Northern Territory police and health staff will be given domestic and family violence training. 

In a bid to counter unnecessary trauma for both victims and responders, Tangentyere Council along with Women's Safety Services of Central Australia and NT Legal Aid have received state government funding to develop up to a week of training for police and healthcare workers.

The Northern Territory has the grim title of the jurisdiction with the highest rates of domestic and family violence in the country.

However, police receive just one week of internal training on the subject in addition to an hour of specialised training as new recruits. Healthcare workers receive even less.

Reports of victim blaming, inexperience responding to trauma and a lack of understanding of coercive control suggest that women are not receiving help when they need it. 

A 2017 study by the Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Death Review and Advisory Board found nearly all First Nations women killed by a partner had previously been misidentified as the aggressor by police.

Under the new scheme, the week of initial training will be followed up with 10 educational modules to be completed over five years, which will include competencies and assessments.

The training program is an Australian first, according to advocates. They say the training will put the experiences of women and, in particular First Nations women, front and centre. 

The training will also seek to acknowledge the complexity of coercive control and patterns of abuse, while letting victim-survivors tell their stories in their own words.