We do not offer a crisis support service. If you are in need of immediate support, contact one of the crisis services listed below.
Yes, we welcome donations to help us continue to provide services to all Victorians. You can make a donation online here. If you would like to make a cash or cheque donation, please call 1300 364 277.
We usually require parents’ consent to work with children under the age of 18, but in certain circumstances, we will work with people aged 15 to 17 without parental consent. In these circumstances, the young person needs to be able to understand the service that will be provided and give their informed consent. Some of our other programs are designed for specific groups of people or age ranges.
We are not a dating agency. We are an organisation committed to offering relationship support services such as counselling, family dispute resolution and relationship education courses to individuals, couples and families. Our vision is for positive, respectful, safe and fulfilling relationships for all Australians.
As such, we do not provide services to help you find a partner. We can, however, offer you advice, counselling and education in how to improve your current or future relationships.
No, we do not provide legal advice. The following organisations can provide you with legal advice and explain your rights.
We have 17 centres across metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria and a central office based in Camberwell. We offer telephone counselling and online counselling for clients who are unable to attend one of our centres. We also offer outreach services in a number of our programs. Our training services can also be delivered onsite to organisations and workplaces. Call 1300 364 277 to find your nearest centre, or view a list of Relationships Australia Victoria centres here.
Counselling can help you to explore your concerns and difficulties in a supportive environment. Participating in counselling can help you clarify your situation, gain new perspectives and work towards change. Common issues that people seek counselling for include managing stress, life changes, relationship difficulties, separation and divorce, parenting, grief and loss, mental health issues, managing emotions, family violence, trauma and abuse, and work-related problems. Whatever your concern, it’s important to reach out for support, and seek help early when possible.
The counselling process helps you to identify your greatest concerns and areas you’d like to change. The counsellor will work with you to better understand your situation, and develop a plan that uses your strengths to improve your wellbeing and relationships.
Sessions can focus on specific issues or broader experiences. Counselling is an effective strategy that can relieve distress, enhance relationships and functioning.
Partners can attend counselling together. This can help you both to gain an understanding of the issues in your relationship and find collaborative ways to improve. Some couples who are considering separation can also benefit from couple counselling, as it can help you and your partner separate on respectful terms.
In relationship counselling, our counsellors don’t take sides. Instead, they facilitate conversation and can help you to gain insight into issues in your relationship and explore ways to move forward.
Within the first two counselling sessions, we will see each person separately to ask about a range of issues including problematic alcohol and drug use, family violence and mental health.
During your initial appointment, your counsellor aims to gain a solid understanding of your situation and your concerns. We’ll ask you a broad range of questions to find out what you are struggling with, as well as areas of your life where things may be going well. Your answers will help the counsellor to gain a better understanding of your situation and perspective, and the best way to help you.
You can attend counselling alone, with your partner, as a family, as a parent and child, or your children can come by themselves. We work with individuals, couples, and families in a supportive and non-judgemental way. Our counselling is flexible to meet your needs and circumstances.
Yes, we provide individual counselling for relationships in all their aspects, whether you're single, trying to start a relationship, already in a relationship, or considering ending a relationship.
If you're currently in a relationship, you can attend relationship counselling alone or with your partner. Attending counselling alone can still be very beneficial for your relationship. If your partner decides to also attend sometime later, we can discuss how this can be managed.
Our counsellors have qualifications in counselling, psychology or social work, and specific training and experience with a range of issues, including relationships, families, and children. When you contact us, our friendly staff will talk to you about why you’re seeking counselling and book an appointment for you with an appropriate counsellor.
We have both male and female counsellors available. We can provide more information on our counsellors when you contact your nearest centre.
We understand the different needs of Victoria’s culturally and linguistically diverse communities. We can adapt our services to meet the needs of a wide range of cultures and community groups, including through the use of interpreters. Please call 1300 364 277 or contact your nearest centre for more information.
Counselling sessions usually last for 50 minutes. There’s no set number of counselling sessions that clients attend. While some issues can be resolved in a few sessions, others take longer. Your counsellor will talk to you about what will be most helpful for you.
We are a not-for-profit community organisation and our counselling services are only partially government funded, so fees are normally charged. However, we do try to make our services as affordable as possible.
Our fees are determined on a sliding scale, based on a client's ability to pay. There is a surcharge on after-hours appointments. When you call to book an appointment, we will discuss the fees payable.
Centre opening hours vary, however, most centres offer evening sessions as well as sessions during business hours. To book a face-to-face counselling session, call 1300 364 277 or contact your nearest centre to find out when counselling appointments are available in your area.
