Growing stronger systems of support: Recommendations from the field of Domestic and Family Violence Specialist Support

In our second and final learning report from Paul Ramsay Foundation’s DFV Special Grants Round Learning Network, we explore what system level actions connect and strengthen the field of specialist DFV support, and the ideas and actions that colleagues from the network would like to see happen to strengthen responses to specialist cohorts and communities in Australia. We also reflect on the rich benefits that embedding collective learning in funding rounds offers, bringing multiple initiatives together around a shared priority or area of action to spark new relationships, ideas and actions.

About the grant round and learning network

In September 2023, in partnership with the Australian Communities Foundation (ACF), Paul Ramsay Foundation (PRF) committed a total of $13.6 million in funding to 58 organisations working with key cohorts and communities affected by DFV. These grants aimed to engage specialist support services working with specific groups, including First Nations communities, children, migrant and refugee communities, rural and remote communities, pregnant women, LGBTIQA+ communities, single mothers, women with a disability, and perpetrators and users of violence.

Alongside making a financial contribution to the specialist support field, PRF and ACF established two networks to connect participating organisations and generate ‘field level’ insights and recommendations.

Over the past year, Innovation Unit has engaged with 31 non-First Nations-led organisations who work with a range of specialist cohorts and communities, while ResearchCrowd (an independent, community-controlled research agency) has convened a group of 27 First Nations-led organisations. ResearchCrowd’s report from their network, Potential for Change
At the Intersection of Philanthropy and the Landscape of First Nations Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Service Providers, can be found here.

What did we learn?

In our first learning report, we explored how the DFV field was faring against five components that are crucial to field-building as set out in the Strong Field Framework by Bridgespan Group, and the emerging practices and opportunities that deserve a stronger focus in the field.

In our second report, we dive deeper into the system level opportunities for change to propose ten steps for transformation that network members believe can enhance the field’s impact. These steps are:

1. Ensure reliable funding
2. Enable cohort and community leadership
3. Address hidden burdens and unfair dynamics
4. Prioritise community-based responses
5. Remove barriers to collaboration
6. Grow capacity beyond delivery
7. Provide flexible funding for relational working
8. nInvest in strategic learning and support emergence
9. Support replication and scale
10. Develop wider workforce relationships and capabilities.

You can read more about these steps in the full report, along with what features of great practice best support people who are experiencing and recovering from DFV, and the specific ideas and actions that colleagues from the network would like to see happen to strengthen responses to specialist cohorts and communities in Australia.

The power of collective learning

There are many barriers to collaboration across localities and service systems, and few incentives. At the same time, most of the ideas that excite colleagues involve time to connect more deeply with others working on shared challenges. Members of the DFV Special Cohorts network want to grow their capacity to work systemically, with communities and across organisational boundaries, and strengthen the great work they already do by joining up with others who are focussed on the same goal of violence prevention.

Colleagues in the network report that participation brought new knowledge, new relationships and new value into their work. They also reflect that contributing to field learning seemed likely to yield more value than conventional grant reporting, with its tick box requirements and project reviews that few would read.

We hope that funders and governments, and others with convening power, continue to explore models for collective learning and action in areas of urgent public need, such as DFV prevention.

Please reach out to us if you’d like to talk about facilitating collective learning across places, fields and systems, and how we might take the insights in these learning reports forward into action.