The Safe & Together: An Introduction to the Model for Independent Children's Lawyers e-course developed by the Safe & Together Institute in collaboration with National Legal Aid's Independent Children’s Lawyer Program is now live on the new national ICL website.
The e-course has been custom-designed for ICLs across Australia and follows the adoption in 2021 by the FCFCOA of the Safe & Together Institute’s whole-of-court training package.
Designed to challenge ICLs to shift their perspective around cases involving allegations of domestic and family violence (DFV) using the FCFCOA endorsed Safe & Together Model's framework, the course empowers ICLs to advocate for children’s best interests using a trauma and DFV-informed lens to identify protective parenting, coercive control and the impacts of family violence on children.
The e-course is an in-depth, comprehensive three-module program which goes beyond theory, offering practical, interactive activities to enhance learning and knowledge retention. The modules address the following topics:
- Module 1: The Safe & Together Model for ICLs – Setting the Stage
- Module 2: The Safe & Together Model
- Module 3: The Model and Your Work
Designed to maximise engagement and to facilitate practical application, the modules incorporate ICL derived case studies, current DFV statistics from Australia and globally, insights from the latest social science research, including access to valuable handouts, such as course summaries, fact sheets, key statistical findings, and pertinent social science papers from leading global DFV experts.
Available exclusively to ICLs across Australia on the ICL website, we are pleased to also extend access to Child Representatives across Care & Protection jurisdictions nationwide. Simply log in with your work email address. You will be prompted to reset your password to access the course. For support, contact the National ICL Program team at iclwebsite@legalaid.nsw.gov.au.
Sincerely,
National ICL Program Team