If you live in a rural or remote location in Victoria and are unable to attend one of our centres you can access our Telephone Relationship Counselling service. To find out more and see if you are eligible, please call 1800 817 569. We also provide some counselling services through our outreach services. Contact your nearest centre for further details.
We require at least 24 hours’ notice for cancelling appointments. If you don’t notify us within this time frame, a fee may be applicable. If you need to cancel an appointment, please contact the centre as soon as possible.
Yes, we offer online counselling via a confidential, text-based chat message service. This service is for individuals aged 18 years and older. It is not suitable for couples. Visit our dedicated Online Counselling Service website to book an appointment or find out more.
No, you don’t need a referral to access our counselling services. You can call us directly on 1300 364 277 or contact your nearest centre.
If another service or practitioner is referring you to RAV, they may facilitate a ‘warm referral’. This means that they contact us to introduce us to you. This is always done with your permission, either in your presence or after you have signed a form agreeing for this to happen. This can help us to understand your situation, so we are well- equipped to be able to respond to your needs.
Yes, counselling sessions are confidential. RAV respects the privacy of clients and the confidentiality of client information. Your information is held securely and confidentially within RAV. However, confidentiality is limited by our duty of care. This means that there are some exceptions to circumstances, such as if we are concerned if there is a risk of harm to yourself or to others. Counsellors must also report child abuse or anything that indicates a child is at risk of abuse.
If you would like to know more about confidentiality, please contact your nearest centre.
FDR, also sometimes known as family mediation, is provided to help couples who are separating to resolve their family law disputes. These disputes may include conflict over child care, child support, financial arrangements or property division. FDR is available for separating couples with and without children. Click here to find out more about FDR.
FDR Practitioners provide FDR. All of our FDR Practitioners are accredited by the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department and listed on the Department’s Register of Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners. Both male and female practitioners are available.
Initially, each person individually attends an assessment to ensure that FDR is appropriate for their circumstances.
During FDR, the people involved in the dispute meet with an FDR Practitioner to try and reach an agreement about matters related to separation. Everyone gets the chance to express their own point of view and speak freely about issues of concern. The FDR Practitioner's role is to help parties clarify issues, discuss options, focus on their children's needs, and come to agreements that resolve the issues in dispute.
Read more about the FDR process.
The length of the FDR process varies. The number of appointments and length of time for the FDR process to be completed will depend on the number and complexity of issues to be discussed, the level of cooperation or conflict between parties, and the availability of the FDR service to see the parties, as well as the availability of the parties themselves.
Assessment sessions usually last one to one and a half (1-1.5) hours.
FDR sessions are usually two (2) hours long, although longer sessions are scheduled if a ‘shuttle’ FDR process is used, or an interpreter is required. FDR for parenting matters usually take 1 to 2 sessions, but if property and financial matters are also involved, then 4 to 5 sessions are usually needed.
A member of staff will confirm the length of your sessions when you make an appointment.
One person starts the FDR process and will request that we formally invite the other parent, or another person, with whom they are in dispute. It is also sometimes possible to bring a family member or other person to support you, including your lawyer if lawyer-assisted FDR is offered. If there are language difficulties, an interpreter may also be involved.
If FDR is for parenting-related matters and if both parents agree, your children can speak to a trained child consultant during the FDR process, through a process known as child-inclusive FDR. This can help you to understand your children’s experience of the separation and their developmental needs. Read more about child-inclusive FDR in our Hearing your child’s voice in FDR brochure.
If it’s assessed as being appropriate to your situation, we can provide shuttle or shuttle telephone FDR. During the shuttle process, you do not have to be in a room with or speak directly to your former partner. The FDR Practitioner moves between the parties as the issues are discussed.
We are a not-for-profit community organisation and our counselling and family dispute resolution services are only partially government funded, so fees are normally charged. However, we do try to make our services as affordable as possible and FDR can be more affordable than going to court or paying a lawyer.
Our fees are determined on a sliding scale, based on income. We will discuss any fees that are applicable when you make an appointment. Please contact your nearest centre for more information.
FDR focuses on resolving disputes about particular issues, whereas the focus in counselling is on the relationship between the couple, whether that be before, during or after separation. For parents, resolution of issues in FDR may have a beneficial effect on the parenting relationship after separation.
Sometimes during or after FDR, clients also choose to access our counselling service or relationship education groups, to support them through the process. You can talk to your FDR Practitioner, who can refer you to these services.
