Family Violence Policy

This policy is about how Yarra Valley Water can support customers affected by family violence. 

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 000. 

If you need family violence counselling, information or general support, call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732). 

1. Purpose

At Yarra Valley Water, we recognise that family violence is a widespread and serious issue that causes great harm. It has significant impacts on the health, wellbeing and functioning of individuals, families and the community. It is illegal. 

This policy explains Yarra Valley Water’s approach to supporting customers affected by family violence. The policy is guided by essential services sector best practice in supporting customers experiencing family violence and has been developed in consultation with specialist family violence organisations and survivor advocates with lived experience of family violence.

2. Scope

This policy applies to customers affected by family violence. It applies to all customers, regardless of whether they choose to, or are unable to, disclose their circumstances to us. 

3. Policy Statement

We condemn the use of violence in all forms. We take a zero-tolerance approach to the misuse of our water and sewerage services to perpetrate family violence, including financial abuse. 

As an essential service provider, we actively support customers and employees affected by family violence and their safety is our top priority. We focus on creating a safe environment for customers by: 

• Continually strengthening our operations to prevent the misuse of our services for abuse and control.
• Actively supporting customers impacted by family violence and ensuring our staff receive appropriate training and support.
• Training employees to manage interactions with people using violence to ensure the privacy, safety and confidentiality of customers experiencing family violence are protected.
• Making sure that if an employee or contractor becomes aware that water services or accounts are being used in ways that harm a victim survivor (such as through financial abuse or control) we will take all reasonable, respectful and practical steps to stop the misuse, prioritising the safety of the person affected and working to prevent further harm.

We understand that family violence can happen to anyone, can come in many forms, and can occur in all types of relationships. However, women and children are particularly impacted by family violence and other factors such as inequality and discrimination can amplify family violence for marginalised communities and impact their access to support.

We also understand that it may be challenging for customers affected by family violence to reach out to us about their circumstances – especially if they’re unsure how they’ll be treated or feel uncomfortable contacting an organisation with which they’re less familiar. We proactively seek to have confidential and respectful conversations with our customers so they can easily and quickly access the support they need. We are committed to building our customers’ awareness of, and confidence in, the support we can provide. 

Along with the government, corporate and community sectors, we all have a responsibility to work together to support people affected by family violence and collaborate on the long-term systemic change needed to build a future free from family violence.

4. Responsibilities

This policy and associated programs are based on a shared responsibility between us and our customers.

The Yarra Valley Water Board has overall responsibility of the Family Violence Policy, and senior management is accountable for setting the strategic direction, operation and management of the policy and programs. This ensures we maintain a strong focus on supporting customers affected by family violence. 

Supporting customers experiencing family violence or financial difficulty is a shared responsibility by many teams across our organisation – from strategic policy and system design and process planning to marketing, communications, learning and development and frontline customer-facing roles.

We encourage customers to engage with us and let us know when circumstances change - as soon as they feel comfortable or safe to do so. This allows us to work together to identify and offer a range of support options that best meet their needs. 

To meet the requirements of this policy and the Essential Services Commission’s (ESC) Water Industry Standard, we may also place specific obligations on our partners, suppliers and contractors. 

We also work with organisations that share our values and we expect our partners, suppliers, and contractors to consider their role in responding to and preventing family violence. The Victorian Government’s Social Procurement Framework helps to ensure our suppliers are aligned to our expectations in this area.

5. Guiding Principles

In supporting our customers who are impacted by family violence, we will: 

• Keep customer information private and secure, in line with our Privacy Policy. If a customer tells us they’re experiencing family violence, we will offer to put extra account protections in place.

• We take people at their word. We do not require proof, and we will do our best to make sure customers don’t have to repeat their story. 

• Listen with empathy, treat customers with respect, and respond in ways that support customer safety, wellbeing and dignity, especially if they’re experiencing family violence. 

