Module 8: Putting it all into practice

So before we begin, we would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land in which we are meeting on today.

I am joining you from the lands of the Quandamooka people. And I am on Ngunnawal and Ngambri country So we would like to acknowledge their ongoing connection to land, sea, and community, and pay our respects to elders past, present, and emerging. So we’d like to, remind and really encourage people to look after yourself during the module today.

We will be referencing experiences of violence. So please take a break if you need to, and of course, stop the training as well, if that is something that is needed for you today. reach out for support if you’d like to discuss anything that we talk about in the training today. 1800 RESPECT is a nationwide counseling service.

Their number is one eight hundred seven three seven seven three two. So we have got workbooks to use today. This will be the last activity of the, modules. So as always, these have been developed to support learning and reflection throughout the training. the workbook today is coming up at the end of the module.

So we will encourage you and let you know when it’s time to pause the training and complete your questions. if you haven’t found it already, the workbook can be found, on the page where you found the training, and can be downloaded and saved to your computer. So what we’ll be talking about in module eight.

So today is where we put it all together. So in the next few slides, we’ll be looking at and defining what a trauma-informed support worker does and define what a trauma-informed organization does. So everything that you’ll be seeing today, as always, has come from the co-production meetings in which, people with a disability and workers were sharing what they would like to see from support workers.

But today, most of the, the information that you’ll be hearing has come from people with a disability. so we worked with the people with a wide range of disabilities in our project, and this is what they want to see from support workers when supporting someone who has a disability after an experience of violence.

We will then talk through some of the resources that we’ve been discussing throughout the modules, where to find them, in hope that these will be helpful for you, in your role as a support worker. And just acknowledging once again that we are using a combination of person-first language and identity-first language.

Different people have different preferences. I prefer identity first, for example. but there isn’t consensus within the community at this point. So as long as you’re using the language, that Your client prefers, then should be good. we hope that you’ve been with us throughout the whole journey.

what does all of this mean for my practice, and what are some really practical things that you can take away from what we’ve been talking about over the last eight modules? so this, quote has come from a, this is one of the only ones actually that’s come from a disability support, from a disability sector worker.

So their tip was, considering your positions in someone’s life as a catalyst for change and support rather than power over a person. So again, I thought this one really nicely summarizes what we’ve been talking about through all of our modules around the type of role, the important role that a support worker plays in people’s lives around supporting, change, supporting understanding, supporting decision-making.

And the key word is supporting. So that’s not taking over, it’s not making decisions for, it’s not taking power or control away from people, but walking alongside rather than, doing for someone. It’s, supporting them to, do the things that they want to do, make the decisions that feel best for them in the moment.

So really considering that as a support worker, that these are the things we’re doing, rather than taking over and taking away someone’s power. Okay. So we’re going to start off by looking at the qualities of a good trauma-informed support worker according to, disabled people in this project. So first of all- A good support worker knows about the person’s disability and how it impacts their life, and that can be many facets of their life.

A good support worker also understands that people with a disability are not the same, and this includes people with the same type of disability. there is a famous quote that says, “When you meet one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” just because you know an autistic person super-duper well, that doesn’t mean you know anything about this other autistic person here or this one over here.

the same conditions look completely different in different people. and that goes for all disabilities, physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, so we’re not making assumptions, based on just a label. a good support worker also understands that disabled people may experience overlapping forms of discrimination and inequality depending on their other intersecting identities.

So this is intersectionality that we talked about in module two. Testing me here. but yeah, intersectionality, knowing that different, marginalized identities can- Compound disadvantage. It’s greater than the sum of its parts. Good support workers also understand that people with disability are at a greater risk of experiencing domestic, family, and sexual violence.

We saw some really high statistics in those early modules around the incidents of violence for disabled people. Trauma-informed support workers also understand that a single experience of trauma may have ongoing impacts that can last for a very, long time or a shorter time. Again, it depends on the individual.

But there can certainly be ongoing impacts. good support workers are also thinking about accessibility within their work. So what does this individual client need or, your support to be accessible, and how does that differ from this client over here? So again, it’s all about the individual and not making assumptions or taking shortcuts ’cause, oh, they’re probably like this other person I saw last week or whatever.

trauma-informed support workers know that people have good days and bad days. That can be because of trauma. That can be because of their disability. That could be they just didn’t get a good night’s sleep last night. All kinds of things. people fluctuate, in their capacity and their mood, and all of that is okay.

Good support workers know who to refer to, specialist services, and they understand that referring is an important part of the role, because the t- the support worker role does not extend all the way through to counseling and all of these other things that need to happen. So good support workers understand their role and also the limits of their role And good support workers know when to reach out for help.

As we keep saying, you do not need to do this on your own. You shouldn’t do this on your own. know your limits, know your boundaries, and reach out for help earlier rather than later. Good trauma-informed support workers build strong relationships with each client, and these relationships have a base of trust, accountability, and transparency.

This is, yeah, we, I think most support workers would agree that relationships are fundamental to everything else. Good support workers listen and validate, and they ask the person what they want. They’re also asking for consent. So whether that’s to do with decisions, whether that’s to do with sharing information, they’re asking for consent.

