Domestic Violence Regional Strategy Groups (RSGs)
Overview
Domestic and family violence is a complex issue that requires a range of coordinated responses to make change.
There are a number of agencies across the NSW Government that are all working to address domestic and family violence from their areas of expertise, such as: Department of Education, NSW Health, Family and Community Services, NSW Police and the Department of Justice.
Domestic Violence Regional Strategy Groups (RSGs)
RSGs provide a regionally based forum for agencies to work collaboratively on identifying and resolving issues and developing regional domestic and family violence solutions.
The RSGs bring together government agencies at a regional level to:
- Develop and implement place based solutions
- Strengthen partnerships and collaborations
- Strengthen regional governance
Key activities
Action Plans have been developed for each RSG that identify focus areas and projects for the region:
- North West Metro RSG: engaging young people experiencing domestic and family violence; and strengthening RSG communications
- South West Metro RSG: engaging people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities experiencing domestic and family violence; and workforce capability
- Northern RSG: cognitive impairment, mental health and alcohol and drug abuse services for domestic and family violence perpetrators; service system analysis
- Western RSG: youth domestic and family violence education and engagement; mental health and alcohol and drug abuse services for domestic and family violence perpetrators; and service system analysis
Benefits
An independent process evaluation in December 2018 found RSGs added significant value as a regional governance framework as they:
- foster interagency collaboration and strengthened working relationships between a broad group of agencies, including NGOs and peak bodies to address regional issues;
- foster information sharing on key issues that supported improvements to domestic and family violence policy, project development and frontline service delivery;
- consult with frontline workers to identify, build evidence and better understood issues across three regions; and
- provide a forum to monitor and support the implementation of local strategies and initiatives through data analysis.