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Safe at Work: Addressing Family and Domestic Violence in the Workplace
Held in support of 16 Days in WA, this breakfast discussion brings together a panel of legal, clinical and sector leaders to examine what family and domestic violence asks of workplaces.
The conversation covers employer responsibilities, legal considerations and the approaches that genuinely support employees affected by family and domestic violence.
3 Hours
Speakers
CEO, Women’s Legal Service WA
Dr Jennie Gray has built a career across the community sector, spanning practice, management, research and policy. That includes several years designing and delivering services in regional and remote Western Australia, and a period as Deputy CEO at the WA Council of Social Service.
Her work is driven by redressing gender inequality, which sits at the heart of making things better for women.
Senior Lawyer and Team Leader, Sexual Assault Legal Service WA
Eleanor Danks is a Lawyer, Somatic Psychotherapist, TedX Speaker, Facilitator, and Expert by Lived Experience in the areas of sexual violence and complex trauma. After working in criminal prosecution at the same time as moving through the criminal legal system as a victim of sexual violence, Eleanor now fights for a legal system that values and upholds the humanity of victim-survivors as much as that of those who commit harm.
She now works as a lawyer in the WA Sexual Assault Legal Services pilot, offering independent socio-legal assistance to victim-survivors of sexual violence, alongside working in her own therapy practice to support those with a lived experience of trauma.
CEO, Stopping Family Violence
Damian Green is the CEO of Stopping Family Violence (SFV), and a passionate advocate and researcher of perpetrator responses in Australia with a key vision of instilling a high standard of excellence across the sector.
Through his work at SFV, and as an experienced Research Associate within the Social Work discipline at Curtin University, Damian has been involved in an array of national research projects exploring perpetrator interventions in both an advisory and investigatory capacity.
Damian is a registered psychologist, and an experienced group work facilitator and trainer having worked extensively in the areas of violent offending, MBCPs and parenting over the past 20 years. Damian sits on various committees and advisory groups at both a state and federal level. Damian is strongly committed to the goal of ending violence towards women and children.
Damian established Stopping Family Violence in 2016 to drive forward the agenda of perpetrator response and grow the evidence base that supports this work. The organisation’s purpose is to work in partnership with other organisations (such as women’s and children’s services, the research sector and perpetrator intervention programs) to put an end to family and domestic violence and create a better future for women and children experiencing domestic violence. This is actualised through the delivery of training programs to the FDV and support services sector, support for pilot programs, research and community education. Stopping Family Violence is involved in various national research projects and has been involved in various program evaluations and development work across Australia.
Furthermore, SFV are a proud member of the WA Mens Behaviour Change Network and support this important work through the provision of secretariat support.
Lecturer and Senior Clinical Supervisor
Elisha Butt is a Lecturer and Senior Clinical Supervisor within the John Curtin Law Clinic, where she leads the Discrimination Law Clinic. She teaches across clinical legal education and employment law, and supervises students providing legal assistance to clients experiencing workplace and discrimination-related legal issues. Her teaching, scholarship and practice are grounded in access to justice and substantive equality, with a particular focus on gender equity, workplace relations and discrimination law.
Elisha has more than 12 years' experience in the legal assistance sector. Before joining Curtin in 2025, she was Principal Lawyer of the Workplace team at Circle Green Community Legal, where she led legal advice and casework, community legal education, law reform and systemic advocacy, as well as the establishment of the Workplace Respect Project and Working Women's Centre WA.
Drawing on her experience in community and clinical legal practice, Elisha's work explores how law, legal institutions and legal practice can better respond to inequality and improve access to justice. She is particularly interested in the gap between formal legal rights and their operation in practice, including how legal rules, institutional structures and professional practices can create, reinforce or address disadvantage. She has contributed extensively to law reform inquiries, consultations and policy processes aimed at improving justice outcomes and human rights protections.
Elisha also has experience in social impact and outcomes measurement within the legal assistance sector and clinical legal education. She is particularly interested in how legal services, clinical programs and justice initiatives can evaluate and demonstrate their contribution to individual and systemic change.
Overview
16 Days in WA is an annual Western Australian State Government initiative. It runs from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day. Inspired by the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, the campaign encourages individuals, organisations and communities across WA to raise awareness and take action to help prevent violence against women.
In support of 16 Days in WA, we are bringing the conversation into the workplace.
Family and domestic violence does not stay at home. It shows up in attendance, in performance, in safety and in the quiet signs a colleague is managing something alone. For employers, leaders and HR teams, that raises questions with real consequences. What are we required to do. What are we able to do. And what does genuine support look like when someone discloses.
Join us for a breakfast discussion with a panel drawn from legal practice, clinical supervision and the family violence sector. Together they will examine employer responsibilities, legal considerations and the approaches that make a workplace safe and supportive in practice.
What to expect
A breakfast, a panel and a conversation that does not shy away from the difficult parts.
The panel will work through what the law requires of employers, where discretion sits and how leaders can respond when an employee discloses. You will hear how policy translates into practice, and what organisations across WA are doing well.
You will also have the chance to put your own questions to the panel, alongside others facing the same responsibilities in their own workplaces.
Who should attend
This discussion is for employers, senior leaders, HR professionals and anyone responsible for workplace safety, wellbeing or policy. It is equally relevant to managers who want to be better prepared for a conversation they may not have had before.