Case Study: Nillumbik Shire Council

Building Capacity to Respond to Family Violence Disclosures

Why it is important

Nillumbik Shire Council recognises the importance of training and supporting local government workers in responding appropriately to disclosures of Family Violence by community members.

Council is investing in targeted training delivered by Safe and Equal to strengthen employees’ capability to respond safely and appropriately to disclosures of family violence from community members. This investment reflects Council’s recognition that some roles are more likely to receive disclosures through day‑to‑day interactions, including staff in the Rates team, Customer Experience, Youth Development Team, Living and Learning, Pound Attendants and Community Hub staff. 12 employees have completed the training in the past 6 months.

The training equips employees with practical skills to recognise indicators of family violence, respond with empathy and confidence, manage immediate risk, and provide clear referral pathways to specialist supports. It also reinforces role boundaries and self‑care strategies, ensuring staff understand what is expected of them and where responsibility sits.

For the community, this approach improves access to informed, consistent and trauma‑aware responses, helping people feel heard and supported at the point of contact with Council. For employees, it builds confidence, reduces uncertainty and emotional burden, and supports wellbeing by ensuring staff are prepared, supported and not left to manage complex disclosures alone.

Call to action

We hope this case study will encourage other Local Governments to consider training needs of their local government workers, both with regards to best practice support of community as well as the psychosocial wellbeing of their employees.