Primary Health Network Collaboration
The Safer Families Centre aims to work closely with Primary Health Networks (PHNs) to deliver domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) training to primary care.
Recognising the important role of primary care in identifying and responding to DFSV, the Australian Government invests in strengthening the capability of the primary care workforce through research, education and implementation initiatives. Safer Families Centre has played a key role in supporting this work through evidence-informed research, education, partnerships with PHNs and other key stakeholders, and evaluation of approaches to strengthen primary care responses to DFSV.
Our partnerships with PHNs
The Safer Families Centre partners with a range of PHNs to design, deliver and evaluate DFSV education and implementation initiatives tailored to local workforce and community needs. Beyond training delivery, our work with PHNs ranges from implementation planning, practice change, evaluation and the development of sustainable, locally responsive models that embed best practice DFSV responses within primary care.
Safer Families Centre has worked closely with North Western Melbourne PHN for over a decade in the development and implementation of innovative primary care responses to DFSV. During 2026–27, we continue to partner with Primary Health Tasmania to strengthen the response to DFSV in Tasmania through Pathways to Safety workshops and collaborative learning opportunities.
Through Australian Government funding, Safer Families Centre partnered with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), Blue Knot Foundation and Phoenix Australia to deliver The Readiness Program. Alongside this national education initiative, we worked closely with PHNs to promote workforce participation and ensure equitable access to evidence-informed DFSV training, with a particular focus on catchments where there was not an Australian Government Supporting Primary Care PHN pilot in operation, to give every primary care provider an opportunity to participate in DFSV training.
The Australian Government further committed funding to Safer Families Centre to deliver DFSV training to Medicare Urgent Care Clinics where we are working closely with PHNs to ensure smooth implementation.
Our partnerships with PHNs extend well beyond training delivery. We have a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges involved in embedding sustainable, system-wide responses across diverse primary care settings.
We welcome opportunities to partner with PHNs across Australia through initiatives such as:
Intensive virtual practice-centred training through the Pathways to Safety program.
Flexible online learning modules.
Tailored workshops and education designed to meet local workforce and community needs.
Implementation support and consultation to strengthen organisational and system responses.
Evaluation and research partnerships to inform continuous improvement.
Custom education and implementation initiatives developed in partnership with individual PHNs.
Training and implementation support can be delivered through commissioned projects, funded initiatives or on a fee-for-service basis.
If your PHN is interested in partnering with us to strengthen primary care responses to DFSV, we would be pleased to discuss your needs. Please contact the Safer Families Centre Manager at simone.gleeson@unimelb.edu.au.
National Advisory Group for Primary Care Responses to DFSV
The Safer Families Centre convenes the National Advisory Group for Primary Care Responses to Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence. The group provides a national forum for collaboration and strategy, bringing together expertise from primary care, PHNs, DFSV services, government, peak bodies, partner organisations and people with lived expertise. The Advisory Group functions to foster collaboration, strengthen stakeholder engagement, reduce duplication across initiatives, and identify opportunities to connect and complement research, education and implementation activities across the primary care sector.
The National Advisory Group provides a platform to support the translation, dissemination and consideration of future implementation opportunities arising from research, while promoting greater national consistency and collaboration across the sector. This includes the potential to support shared approaches to DFSV education, benchmarking of curriculum content and training methods, and the development of communities of practice.
Members represent key stakeholders with expertise in primary care responses to DFSV. Membership includes representatives from primary care organisations and professional groups, Primary Health Networks, general practice, primary health care nursing, organisations with expertise in culturally safe and responsive practice, people with lived expertise, domestic, family and sexual violence services, partner organisations, and relevant government departments.
The Advisory Group meets approximately three times each year and plays an important role in connecting research, policy and practice to strengthen primary care responses to DFSV nationwide. If you wish to find out more about the Advisory group, please contact safer-families@unimelb.edu.au
North West Melbourne PHN talks here about how the Safer Families Centre’s Pathways to Safety program sustainably builds capacity within primary to respond to domestic, family and sexual violence.