• Practice Tool
Practice Tool

Practice Prompts for Primary Health Care

The Practice Prompts for Primary Health Care resource has been developed with the expertise and guidance of persons with lived and living experience and key stakeholders from the Primary Health Care sector.  It responds to the need expressed by practitioners for practical support and guidance in how they engage and speak with people who have been impacted by violence as part of their practice.   

Practice Prompts for Primary Health Care provide practical prompts aligned to the four R’s for practice under Recognise, Respond, Refer, and Reflect. They are not designed to be used or read verbatim, and are a tool to support practitioners and workers shape their own language with examples and prompts of the kinds of things to say, ask and think about when working with those at risk or impacted by violence. 

The prompts are guided by what victims and survivors tell us helps to ensure trauma responsive practice that is informed by an awareness of the individual person and their often-complex compounding intersectional experiences.  The language used in Practice Prompts for Primary Health Care is intentionally informal and practical.

The short videos below emphasise the importance of adapting to each situation; being flexible in your approach; using authentic language; taking time; being curious and ensuring safety.  They provide information on how to be aware of intersecting experiences such as for people with gender diversity or disability.  

Click the video to hear from Nicole Lambert, Chair of the National Association of Services Against Sexual Violence and CEO of Allambee

Click the video to hear from Kai Noonan, Director, Sexual, Domestic and Family Violence Prevention – LGBTIQ+ Health Australia

Click the video to hear from Linda Wiseham, Manager and Specialist Advocate Redress – People with Disability Australia

Prompts

Recognise
Respond
Refer
Reflect
Recognise
Your ability to recognise what is being said, and also what is not being said, can significantly contribute towards healing and recovery.
  • I can see you have had a few appointments recently – would it be helpful for us to book a longer appointment for you?
  • Is there anything I can do that would help you feel safe during our time together?
  • You can tell me as much or as little as you would like. What’s important for me to know is how it is impacting on you or how I can support you.
  • Is there something you would like to talk about it?
  • Is there anything else that might be related to why you’re here today?
  • I want you to know there is nothing so bad we can’t talk about it.
  • Is there anything else you want to talk about, but might not be sure how to say it?
  • Has someone touched you in a way you didn’t want, or hurt you?
  • Has someone hurt you, made you feel uncomfortable, or scared?
  • I’m worried something might have happened to you – would you like to speak to me, or another person about it? (consider cultural protocols such as gender/age of worker)
  • Has someone hurt you in a sexual way?
  • Did you experience any trauma in your childhood, or as an adult?
  • When you were younger, did you experience things that made you feel unsafe or frightened?
  • Have you had an injury, or has something happened in that area that could be related to why you’re here?
  • How does your disability impact you? Is there anything I need to know to support you better?
  • Are you in a relationship? What is their name?
  • Is there a community group you fit with or belong to?
  • Has someone made you feel shame or bad?
  • Is there anything you want to tell me or yarn about?
Respond
Your response to someone who has experienced trauma, or who is currently experiencing trauma, is significant in their journey of disclosure, healing, and recovery. Start by believing.
  • Thank you for sharing that with me. I want you to know I believe you.
  • What happened to you isn’t your fault.
  • You have done so much to try and keep yourself safe.
  • I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for you to tell me that.
  • Does anyone else know?
  • How have you been managing the impacts of what happened?
  • What do you need from me at the moment?
  • I’ll always do my best to listen and help you
  • It would have taken a lot of courage to tell me what happened.
  • We might need to tell other people – how do you feel about that?
  • One of the things I have to do is make a report. How do you feel about that?
  • You can tell me as much or as little as you would like. What’s important for me to know is how it is impacting on you or how I can support you.
  • What would being safe in this space look like to you?
  • Would you like to speak to me, or another person about it? (consider cultural protocols such as gender/age of worker)
  • Have you thought about what you would like to happen next? Would you like to talk about it?
  • I can hear there is a lot for you to manage at the moment. Is there anything we can do together?
  • What do you feel you might need right now, to be able to leave here feeling safer and more supported?
  • When would you like to see me again?
  • It’s really important we take the time to talk through this – I know we are out of time now, could we spend our next appointment talking about it?
  • Would you like to talk about it again another time?
  • How would you like me to contact you if I don’t hear from you?
  • Have you thought about receiving ongoing support?
  • Do you have supportive friends and family who know what happened to you?
Refer
Receiving ongoing support is a personal choice, and there are many different things to consider. You are also a person who can provide support - even after a referral has been completed.
  • Have you worked with a service before?
  • What would help you be open to receiving support?
  • Was there anything that helped the last time you worked with a service?
  • Was there anything that wasn’t so helpful?
  • Do you have a family member you feel comfortable yarning with?
  • Would you like to have a yarn with someone about what happened to you?
  • Would you like me to attend the appointment with you?
  • Is there a service you would go to locally? Or would you prefer to travel?
  • Would you like me to pick you up and take you there?
  • Would you prefer an in-person appointment, online, or on the phone?
  • Do you have a private, safe space you can use for the online appointment?
  • Is there anything I might need to know about you, that would help me to refer you to the right service?
  • Would you like us to call them together?
  • Would you like to take some time to think about next steps?
  • Is there a community group you align with, belong to, or feel comfortable with?
  • Is there a service you would not feel comfortable with, or does not align with or sit well with your community or values
  • Are there any supports or services that would not be right for you? Do you have any hesitations about gettng extra support?
Reflect
Reflect on your work, approach, and responses. Seek feedback, and build local partnerships.
  • How am I feeling? What do I need to do right now to be able to go into to my next appointment?
  • Did anything happen that surprised me?
  • Did I acknowledge their choices, or lack of choices?
  • How did I empower their choices?
  • What language did I use? Could it have sounded like I was blaming and/or placing responsibility on the victim and survivor, even if that wasn’t what I intended?
  • Could I have talked about it in a different way? Did I react in a way that may have been unhelpful? Is there something I need to do next time to repair the relationship?
  • What could I have done differently?
  • What would I ask next time, that might support someone better?
  • Who can I talk to that will help me learn more about supporttng victims and survivors?
  • Did I see their strength and courage? Did I tell them?
  • Did the language I use enhance safety?
  • How would I know I made an impact?
  • How did I ask for feedback?
  • What are my values, beliefs, biases, and stereotypes about sexual violence and child sexual abuse?
  • What do I need to know about myself?
  • Did I listen to try and fix something, or did I listen to hear them?
  • Did I speak more than they did?
  • How did I show empathy and compassion?
  • Did I empathise with their journey?
  • Do I need to talk to someone?
  • What did I learn?
  • Did I use the opportunity to promote use of correct genital names?
  • Did I offer a support person? Or ask whether I could be that person? (*if appropriate)

