Support for colleagues in the workplace: Domestic and family violence

The Recognise, Respond, Refer training offers insight into how to deal with situations related to DFV that may arise in the workplace.

This training was jointly developed by the Queensland Government and Australia's CEO Challenge, specifically for Queensland public sector employees to help increase their understanding of DFV and how to support colleagues affected by DFV

Contact your local human resource team (if you are a Queensland Government employee) or Australia's CEO Challenge for more information.

• Search the Queensland Health intranet— Recognise, Respond, Refer resources for Queensland Health staff who are experiencing DFV or supporting a colleague who is experiencing DFV.
• CEO Challenge website—for health employees (or anyone interested in learning more about supporting work colleagues affected by DFV).

What you can do

Increase your knowledge about supporting a colleague who is experiencing domestic and family violence by completing the Recognise, Respond, Refer e-learning training.

Some of the key actions for all staff supporting colleagues are:

• Be clear that your role is to support and help, not to judge.
• Maintain confidentiality of your colleague’s domestic violence circumstance.
• Encourage them to seek support through:
  • their business or department (refer to your relevant policies and guidelines)
  • counselling—services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from confidential telephone counsellors.
• Offer to attend with them if they need your support.
• Report any threats of violence you experience or witness to your manager/supervisor, site security personnel, the police, or to human resources.

Related information

Queensland Government HR resources: helping support employees affected by domestic and family violence.