And in terms of decisions, good support workers are not making decisions for the client or telling them what the, correct course of action should be. They are there to facilitate the individual making that decision, by explaining consequences, by providing different ways of sharing the information, and so on.

Good support workers support their client to share their access needs with other services, because we know if the individual can’t be their full self and access everything they need to in that service, they’re probably not going to get the service they need or be as fully supported as they should be.

Good support workers are always looking for that balance between encouraging people and, at the same time, respecting people’s choices. And as we’ve said, that can feel tricky when you really think they should take a particular course of action. but it’s about respecting their choice because they generally do have the capacity to make decisions.

And a good support worker is culturally safe. So again, a lot of that is around building relationships, but knowing, what cultural safety means for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, ensuring that, those cultural safety things are in place. So we will now look at what a trauma-informed organization looks like So a trauma-informed organization has an understanding of trauma and the way it impacts people’s lives.

So understands that what a support worker might see as a presenting behavior on one day might look different the other way, the next day, apologies. So support workers to understand this, to debrief, to look at ways of supporting that are different depending on, the person in front of them on the day or the hour.

So organizations support their staff to have this understanding Understands what drives domestic, family, and sexual violence against people with a disability and prioritize combating these drivers in all levels of organizational practice. So if you haven’t had a chance to have a look at this module, please go and have a look at module two where we look at the drivers of violence for people who have a disability.

But there are things that everybody can be doing in the community to help prevent violence against people with a disability. So these are things like considering assumption, the assumptions and stereotypes we might hold around people who have a disability, considering our thoughts around people with a disability making their own decisions.

So a trauma-informed organization has these understandings and has things within their organization to combat this. So that might be a policy around supported decision-making. It might be training around disability. It might be training around the drivers of violence against people with disability. So having a good understanding of that.

I think a good organization is really aware that working with trauma, supporting people who’ve had an experience of trauma, is very, can be very emotionally difficult. we know that, a lot of, support workers or workers in more caring roles are women, are more likely to be women. We know that domestic, family, and sexual violence is a gendered violence, so more likely to happen to women or non, gender-diverse people.

So has, is, has an or- this, a good trauma-informed organization has this awareness and has policies and procedures to support their staff if they are personally being triggered by some of the stories that they are hearing, or if they’re experiencing burnout or other, vicarious trauma because of the, stories that they’re hearing or the support that they are providing.

Knows what’s happening for the clients. So supervisors and, people who are in management leading their teams are aware of what’s happening on the ground, are aware of the person who is currently in a domestic and family violence relationship and is being supported by a support worker. Things can change really quickly.

A support worker might need to debrief and, have that person be available to talk through what has happened on that day, to talk through some of the things that they’ve discussed with that person. So being really aware what’s happening on the ground for your staff, but for the people that they’re supporting.

so we’ve covered this already a little bit, but I think offering and being accessible for debriefing opportunities at, at all time. We at WWILD, we have quite formal supervision, but a lot of what we do is offering informal support for people who’ve had a difficult conversation with someone, who’ve witnessed something very distressing.

So we need to be providing support for each other, so we can be the best supporters that we can be. So reaches out for support from specialist services, from the human, Human Rights Commission. So these, if, types of, if somebody is requiring support around domestic and family violence, it is likely that there will need to be other services involved.

So whether that’s because the person has decided that’s something that they want to enact, or if it’s an emergency, situation where there needs to be other services brought in. but, I don’t believe, and more importantly, the people that I was talking to don’t believe, that this should be managed in-house.

because I think there needs to be a specialist lens around providing options and information for the person. Is interested in building relationships with services outside of their sector. If we think about the incredibly high rates of violence that people with a disability are experiencing, having your staff have an awareness of different services, how to make referrals, what they do, is incredibly important.

And vice versa, for the specialist services to have an awareness of disability support and what that looks like can also be incredibly helpful. So I think, there’s a tendency, I think, sometimes for different sectors to stay in their silos and not be working together. but we know and people are telling us that there needs to be more collaboration and more partnerships between the two Encourages staff to use an intersectional approach within their practice and support them to understand what this means.

So I think Tess really, her, the way she summarized this is in an earlier module. people that you’re supporting aren’t just coming, as a person with a disability one day and a gender first, person another day. Intersection, intersecting identities are make up somebody who they are.

And so there needs to be a support that understands that, understands the challenges because of the different identities or the discrimination and what that means when accessing services, when accessing the community and able to provide a support that, is for that person on that day. Is culturally safe.

So we’ve talked about support workers being culturally safe. It’s also about organizations being culturally safe. So that might be when the person walks in having a space that feels physically safe, knowing that staff have received training around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, have opportunities to reflect on their own assumptions or biases or thoughts, or just have discussions around this, is very important.

So it has really clear policies and procedures to inform staff around recognizing, responding, and referring people who have a disability. Ensures that these policies consider the client’s right to be in control and make their own decisions after an experience of violence, but also un-unpacks that there are times when there needs to be an emergency response and is really clear about when those times are, what that looks like, who they can reach out to for support.