• Actively promote how we support customers impacted by family violence and make getting support as timely and easy as possible. We understand that everyone’s situation is different, and some people face more barriers to getting support, so we’ll tailor our response to meet their needs. 

• Offer to connect customers with our WaterCare Support Team, a specially trained team who can listen, help with complex situations and work with customers on support options that prioritise safety.

• Design our products and services with safety in mind, so that even if a customer can’t or doesn’t want to tell us about their experience of violence, they can still get the support they need. 

• Work with customers on flexible payment options, debt support and other help if they’re experiencing family violence (as detailed in our Customer Support Policy).

• Not reduce water flow, refer to debt collectors, take legal action or add extra fees if a customer is experiencing family violence and actively engaging with us. 

• Train staff to identify and respond with care and understanding and offer to connect customers with specialist family violence support services if needed.

 

6. Family Violence Support

6.1 How customers can access support

Single point of entry - minimising repeat disclosures of family violence
If a customer is affected by family violence, we encourage them to call our WaterCare Support Team directly on 1800 637 316.

Our dedicated phone line ensures customers have one point of contact with our WaterCare Support Team. The team is specially trained and understands that customers affected by family violence need to:

• Feel safe and have time to consider their options. 

• Have their privacy protected.

• Feel listened to and not have to repeat their story each time they call.

• Link into specialised support networks. 

• Receive financial support and assistance. 

Accessibility
It’s important that customers can talk to us in the way they prefer. Customers who are Deaf or hard of hearing can access:

• TTY/Voice calls: call 133 677

• Speak and Listen: call 1300 555 727

• National Relay Service: visit accesshub.gov.au.

Customers who would like to speak to us in a language other than English can: 

• Call our free interpreter service on 9046 4173: Monday to Friday, 8:30 am – 5 pm.

• Access translated information on the services we provide in 23 languages. View translations onlne.

• Call 1800 637 316 to request a copy of this policy in another language. 

We believe our customers when they tell us about family violence, and we respect their choices
To ensure customers are safe and to avoid adding stress to an already complex situation, we don’t require proof of family violence. 

6.2 Protecting customer privacy, safety, and confidential information 

We securely handle customer information in line with our privacy policy and relevant legislation. Our Privacy Policy is available on our website. We actively monitor and review this policy and associated procedures to ensure we are actively managing both existing and emerging privacy risks.

We understand it is critical that customers affected by family violence feel confident about the security and confidentiality of their personal information, and that they are not at risk of having their information disclosed to the person using violence.

This is particularly important when there is, or has been, a joint account holder and there is a risk that the person using violence may have access to personal information to get through routine privacy protections and obtain new contact details of the victim survivor. When we’re aware of these situations, we offer to provide more secure processes and procedures that aim to identify and define controls to protect customers from potential privacy and security risks (as outlined below). 

Our website’s family violence pages feature ‘quick exit’ buttons to protect customers’ safety when accessing sensitive information. 

Safety flag – an additional level of security
We offer customers the choice to place a safety flag on any account where they, or their family, are at risk of family violence. The safety flag means only the WaterCare Support Team can see the account details. It also means customers can’t self-register for our online account system, ensuring that we apply an additional level of privacy protection. 

The safety flag is an extra reminder to staff that personal information on the account is sensitive and can only be discussed with the customer once additional points of identification are verified.

Additional privacy and identification checks   
In addition to our standard 3-point identification check, customers can choose to add extra security measures to enhance their privacy and safety. These additional measures are tailored to the customer’s individual needs and may be a combination of verbal, digital or online security measures. For example:

• a password

• secret question and answer

• SMS verification

• email verification.

 

For customers who don’t have regular digital access, you can contact our WaterCare Support Team directly, on 1800 637 316 to identify privacy controls suitable for your circumstances.

Immediate safety risk - Contact Triple Zero (000)
If there’s an immediate safety concern or risk for customers or their family, including children, or staff, we’ll call 000 and request police support.

6.3 Financial assistance available 

We understand family violence can lead to, or increase, financial challenges for customers which can cause difficulties paying bills. 

