual Assault Response Team (SART)

    Established in July 2016, the Townsville SART (the SART) responds to the need for a more integrated response to victim-survivors of sexual assault. The SART is led by the Women’s Centre, a specialist sexual violence NGO, and consists of representatives from the Women’s Centre (including a Sexual Assault Support Service (SASS) worker), Queensland Police Service, several departments from Queensland Health and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

    The SASS worker provides ongoing support for the victim-survivor from the point of presentation through to police statements, clinical forensic medical examinations, general medical support and the criminal justice process. This supports the victim-survivor throughout their journey regardless of the length of their matter, noting that many matters run for several years.

    Enablers identified for successful implementation of a SART included:

    1. the model structure is formalised in a Terms of Reference that is adaptable and co-designed by all core agencies, with victim-survivors remaining at the centre,
    2. the SART principles and practices are embedded and endorsed in each agency’s internal systems,
    3. a commitment to reflective practice endorsed within each broader agency, and
    4. the presence of a specialist sexual violence NGO within the core SART membership from the outset.

    Supporting consistency of the core model components is an important consideration as SARTs expand to other regions, to ensure alignment with evidence-based, best-practice principles on responding to victim-survivors of sexual assault.

    Considerations for implementation of future multi-agency responses to sexual violence

    The Taskforce highlighted the SART as an example of a multi-agency model that could potentially be replicated elsewhere, but it did not specify the future models should be a SART specifically. Regardless of the type of model employed, from SARTs to more informal approaches, consultation revealed that several challenges exist which will require consideration in the development of any new multi-agency service model.

    Collaboration and co-design are valuable when selecting and developing a model to ensure it receives strong buy-in and adoption from each agency involved. A major enabler identified for the SART’s successful implementation was the collaborative approach to designing the Terms of Reference to ensure it aligned strongly with each member agency and could therefore be deeply embedded into existing systems. Alternative models to the SART may need to be explored where the service mix and capacity in a region does not allow for the core elements of the SART model to be adopted. The careful selection and design of a model is vital to ensuring it is feasible for the local context, maintains consistency with the core components of models of a similar name, and supports greater model fidelity to achieve intended outcomes. The selection and sustainability of the multi-agency approach to be used will depend on the availability of services in a region and the ability to address the resourcing challenges experienced by local services responding to sexual violence. The IIS will continue to consult with services operating in the sexual violence sector to understand the implementation of multi-agency responses across Queensland. Our implementation learnings should assist and contribute to the development of future multi-agency models to be implemented in response to Recommendation 11 of Report Two.