Free webinar: What if we stopped waiting for family violence to become a crisis?
What if we stopped waiting for family violence to become a crisis?
The drivers and early warning signs of family violence are well known, yet our systems tend to focus most on responding at the point violence becomes visible, through a disclosure, referral, police involvement or contact with a specialist service. These moments are often part of a much longer trajectory, and there are often opportunities to intervene well before family violence reaches a crisis point.
A decade on from Victoria's Royal Commission into Family Violence, we’ve made significant progress in preventing and responding to family violence. However, with the Second Action Plan under the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children in development, important questions remain about how we connect primary prevention, early intervention, response and recovery, and translate what we know into more effective, coordinated approaches.
In the lead-up to the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, join Relationships Australia Victoria, Our Watch and Eastern Community Legal Centre to look at what has changed over the past 10 years, what the evidence tells us, and where there’s room to do more across policy and practice for an integrated family violence system.
With panellists from across prevention, early intervention and specialist response, the webinar will reflect on the progress, the gaps and opportunities across the system, and what is needed to drive meaningful change.
Hosted by Relationships Australia, the webinar will include insights from representatives of Relationships Australia Victoria, Our Watch and Eastern Community Legal Centre, followed by a moderated panel discussion, and audience Q&A.
Event details
Date: Tuesday 17 November 2026
Time: 1:30-2:30pm AEDT
Location: Online via Zoom
Price: Free
For enquiries, email [email protected]
Who should attend?
This webinar is designed for professionals working in family violence prevention, early intervention, response and recovery, as well as practitioners across community and related services, researchers, policymakers, advocates and others involved in improving systems and policy reform.
Panellists
Louise Falconer
Manager, National Insights and Impact team
Our Watch
Louise Falconer has dedicated her career to advancing gender equality and preventing violence against women. Internationally, she worked as a Global Gender Adviser with Oxfam and as a senior researcher at the Scottish Parliament. In Australia, her experience includes roles with the Commonwealth Office of the Status of Women, and the Victorian Government. More recently, she has worked in the not-for-profit sector, including as a director at GenWest. In her current role at Our Watch, she is focused on tracking progress in preventing gender-based violence.
Marika Manioudakis
Director of Family Violence Initiatives and Principal of Integrated Practice
Eastern Community Legal Centre
Marika Manioudakis leads a range of multidisciplinary family violence legal programs at Eastern Community Legal Centre, including the Mabels Program. Mabels is a Health Justice Partnership which provides early intervention, multidisciplinary legal support to women and children experiencing family violence who seek support via Victoria’s universal Maternal and Child Health service.
Marika has an educational background in behavioural science, and began her career working in disability and homelessness services working with people experiencing complex challenges. Over the last 17 years she has primarily focused on improving the services and support available to women and children experiencing family violence, particularly through their experience of the legal system.
Roz McCabe
Practice Specialist, Child and Family Safety
Relationships Australia Victoria
Roz McCabe has qualifications in social policy and social work, and more than 11 years of experience across family violence, child protection, high-risk adolescent services and out-of-home care in Northern Ireland and Australia. She has held a range of leadership roles across the sector and is committed to strengthening practice, workforce capability and responses for children and families affected by family violence. In her current role, Roz leads best practice across family violence response services, including men’s behaviour change programs, family safety contact, and recovery and support for victim survivors and children, with a focus on safe, high-quality responses for all those impacted by family violence.
Moderator
Alyson La’Brooy
Victorian Manager Family Violence Services
Relationships Australia Victoria
Alyson La’Brooy leads the strategic and operational direction of statewide family violence programs. With close to 20 years’ experience in the family violence sector, she has worked across frontline practice, high-risk family violence responses, service quality and statewide operational leadership. She has contributed to sector and system-level reform through involvement in peak body advisory groups and collaboration with government. Her work focuses on improving service delivery and strengthening responses for victim-survivors of family violence.