Access to our WaterCare Customer Support and Hardship program 
Customers affected by family violence will be offered support available under our Customer Support Policy, regardless of whether they disclose that they’re affected by family violence. 

WaterCare Support Case Managers are trained in family violence and will offer to tailor support programs to suit customers’ individual circumstances. These supports may include:

• Affordable and flexible payment arrangements.
• Support with debt.
• Access to government grants in accordance with business rules.
• Referrals to external support networks including free and confidential financial counselling and specialist family violence organisations when needed.
• Protection from further debt recovery action regarding their water and sewerage bill.

We’re committed to working with customers to identify the support options that best meet their needs and encourage customers to contact us when their circumstances change. While customers are engaging with WaterCare Support programs, we will not:

• Refer their account to external debt collectors.
• Restrict their water supply.
• Take legal action.
• Impose any other debt collection costs on their account.

Support with debt
We provide additional support and assistance for customers affected by family violence who are left with debt. We may waive all or part of their debt based on several factors, including:

• The debt amount.

• The circumstances in which the debt was incurred (including if it was incurred because of financial abuse).

• Whether the debt should have been raised. 

• The payment assistance options that have been (or could be) effective.

• The customer’s personal circumstances and capacity to pay the debt.

If customers’ circumstances change, their WaterCare Support Case Manager will work with them to ensure that the debt assistance also changes as required.

Joint accounts 
Jointly held accounts can be misused by people using violence by, for example, avoiding responsibility for debts, running up water costs and leaving their partners, former partners or family members with substantial liabilities.

Customers with joint accounts who are left with debt may face additional barriers to accessing support, particularly where the other person on the account is using violence. Barriers include not having access to financial information, being unaware of a debt, and being apprehensive about the risk of contact with the person using violence. 

To remove these barriers and ensure customers impacted by family violence with joint accounts can access the same support as other customers, our WaterCare Support Team will:

• Take steps to protect and keep the customer’s personal information confidential from other people on the account.

• Ensure customers can access support without having any contact with the person using violence.

• Offer the same tailored support for customers to manage debt on joint accounts as we do with individual accounts.

6.4 Providing referrals to expert support networks

Our staff are trained in family violence, but they’re not experts in family violence and they’re not equipped to provide counselling to customers. Given the complexity of issues that can face customers affected by family violence, specialist family violence referrals are critical. 

We recognise we are well placed to provide information to customers regarding appropriate referral pathways. With the customer’s consent, our team will offer to refer them to specialist partners using a referral form and arrange for the partner to contact the customer directly. This includes:

• Referrals to family violence support services. 
  Our staff have access to several support services and their contact details. We’ll also offer to refer customers affected by family violence to specialist support networks and resources as outlined in the referrals section at the end of this policy. 

• Referrals to other support services.
  We can provide an assisted referral customers experiencing family violence to free and independent financial counselling and other services in line with our Customer Support Policy, which is available on our website.

• Referrals to One Stop One Story (OSOS) Hub.

  We can refer customers to many community and corporate services through the OSOS Hub. This enables customers to access support programs at other partner organisations without the need to re-tell their story.

6.5 Ongoing training and awareness for all staff

We provide training and resources for all our staff to gain awareness and understanding of family violence, alongside relevant policies and processes on an ongoing basis.

In addition, we have processes in place to identify all relevant staff that have a role in implementing family violence policy and related policies and procedures in supporting customers affected by family violence.

We also provide customer-facing staff with additional training. This includes recognising the signs of family violence, responding to and supporting customers affected by family violence appropriately, how to design systems and processes to minimise the risk of harm, internal processes we undertake to protect the privacy and safety of customers, and how to use our family violence policy and related policies and procedures. 

6.6 Dispute resolution

To protect customers’ rights, we have escalation procedures to manage customer complaints regarding this policy.

This includes providing customers with information about our dispute resolution policy, which ensures our customers receive a consistent, efficient, professional and fair service when they have a complaint, and their right to lodge a complaint with the Energy and Water Ombudsman. 

