Your safety is important to us. Safety planning is a way to work on increasing safety when you are experiencing Domestic and Family Violence. You can make a simple safety plan for yourself, with help from a friend or someone in your family.

You can also contact 1800 RESPECT Safety Planning www.1800respect.org.au for help making a detailed safety plan. Every plan is different as every person has different needs.

An example of a safety plan:

• A list of emergency numbers
• A safe place to go
• A safe place to store items such as valuables, cash, keys and important documents
• Identifying friends and family support

Domestic and family violence can include: physical violence, emotional abuse, sexual violence, psychological abuse, financial abuse and threatening harm to your loved ones, children and pets. This video talks through options for making a plan to look after yourself.

1800 Respect domestic and family violence VIDEO: How to make a plan to look after yourself

Children may also need a simple safety plan so they know what to do when domestic violence is occurring, this could include:

• Warning children to stay out of the adult conflicts.
• Have a confidential conversation with their school or kindergarten.
• Decide ahead of time on a safe place the children can go when they feel unsafe.
• Teach children how to use police and other emergency phone numbers and remind them not to hang up afterwards. This helps the services to monitor what is happening and to find you if necessary.
• Making a list of people the children can trust and talk to when they are feeling unsafe (neighbours, teachers, relatives, friends)
• Develop a code word that signals to your children that they need to leave now.
• Re-think this safety plan on a regular basis to ensure it continues to contain the most appropriate actions for your circumstances.

If you are impacted by Domestic and Family Violence, we encourage you to speak to your leader, manager or HR. You are not expected to share all the details of your situation unless you wish to do so. If you are impacted, we genuinely want to help in a way that is meaningful to you.

At Work

• If you do not want to communicate with your partner, ask co-workers to screen your phone calls. Save any abusive emails or voicemail messages as they may provide future evidence.
• Change your daily travel route. Park close to your building.
• Consider asking someone to accompany you to and from the car.
• Let work colleagues and family members know your expected times of arrival.

At Home

• Decide on the best way to leave the house (which doors or windows) if you and the children need to do so in a hurry.
• Ask neighbours to call the police if they hear a commotion from the house.

Specialist support services
To find a specialist support service in your local area visit the website or DFV information in other languages CALD domestic violence resources.

Counselling We recommend you seek support from specialist services who have the experience, skills and insights to address this complex situation. They can be contacted 24/7 by phone number: 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) Interpreter services are also available.

Domestic and Family Violence is a very stressful situation that can impact someone’s health, personal relationships, confidence, finances, career and living arrangements. It can feel very overwhelming. However, if you are experiencing DFV, this situation does not define you. You can rebuild and move forward, your employer and Building Respect is with you every step of the way.

We recommend you seek support from specialist services who have the experience, skills and insights to address this complex situation.

Find a specialist support service in your local area.

FREE Apps available:

Daisy App was developed by 1800RESPECT in conjunction with Medibank and is free to download and use. The app provides Domestic and Family Violence information, support services and safety planning. Parts of the app are available in multiple languages.

Sunny App was also developed by 1800RESPECT and Medibank and is free to download and use. This app is designed to assist women with disabilities, experiencing Domestic and Family Violence.

Arc App was developed by the Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria and is free to download and use. The information on the app is securely stored in a cloud so that if you need to delete the app from your phone, your information remains and can be accessed by reinstalling the app. Alternatively, for those who don’t have a smartphone or don’t feel comfortable having the app on their phone you can create an account