In general, information provided by you cannot be disclosed to anyone outside Relationships Australia Victoria without your permission and FDR practitioners and family counsellors must maintain the confidentiality of client information. There are exceptions in some circumstances, however. This includes if a client consents to disclosure, or if there is reasonable suspicion or risk of child abuse, where there is a risk of physical harm to a child, or a risk to the life, health or safety of a person, or other matters of a serious or criminal nature involving threats of violence or damage to property. More information is available in our Client Information Sheet, which is available when you attend your first appointment.
No. FDR Practitioners may provide general legal information where appropriate, but do not provide specific legal advice about your situation. We strongly suggest you seek legal advice before, during and after FDR. A list of organisations that could help with this is available here.
Yes, if you are interested in a career in the FDR field, we provide both accredited training and shorter workshops in FDR. Find out more on our Training page.
Relationship education courses and groups help you learn new skills to improve your situation, whatever that might be. They’re a chance to share experiences with people in similar circumstances and connect with others. Our relationship education courses cover many common areas of concern: parenting, family violence, marriage and commitment preparation, relationships, separation, programs for men, and programs for women.
This varies depending on the course. Some courses are designed for couples, others for individuals, and some involve an assessment beforehand to ensure that the course is suitable for you and your circumstances. Please see our individual course listings for more details.
This varies depending on the course. Please see our individual course listings for details of costs.
You do not need a referral for our relationship education courses.
Some of our courses involve an assessment to make sure they’re right for you. Please see our individual course listings for more details.
Yes, we offer Good Connecting Online, a free course to help you keep your relationships happy and stable.
Some of our courses are designed to meet the needs of specific cultural groups. Please contact your nearest centre for more information.
We do not offer crisis support. If you feel like you or your family are in immediate danger, call 000.
Specialist emergency support is available from:
Family violence is destructive behaviour in an intimate relationship where one person tries to dominate and control the other. It can include physical, verbal, sexual, emotional, social, financial and spiritual abuse, as well as stalking. Read What is family violence? for more information.
If you are unsure if you are experiencing family violence, contact 1800Respect on 1800 737 732 to talk about what’s happening.
Our family violence services include prevention and early intervention initiatives, men’s behaviour change programs and support and recovery programs for children, individuals and parents. More information can be found on our family violence services page.
Our whole-of-family approach to family violence services means we work with those who use violence, and those who experience it. We have dedicated staff who work to prioritise the safety of partners, former partners, children and family members of clients who have used family violence.
We have developed a Family Safety Model for working with people affected by family violence. Read about our Family Safety Model here.
More information on our family violence services, including support and recovery services, is available here.
This varies depending on the service. Please contact your nearest centre for details on the costs of specific courses and services.
Yes, we have a number of family violence-related training courses for professionals. Find out more on our Professional Development training page.
We also provide a range of family violence-related training and workshops to organisations, to provide targeted opportunities for employees to expand their knowledge and skills, and better support their staff, clients and customers. Find out more on our Workplace Training page.
We regularly list new employment opportunities at RAV on our website. Please refer to our Careers page for all current job vacancies.
We actively support opportunities for internship placements for students undertaking courses at RAV.
We provide several opportunities each year for clinical internships, as a post-course option through our Specialist Course in Couple Therapy (SCCT). The SCCT is an accredited component of the Swinburne University Master of Social Science (Couple Counselling) at second-year level. It can also be completed as a stand-alone, non-accredited course over five months (Semester 1). For more information, click here.
As part of our Graduate Diploma of Family Dispute Resolution (CHC81115), we offer internships in a supervised environment. Read more about the course here.
Unfortunately, we do not take any students or volunteers, or offer any internships outside of our clinical internships at this time.
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The material is subject to copyright protection unless otherwise stated. You may reproduce the content, free of charge for personal, non-commercial use, provided it is reproduced accurately, not used in a misleading context and attributed to RAV. If you are republishing the material or issuing it to others, you must acknowledge its source, copyright status and date of publication.
The permission to reproduce RAV copyright protected material does not extend to any material on this site that is identified as being the copyright of a third party. You must obtain authorisation to reproduce such material from the copyright holder concerned. You may not use the RAV logo without permission. Please contact us for more information.
You can let us know if you wish RAV to link to your website by contacting us via the form below. Each outbound link request is assessed for appropriateness for inclusion and will be included in a category of our choosing. Submitting a link on this form does not guarantee that it will be included, only that it will be assessed.
We reserve the right to refuse any link submitted for placement on our web site.
We reserve the right to refuse a request to place a link to our website on another website if that site has content that is not fitting or appropriate to our philosophy and values.