7. Communicating Support Options to Customers

We need to make sure our Family Violence Policy is clear and can be easily accessed so affected customers can get assistance quickly and easily when they need it. 

We raise awareness with customers by:

• Promoting support available to customers, community and advocate organisations and other service providers. 

• Providing information about available assistance and referral pathways on our website, including in different languages.

• Promoting the WaterCare direct phone number for customers and the community organisations supporting them.

• Including our Family Violence Policy on our website and at our office and providing it to customers and community organisations (including in a different language) upon request.

8. A Whole of Organisation Approach

We recognise that our staff may also be affected by family violence. 

To support staff experiencing family violence, we provide training, family violence leave, referrals to specialist family violence services and counselling and safety planning as required. 

We provide training and resources for all employees and managers. These are detailed in our internal Family Violence Employee Guidelines YVWCD-2-7122 and Family Violence Manager Support Guidelines YVWCD-2-7123.

Managers of customer-facing staff are also trained to support staff who are affected by, or at risk of being affected by, vicarious trauma from helping customers affected by family violence. 

9. Attestation, Compliance and Monitoring

Upholding this policy protects the safety and wellbeing of customers. It is guided by the Water Industry Standard and sector best practice for supporting customers experiencing family violence. 

We are committed to improving our understanding and response to family violence and this includes collaborating with specialist organisations and people with lived experience to ensure our policies and practices remain appropriate. We also actively support preventative measures by addressing the underlying causes, mainly through our work to promote gender equality. To ensure compliance, we’ve established monitoring and reporting mechanisms that progress and guide continuous improvement. These include:

• Regular review and implementation of this policy - in accordance with section 11 of the Water Industry Standard.  
• Adhering to the Essential Services Commission reporting requirements and obligations to self-report non-compliance or potential non-compliance.

• Regulatory audits against the Water Industry Standard. 

• Establishment of a Program Control Board and dedicated risk-based program to strengthen our technology, processes and policies to support customers impacted by family violence and mitigate the risk of people using our systems to perpetrate violence.

10. Key Related Documents and References

Water Industry Standard – Urban Customer Service Version 4 incorporating amendments as at 1 July 2024	Essential Services Commission
Water Industry Act 1994	Victorian Government
Privacy & Data Protection Act 2014	Victorian Government
Health Records Act 2001	Victorian Government
Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006	Victorian Government
Gender Equality Act 2018	Victorian Government
Fair Work Act 2009	Australian Government
Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004	Victorian Government
Personal Safety Intervention Orders Act 2010	Victorian Government
Sex Discrimination Act 1984	Australian Government
Yarra Valley Water Enterprise Agreement	Yarra Valley Water
Residential Customer Charter	Yarra Valley Water
People Strategy: Better for being here	Yarra Valley Water
Privacy Policy	Yarra Valley Water
Customer Support Policy	Yarra Valley Water
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy	Yarra Valley Water
Code of Conduct	Yarra Valley Water

11. Review and Revision

We recognise that a collaborative and integrated response is essential to bring about long-term systemic change, and we work together with government, corporate and community sectors to support people affected by family violence. 

Yarra Valley Water is a partner in the Thriving Communities Australia and Respect & Protect initiatives, which allows collaboration across a number of related sectors and areas of expertise, ensuring our approaches to addressing and reducing the impacts of family violence are coordinated and reinforced, and most importantly, put our customers first.

The Board or delegated Committee, along with the Executive team, will monitor the effectiveness of this policy and related procedures. The Board will review this policy and the support available to customers every year, or sooner if needed, to adapt to developments in better practice, business circumstances or regulations. Changes to the policy are to be approved by the Board.

