Professional Development for Community Sector Workers and Vocational Education/University Educators

Our professional development can be tailored to the specific requirements of program staff, building on the knowledge and experience of participants. We have provided professional development for community legal centers, housing and homelessness services, family violence services, alcohol and other drug services and many more!

Some of the topics we can cover include:

  • Frameworks for understanding widespread family violence, including violence within LGBTIQ+ relationships - expanding on an intersectional feminist approach, unpacking queer theory, and exploring hierarchy and entitlement thinking

  • Exploring power and control in both friendships and intimate partner relationships, within gendered dynamics and LGBTIQ+ relationships

  • Challenging violence supporting beliefs and attitudes including myths about abuse/violence, gender and power

  • Recognising and responding to violence and understanding risk

  • Supporting people experiencing or who have experienced violence, safety planning and where to seek help, healing, resources and services

  • Recognising and responding to people who have caused harm including accountability and behaviour change strategies

  • Critical thinking around relationship expectations, myths and attitudes about gender, relationships and sex

  • Sexual respect and consent: realities, challenges, empowerment in sexual decision making and respectful sexual choices: a critical discussion around the limitations of the language of consent

  • Bullying and social violence, including racism and homophobia

  • Broader community and social strategies towards violence prevention

  • Constructing and delivering violence prevention, respectful relationships and positive sex education programs: issues, focuses, challenges

  • Transformative justice, community accountability and the limitations of the criminal legal system in addressing family violence and sexual assault

  • Beyond policing: exploring practices that move away from harm, punishment, and control, and toward practices that empower communities to address harm at the root causes. Understanding why some people and communities do not rely and cannot rely on the criminal legal system for support, and exploring alternatives

  • Collaborative dialogue, creative facilitation strategies and anti-oppression facilitation

Feedback we received from our professional development workshops:

  • “It was all useful! Engaging, informative and challenging. The info on transformative justice was very interesting. The presenters are dynamic, enthusiastic and skilled”

  • “Understanding four pillars more. Practice wisdom of facilitators”

  • “Inspiration to be part of a bigger change in society”

  • “Conversations/information about talking to people who use violence. Very good training - insightful!”

  • “Facilitators very knowledgeable and create welcoming space”

  • ‘“Helped to develop my understanding of intersectionality and through learning about the four pillars of power and how this applies to varying kinds of oppression”

  • “Learning more about intersectionality. Prior to today this is not something I knew much about”

  • “It gave me the tools to be more inclusive and supportive”

  • “I feel like having discussions about identity and how to be more inclusive was helpful.  It made me think about how I practice in the FV space and how it would be more inclusive”

  • “Undercurrent’s team are so fantastic in leading us through a lot of content in a short space of time and it felt great to be all working constructively on a complex problem”

  • “Food for thought. Good to have time to think about complex issues such as power & control & violence & accountability”

  • “Amazing to have a structured discussion around boundaries”

  • “Excellent and very useful. Because the questions asked and discussions prompted us to “go deep” – it was meaningful”

  • “It was very empowering and gave me skills moving forwards into my advocacy”

  • “Safe space for political reflection. Great facilitation, well done!”

  • “Gave me a much deeper understanding and direction going back to my organisation”

Cost

Our professional development workshops are charged on a sliding scale depending on the available resources of your community group. Contact us for information on our current rates. If your community group does not have access to funding, please contact us as we may be able to accommodate your request.