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Understanding child sexual abuse

Preventing child sexual abuse by understanding perpetrators’ motivations
Supporting Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse: Rapid Evidence Reviews
Ngagagee Ngulu Murrup Durra (‘The Ngagagee project’)
Preventing repeat child exploitation material offending: An international evaluation of the CEM-COPE Program
Conceptualising and Estimating the Costs of Child Sexual Exploitation (Phase One of Australian Study into Economic Costs of Child Sexual Exploitation)
An environmental scan of Child Sexual Abuse related workforce training offerings in Australia
Enhancing the capability of Australia’s Primary Health Workforce to respond to child sexual abuse
CHANGE – curtailing harm and navigating growth: evidence for change pathways of young people who have engaged in harmful sexual behaviour
Amplifying the voices of victim-survivors: Advancing the harmful sexual behaviour evidence base – the Ava project
Reshaping the Conversation: Development of a shared language and preferred definitions guide endorsed by victims and survivors of child sexual abuse
Building a knowledge frame for responding to the needs of children and young people who have engaged in harmful sexual behaviour
Children and Young People’s Safety Project
Child safe practices using contextual safeguarding strategies
The more I talk, the stronger I get: unlocking our past to free our future
Delivering trauma-informed support for child sexual abuse victims in Victoria: mapping the knowledge gaps and training needs of the specialist sectors
Online child sexual victimisation and associated mental health outcomes
Differentiating adverse childhood experience profiles of male youths who exhibit harmful sexual behaviours

Response to child sexual abuse

From bystanders to allies: a structural feminist perspective for supporting child victims and adult survivors of child rape and torture.
Supporting Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse: Rapid Evidence Reviews
Ngagagee Ngulu Murrup Durra (‘The Ngagagee project’)
Preventing repeat child exploitation material offending: An international evaluation of the CEM-COPE Program
Evaluation of the Multi-Agency Investigation & Support Team
Conceptualising and Estimating the Costs of Child Sexual Exploitation (Phase One of Australian Study into Economic Costs of Child Sexual Exploitation)
Effect of multi-agency deliberation on perceptions of risk in responses to child abuse and neglect
The Australian child sexual abuse attitudes, knowledge and response study
CHANGE – curtailing harm and navigating growth: evidence for change pathways of young people who have engaged in harmful sexual behaviour
Improving legal, policy and practice responses to the intersection of domestic violence perpetration and child sexual abuse offending
Investigating experiences of child sexual abuse disclosure and disbelief in the Family Court
Understanding the experiences of child sexual abuse disclosure in Australia in the wake of the Royal Commission
Building trauma-responsive sexual health and relationship education
Learning from victims and survivors about what helps disclosure and responses to child sexual abuse
Amplifying the voices of victim-survivors: Advancing the harmful sexual behaviour evidence base – the Ava project
The dignity by design project: survivor-led system redesign
Evaluating a harmful sexual behaviour education program in a residential care setting
Community as experts: investigating the context, needs and help-seeking pathways for child sexual abuse survivors and their supporters in the NSW Bega Valley
Developing and implementing a framework for abuse prevention through culture change and organisational development
Reshaping the Conversation: Development of a shared language and preferred definitions guide endorsed by victims and survivors of child sexual abuse
Building a knowledge frame for responding to the needs of children and young people who have engaged in harmful sexual behaviour
Australian Child Maltreatment Study
Children and Young People’s Safety Project
Child safe practices using contextual safeguarding strategies
Enhancing the capacity of rural and regional respectful relationship educators
Strengthening relationships and connections for young people in therapeutic residential care
The safeguarding capability of adults in Catholic Church ministries: a global perspective
Creating safer futures: raising public awareness of child sexual abuse among young adults through digital storytelling
Survivor perspectives on institutional use of child sexual abuse material
The more I talk, the stronger I get: unlocking our past to free our future
Delivering trauma-informed support for child sexual abuse victims in Victoria: mapping the knowledge gaps and training needs of the specialist sectors
Online child sexual victimisation and associated mental health outcomes
Differentiating adverse childhood experience profiles of male youths who exhibit harmful sexual behaviours