Appendix 1 - Definitions/Terminology

Family violence (also known as domestic abuse or intimate relationship violence)	Family violence is recognised as any behaviour that occurs in family, domestic or intimate relationships that is physically or sexually abusive; emotionally or psychologically abusive; economically abusive; threatening or coercive; or is in any other way controlling and causes a person to live in fear for their safety or wellbeing, or that of another person.  This definition includes violence within a broader family context, such as extended families, kinship networks and family of choice relationships which can include a paid or unpaid carer for people with disabilities; families of choice; and kinship networks.  In relation to children, family violence is defined as behaviour by any person that causes a child to hear or witness or otherwise be exposed to the effects of the behaviour. Family violence involves patterns of coercive, controlling and abusive behaviours by the perpetrator and makes the victim survivor fear for their own or someone else’s safety and wellbeing. Family violence can take many forms, none of which are mutually exclusive. It can include physical, sexual (including forced sex work), psychological (including insults, gaslighting, stalking or threats (including threats to visa status and sponsorship as well as specific experiences for LGBTIQA+ communities such as transmisogyny and threats to out someone), emotional, technological, spiritual (misusing faith or beliefs to control and shame) and financial/economic (controlling money or creating debt) abuse and control.  Children and young people experience family violence too, even if it isn’t directed at them. Hearing, witnessing or being exposed to family violence at home can have serious impacts on their wellbeing and development. Family violence is also defined under the Family Violence Protection Act 2008: https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/acts/family-violence-protection-act-2008/053
Aboriginal definition of family violence	The Victorian Indigenous Family Violence Task Force defined family violence against Aboriginal people as “an issue focused around a wide range of physical, emotional, sexual, social, spiritual, cultural, psychological and economic abuses that occur within families, intimate relationships, extended families, kinship networks and communities … it extends to one-on-one fighting, abuse of Indigenous community workers as well as self-harm, injury and suicide”. This definition acknowledges the spiritual and cultural perpetration of family violence by non-Aboriginal people against Aboriginal partners, children, young people and extended family members, abuse of Elders, and lateral violence within Aboriginal communities.
Economic abuse	Economic abuse is a form of family violence that involves a pattern of behaviour that controls a person’s ability to acquire, use and maintain economic resources, in a way that threatens their economic security and potential for self-sufficiency.[i]  [i] https://cwes.org.au/what-is-economic-abuse/
Family member	May include current and former spouses or domestic partners, people who have or have had an intimate personal relationship with the relevant person (sexual or otherwise), relatives (including parents, siblings or children) and significant others who are not part of the physical household but are part of the family and/or fulfilling the function of family. This may include a person related according to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander kinship roles.
Family of choice	A family that someone is emotionally, socially or culturally connected to, who shares commonalities, mutual love and support. Chosen family is particularly relevant to members of the Stolen Generations who may have lost contact with families of origin, and/or people from LGBTIQA+ communities who may be estranged from members of their family of origin (someone biologically or legally connected). It is important to be mindful of this definition of family for some people and that violence can occur within these relationships.
Disclosure	May include someone sharing personal or sensitive information in any manner pertaining to themselves or others with or without permission of the people affected.
Victim survivor	Person against whom the person using violence directs their coercive or violent acts.
Perpetrator/person who uses violence	A person who chooses to carry out a pattern of coercive of violent acts against an intimate partner, spouse, or family member (the victim survivor).
WaterCare Support Team	Dedicated team trained to recognise and respond to issues associated with financial vulnerability and hardship, family violence so they can work with customers in a respectful manner, including referrals to external specialised supports.

Appendix 2 - Referrals to specialist support services.

We offer optional referrals for customers to external specialist family violence support networks and resources. 

These include:

*Services referenced in the table above are current of October 2025.

Customers accessing these services can use the National Relay Service (NRS) if they find it difficult to hear or speak, or the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) for an interpreter or translator. TIS National is available free of charge.

Further information

Download Family Violence Policy (PDF, 233 KB)

Download Family Violence Policy [accessible] (Word, 175 KB)

Download support for People Experience Family Violence brochure (PDF, 812 KB)

Access translated information on the services we provide in 23 languages. View translations online.