So this should be something that all support workers are aware of, so can enact this really quickly without needing to find this information or call the, the person who’s unavailable at the time. So ensures all staff participate in training around supporting people who have a disability and experience domestic, family, and sexual violence.

So these modules are free. They are available to all support workers. and this could be a really, encouraging support workers and making time for them to do this within their work time is a, would be a wonderful way to improve knowledge and skills and encouraging the workbook participation as well.

So there’s a chance to apply what’s been learnt. Ensure staff participate in cultural safety training, so have an understanding of what that means when we’re talking about that. Have an understanding of the history for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia, of colonization and the ongoing impacts of colonization.

So training is incredibly important for professional development, to feel really valued as an employee, and therefore to provide a support to people that is evidence-based, and in this case, trauma informed. So as we come to the end of our training, we would like you to open your workbooks to the questions for module eight, which is really an opportunity for you to reflect on your own practice and reflect on your organization and identify, what’s already going well and some areas that, you could look at developing.

So for yourself, what are five things that you are currently doing as a support worker, five things that you’re currently doing well? question two: what are three things you will start doing to improve the way that you support disabled people? And question three for you as an individual support worker, is there anything that we’ve covered in the various modules that is still feeling a bit tricky, a bit difficult to do within your role?

If so, where will you go to get some support or to find out more? So three questions to reflect on for yourself, and then we have two questions to reflect on your organization. What are three things that your organization does well in supporting disabled people who have experienced violence? And what are two ideas you could share with your management team around improving responses to disabled people who have an experience of violence?

So some really interesting things that I think to reflect on, about your role and the strengths that you already do have as a support worker, and what you can build on for the future. So pause here, take some time to reflect and get your thoughts down. It’s almost like a plan of action moving forward.

and we’ll see you in a minute to wrap up. So we’d like to just spend a couple of minutes, sharing some more information around the various resources that we’ve discussed throughout the modules or things that we think, you might find helpful within your practice. So first, we have the Speak Up and Be Safe From Abuse communication toolkit and resources.

So the link is listed here,

so www.speakupandbesafe.com.au. So these were discussed in module five, I believe. So when we’re talking about, identifying violence and starting to have those conversations with people. There are communication boards. There are resources around how to use the communication boards with people who have communication difficulties and are requiring, other tools to be able to express themselves.

So these can be downloaded. there is training around how to use these appropriately. So we really encourage you to go and familiarize yourself with this site and these resources Women’s Legal Service also have some wonderful easy-read content that also can be downloaded from their websites. This is Women’s Legal Service in the ACT.

So they have, resources around understanding what domestic and family violence is. so looking at the different types of violence, the different relationships that might be included in domestic and family violence legislation. So these are really wonderful resources that have been developed for people who require easy English.

This might be people who have an intellectual disability, or it could also be helpful for people who have low literacy, or perhaps English isn’t their first language. so these also can be downloaded from their website So Our Watch Changing the Landscape was something that we’ve referenced very early on when we were looking at why there are such high rates of violence against people who have a disability.

So their resource Changing the Landscape goes into a lot more detail around the drivers of violence for women and girls who have a disability. They also have on their website a number of really helpful, resources. They have a resource around, preventing violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

They have a whole lot of information as a prevention, organization. So I’d really encourage you, if you’re looking for more of that type of information, to have a look at their resources. So another really helpful resource would be the La Trobe Support for Decision Making Practice Framework. So we were referencing this document in module seven where we looked at supported decision-making.

So this will go into what we discussed in a lot more depth and provide a lot more examples as to how to, support someone in a supported decision-making capacity. The Zoe Belle Gender Collective would also be a really important place to go. this organization supports gender diverse and trans people.

They are an advocacy service in Victoria. Their website has a range of resources that you can look at. They do also offer training. so this would be, a resource to further your knowledge around trans and gender diverse people. The Sunny App we spoke about in module five. So this is a free app that has been developed by one in hundred Respect alongside people who have a disability, and this app can be used around, people writing down their experience of knowledge or having a place to keep, sorry, experience of knowledge, experience of violence, having a place to record experiences of violence.

they have resources around understanding domestic and family violence, consent, other forms of violence. So could also be used, as an education tool So we’ve also got the resources that WWILD and alongside, people with a disability and sector, specialists in the ACT have put together. So they’re responding to domestic family and sexual violence referral pathways document.

So this will take you through, different options depending on what a person would like to do after an experience of violence. and there is also a document that lists the organizations in the ACT that support people who have a disability and have experienced violence. So this document shares what each organization does and how you can refer, so provides some information around referral tips.

So that brings us to the end of module eight and the end of the module series. So we really hope that you’ve joined us throughout our whole module journey. so congratulations, you have completed all the modules, and we really would like to thank you for your time, for joining us, taking the time out of your day, out of your work.

We know that there may be some people who are doing these modules out of work time. so we want to thank you for, taking the time to learn about this incredibly important topic. We hope that it has been very helpful and has provided some knowledge and skills to help you, provide support to people who have a disability and have experienced domestic, family, and sexual violence.

So thank you very much