Residential care workers support children and young people in environments that can be emotionally complex, unpredictable and highly sensitive. Many young people in residential care have experienced trauma, instability, loss, disconnection or adversity. At times, distress may present through behaviours that are difficult to manage and, in some situations, may escalate into aggression or violence.
The Centre’s own article on the Occupational Violence and Aggression elearn describes the need for skilled support when young people display pain-based behaviours, and explains that workers need practical strategies to keep themselves, colleagues and the broader community safe while continuing to provide compassionate, trauma-informed care.
Training in this space needs to do more than explain policy or process. It needs to help workers recognise early signs of escalation, understand what may be sitting beneath behaviour, respond in ways that support safety and connection, and reflect on what happens before, during and after an incident.
The Promoting Safety in Residential Care program was developed to support that need.
Part of Victoria’s Residential Care Learning and Development Strategy
The program sits within the broader Residential Care Learning and Development Strategy, known as RCLDS.
RCLDS provides fully funded training for Victorian residential care workers, supported by Victorian Government funding. The Centre describes RCLDS as a learning and development strategy designed to build a skilled, supported and celebrated residential care workforce through training, supervision, forums, conferences, scholarships, awards and evidence-informed learning activities.
This context is important because the Promoting Safety in Residential Care program was not a standalone course. It was part of a broader workforce development approach designed to support consistency, capability and confidence across residential care agencies.
The program helped provide a shared foundation for workers across different organisations and settings, supporting a more consistent approach to preventing, managing and recovering from incidents of occupational violence and aggression.
Designing learning that supports reflection
A key consideration in the program was tone.
Learning about occupational violence and aggression can easily become procedural, fear-based or overly focused on risk. For this program, the learning needed to acknowledge the seriousness of the topic while remaining calm, respectful and psychologically safe.
The design approach focused on helping workers reflect on the relationship between trauma, behaviour, safety and response.
Rather than positioning behaviour as something to simply control, the program encouraged learners to consider what may be happening for the young person, what signs of escalation may be present, and how different adult responses can either support safety or increase risk.
This is where the digital learning component played an important role.
Lucid worked with the Centre and subject matter experts to develop an elearning module that could introduce key concepts in a consistent, accessible and scenario-based way. The module formed the digital foundation of the broader pathway and was designed to prepare learners for deeper discussion and practice through facilitated learning.
For organisations considering similar workforce initiatives, this is a useful example of how custom elearning can support a broader capability program when it is used as part of a blended and practice-focused learning pathway.
Scenario-based learning grounded in residential care practice
The elearning module used realistic scenarios to help workers apply concepts in context.
Instead of relying only on information screens, learners were placed into situations that reflected the kinds of decisions residential care workers may need to make when a young person is becoming distressed or behaviour is escalating.
The program drew on the Safe Practice Intervention Model, supporting learners to explore stages such as:
- Engage.
- Defuse.
- Negotiate.
- Withdraw.
- Restore.
Each stage was connected to practical decision-making. Learners were encouraged to consider what they were seeing, what might be driving the behaviour, what response could support safety, and what needed to happen after an incident to restore relationships and support reflection.
This kind of learning is especially important in residential care because workers are often required to make decisions in emotionally charged moments. The scenarios allowed learners to practice judgement in a safe environment before applying those ideas in real-world settings.
Accessible and flexible learning for a statewide team
A statewide program needs to be accessible in more ways than one.
Residential care workers may be located across metropolitan, regional and rural Victoria. They may be accessing training at different times, on different devices and in different workplace contexts. Learners may also have different accessibility needs, levels of digital confidence and preferences for how they engage with content.
The elearning module was therefore designed with accessibility and flexibility in mind.
The module was developed in Articulate Storyline 360 and designed to support WCAG 2.2 AA expectations, including features such as captions, transcripts, keyboard navigation, visible focus states and screen-reader support.
That accessibility focus supported the broader intent of the program: to make important learning available consistently and respectfully across the residential care workforce.
This also reflects the type of accessible elearning design that is increasingly important for organisations delivering workforce learning at scale.
From digital foundation to broader capability building
The digital module was not intended to replace facilitated learning. It was designed to support it.
By completing the elearning first, workers were introduced to shared language, key ideas and practical scenarios before participating in deeper discussion, reflection and skill-building through workshops and related learning activities.
This blended model helped make better use of facilitated time. Rather than using workshops to repeat foundational content, facilitators could focus on discussion, application and reflection.
That approach is an important distinction. Capability building is not simply about completing a module. It is about helping people build the confidence, judgement and shared understanding needed to respond more effectively in practice.
The Promoting Safety in Residential Care program demonstrates how digital learning, facilitated learning and sector-wide practice frameworks can work together as part of a broader learning and capability strategy.
Demonstrated reach and impact
The program achieved strong reach across the Victorian residential care workforce.
The award recognised the programs achievements in more consistent language and shared frameworks across agencies, stronger reflective conversations and more structured staff debriefs following rollout. Participating agencies also reported increased use of proactive de-escalation strategies and improved cross-organisation collaboration.
These outcomes show the value of a program that is designed not just to inform, but to support more consistent practice across a complex workforce.
The AITD Excellence Awards recognise learning and development initiatives that demonstrate meaningful impact, innovation and strategic alignment. The 2026 finalist listing describes Promoting Safety in Residential Care as a transformative, statewide capability-building initiative strengthening safety, confidence and trauma-informed practice for Victoria’s residential care workforce.
For the program to be recognised in the Best Capability Building Program category is a strong acknowledgement of the work led by the Centre, the support of DFFH, and the contribution of the many organisations and practitioners involved.
It also highlights the importance of investing in learning that is:
- grounded in real workforce needs
- informed by sector experience
- culturally safe and trauma-informed
- accessible to a diverse workforce
- practical enough to support day-to-day decision-making
- connected to broader workforce development, not isolated training events
This is the type of work that helps shift practice over time.
Acknowledging the organisations and people behind the program
The leadership of the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare and the support of the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing was paramount in bringing this program to life.
We also acknowledge the many sector partners, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, residential care providers, facilitators, frontline workers and subject matter experts who contributed to the program’s design, testing and rollout.
The award submission specifically recognises the contribution of organisations including VACCA, Anglicare Victoria and Jesuit Social Services, alongside others involved in supporting more consistent practice across the sector.
This was a collective program of work. Its value sits in the shared commitment to safer residential care environments, better support for workers and more trauma-informed responses for children and young people.
Looking ahead
The Promoting Safety in Residential Care program provides a strong foundation for ongoing workforce development across residential care.
The award submission identifies opportunities to continue expanding the pathway through advanced modules, reflective supervision resources, incident reporting, staff wellbeing, micro-credentials and ongoing updates informed by learner feedback and LMS data.
As the program continues to evolve, its ongoing value will be seen in everyday practice: in safer responses, more consistent language, stronger debriefs, better reflection and greater confidence among the workers supporting young people in residential care.
Lucid was pleased to contribute to the digital learning component of this important sector initiative and congratulates the Centre, DFFH and all partners involved in this recognition.
To explore how Lucid can support your organisation with custom elearning, digital learning strategy or LMS implementation, contact your local Lucid consultant.
The content on this page was last updated on 15 June 2026.