Needs of victims and survivors

From bystanders to allies: a structural feminist perspective for supporting child victims and adult survivors of child rape and torture.
Supporting Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse: Rapid Evidence Reviews
Ngagagee Ngulu Murrup Durra (‘The Ngagagee project’)
Evaluation of the Multi-Agency Investigation & Support Team
The Australian child sexual abuse attitudes, knowledge and response study
An environmental scan of Child Sexual Abuse related workforce training offerings in Australia
Enhancing the capability of Australia’s Primary Health Workforce to respond to child sexual abuse
Improving legal, policy and practice responses to the intersection of domestic violence perpetration and child sexual abuse offending
Investigating experiences of child sexual abuse disclosure and disbelief in the Family Court
Understanding the experiences of child sexual abuse disclosure in Australia in the wake of the Royal Commission
Building trauma-responsive sexual health and relationship education
Learning from victims and survivors about what helps disclosure and responses to child sexual abuse
Amplifying the voices of victim-survivors: Advancing the harmful sexual behaviour evidence base – the Ava project
The dignity by design project: survivor-led system redesign
Supporting continuous quality improvement in safeguarding at Hockey Australia and other national sporting organisations
Evaluating a harmful sexual behaviour education program in a residential care setting
Community as experts: investigating the context, needs and help-seeking pathways for child sexual abuse survivors and their supporters in the NSW Bega Valley
Enhancing the capacity of rural and regional respectful relationship educators
Creating safer futures: raising public awareness of child sexual abuse among young adults through digital storytelling
Survivor perspectives on institutional use of child sexual abuse material
The more I talk, the stronger I get: unlocking our past to free our future

Prevention of child sexual abuse

From bystanders to allies: a structural feminist perspective for supporting child victims and adult survivors of child rape and torture.
Preventing child sexual abuse by understanding perpetrators’ motivations
Ngagagee Ngulu Murrup Durra (‘The Ngagagee project’)
Preventing repeat child exploitation material offending: An international evaluation of the CEM-COPE Program
Conceptualising and Estimating the Costs of Child Sexual Exploitation (Phase One of Australian Study into Economic Costs of Child Sexual Exploitation)
The Australian child sexual abuse attitudes, knowledge and response study
An environmental scan of Child Sexual Abuse related workforce training offerings in Australia
CHANGE – curtailing harm and navigating growth: evidence for change pathways of young people who have engaged in harmful sexual behaviour
Evaluating a harmful sexual behaviour education program in a residential care setting
Developing and implementing a framework for abuse prevention through culture change and organisational development
Building a knowledge frame for responding to the needs of children and young people who have engaged in harmful sexual behaviour
Australian Child Maltreatment Study
Strengthening relationships and connections for young people in therapeutic residential care
Differentiating adverse childhood experience profiles of male youths who exhibit harmful sexual behaviours

Identification of child sexual abuse

From bystanders to allies: a structural feminist perspective for supporting child victims and adult survivors of child rape and torture.
The Australian child sexual abuse attitudes, knowledge and response study
An environmental scan of Child Sexual Abuse related workforce training offerings in Australia
Enhancing the capability of Australia’s Primary Health Workforce to respond to child sexual abuse
Supporting continuous quality improvement in safeguarding at Hockey Australia and other national sporting organisations
Evaluating a harmful sexual behaviour education program in a residential care setting
Developing and implementing a framework for abuse prevention through culture change and organisational development
Children and Young People’s Safety Project
The safeguarding capability of adults in Catholic Church ministries: a global perspective

Disclosure of child sexual abuse

Ngagagee Ngulu Murrup Durra (‘The Ngagagee project’)
The Australian child sexual abuse attitudes, knowledge and response study
An environmental scan of Child Sexual Abuse related workforce training offerings in Australia
Enhancing the capability of Australia’s Primary Health Workforce to respond to child sexual abuse
Improving legal, policy and practice responses to the intersection of domestic violence perpetration and child sexual abuse offending
Investigating experiences of child sexual abuse disclosure and disbelief in the Family Court
Understanding the experiences of child sexual abuse disclosure in Australia in the wake of the Royal Commission
Learning from victims and survivors about what helps disclosure and responses to child sexual abuse
Supporting continuous quality improvement in safeguarding at Hockey Australia and other national sporting organisations
Community as experts: investigating the context, needs and help-seeking pathways for child sexual abuse survivors and their supporters in the NSW Bega Valley