If you are in immediate danger, call 000.
For confidential support at any hour: 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, or text 0458 737 732. Lifeline on 13 11 14.
A free Australian course to help you think through your safety and build your own draft plan. Pause whenever you like. Come back when it’s safe to.
Anyone who can see your screen or your browsing history may be able to tell you visited this page. If that could cause a problem, use a device they can’t reach, such as a library computer or a trusted friend’s phone.
The Safe Exit button closes this page and opens a neutral website in its place. It doesn’t erase your history, so clear that as well when it’s safe to do so.
This course is for anyone experiencing domestic and family violence, thinking about separating, or already apart. It costs nothing.
The whole course takes about eight hours, but nobody sits through eight hours in one go. It’s built from 48 short lessons, so you can read one with a cup of tea, stop the moment someone walks in, and pick it up again next week. There’s no time limit and nothing to pass. There are no videos, audio, or quizzes either, so you can read quietly.
Think through your safety step by step, then take your draft to a specialist service or a lawyer.
Learn about Australian support services, family law, and legal protections, and how to reach them.
Drawn from Australian government agencies and specialist services, and fully referenced.
There’s a short orientation, eleven modules, and a wrap-up. Start at the beginning, or go straight to the part you need most.
It depends on the device you use, which is why the course starts with how to stay safe while you learn. Use a device the other person can’t reach if you can. The course also reminds you before any download, because a saved file can be found.
No. The course doesn’t push you towards any one decision. One module is about staying safer while you remain in the relationship, and it says plainly that choosing to stay, for any reason and for any length of time, is valid. Safety planning has something to offer whether you’re staying, weighing up separation, or already gone.
Abuse isn’t always physical, and it’s often hard to spot from the inside. Lesson 1.2 explains coercive control, the pattern of behaviour that slowly wears away a person’s freedom and confidence. Reading it doesn’t commit you to anything. It just gives you the words.
Some lessons touch on painful ground. Each of those opens with a short note, so you can decide whether now is the right time. Skip any lesson, stop whenever you need to, and come back another day. You lose nothing by taking a break.
Start at Module 1, or go straight to the part you need most. Checklists and worksheets are there to download and keep, but only save or print them if it’s safe to.
This is general education. It isn’t legal advice, counselling, crisis support, or an individual risk assessment, and it can’t keep you safe in an emergency. What it can do is get you ready. You’ll have thought through your own situation, and you’ll have questions to take to a specialist domestic and family violence service or a lawyer.
Lawyers, support workers, and other professionals are welcome to look through the course before referring clients to it.
000: Police, Ambulance, or Fire in an emergency.
1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732, or text 0458 737 732.
Lifeline: 13 11 14.
13YARN: 13 92 76, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander crisis support.
Men’s Referral Service: 1300 766 491, for men who want to stop using violent or controlling behaviour.
Not ready yet? That’s fine. The course will be here when you are.