DVassist: Evaluation of a regional FDV service
Our summary
This 2022 report by the Centre for Social Impact at the University of Western Australia evaluates DVassist, an innovative online family and domestic violence (FDV) support service designed for people in 58 regional, rural, and remote communities across Western Australia.
The service offered confidential telephone and web-chat counselling, local service mapping, community education, and short-term case management — overcoming barriers such as distance, privacy, cost, and limited local options.
The evaluation used a mixed-methods approach, combining case-management data with interviews from staff, clients, and regional stakeholders.
Over 20 months, DVassist recorded more than 2,500 counselling calls, reached 85,000 website visitors, and engaged more than 1,500 service providers through its online hub. Findings show strong outcomes: increased awareness, help-seeking, empowerment, and mental wellbeing among clients, along with improved service collaboration and regional capacity building.
Stakeholders praised DVassist’s community engagement model, which involved mapping local service gaps, providing trauma-informed education, and building trust through face-to-face outreach. The evaluation identifies DVassist’s capacity to bridge gaps in FDV response systems, particularly in remote areas, and highlights the service’s positive social impact prior to its closure in 2022.
Recommendations call for renewed funding of regional online FDV services, sustained community partnerships, culturally safe practice, data-sharing reforms, and counselling options for men in behaviour-change programs.
For community work professionals, this report provides valuable evidence on how digital and community-embedded models can expand safety, accessibility, and impact in regional family-violence support.