This event is a hybrid event, please use the registration buttons below:
Click Here for in person attendance
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Zoom Meeting ID – 899 7219 8470
Passcode – 304042
Please call 03 6213 8244 or email events@primaryhealthtas.com.au if you are having any issues joining online.
When non-fatal strangulation occurs, the first response matters.
For victim-survivors, early recognition, skilled care, clear documentation and coordinated referral can change the pathway to safety, health and justice.
This landmark Tasmanian forum brings together leading experts, lived-experience advocates and specialist family and sexual violence practitioners for a practical, sector-wide conversation about how we identify and respond to non-fatal strangulation.
If you work in general practice, ambulance, police, accident and emergency, family violence or sexual violence response, this forum is designed for you.
Why attend?
Non-fatal strangulation can be difficult to detect, yet it is a serious indicator of escalating risk and can have immediate, delayed and long-term health impacts. This forum will strengthen your confidence to recognise the signs, understand the risks, respond safely and contribute to a more consistent first-response system.
You will hear from legal, medical, neuropsychological, research, paramedic and lived-experience voices, with a focus on practical insight you can take back to your work with victim-survivors.
What you will gain:
- A clearer understanding of non-fatal strangulation as a high-risk form of family and sexual violence
- Practical knowledge to help identify signs and symptoms, including where injuries may not be visible
- Greater confidence in referral pathways, forensic medical examination processes and access to care
- Improved approaches to documentation that support safety, continuity of care and justice outcomes
- Shared language and stronger cross-sector connections across Tasmania’s first-response workforce
- General practitioners can self-record the activity via myCPD
Speaker information:
- Professor Heather Douglas, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne — leading author on non-fatal strangulation
Heather Douglas AM, FASSA is a Professor of Law at the Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne. She is also Deputy Director of the Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW). Her main area of research is criminal law with a focus on domestic and family violence. Her research on strangulation in the context on domestic and family violence has contributed to law and policy reform. - Lucy Lord, CEO, Red Rose Foundation
Lucy is the Chief Executive Officer of the Red Rose Foundation, a national organisation dedicated to ending domestic and family violence and improving responses to victim-survivors. Lucy has worked across not-for-profit organisations and statutory agencies responding to domestic abuse and violence against women and girls for more than 20 years. She is a passionate advocate for improving awareness, prevention and response to non-lethal strangulation and is committed to strengthening system responses that enhance safety and outcomes for victim-survivors. - Dr Meredith Stronach, General Practitioner and Forensic Medical Examiner.
Meredith is a Staff Specialist with Correctional Health Services, Tasmanian Health Service, and a Forensic Medical Examiner. A rural generalist she brings extensive experience across emergency medicine, primary care, child health, public health and healthcare delivery for vulnerable populations. Her forensic medicine work includes assessing and documenting injuries, supporting evidence-informed clinical responses and helping practitioners recognise presentations where physical signs may be limited or absent. She is committed to equitable, trauma-informed care and to strengthening the links between health, safety and justice. - Dr Christine Padgett, Psychological Scientist
Christine is a senior lecturer in the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Tasmania. One of her main areas of research is brain injury caused by intimate partner violence. In particular, she is interested in the long term cognitive and psychological changes that may occur due to repeated non-fatal strangulation and head trauma, and how that might interact with the psychological trauma associated with IPV. In 2024 Christine was awarded a Churchill Fellowship, allowing her to travel to Canada and the US to talk to researchers, service providers, and people with lived experience of brain injury caused by IPV, and she is using what she learned on that trip to inform future research and the development of new specialised educational resources. - Dr Chantal Roddy, Neuropsychologist
Chantal is a Clinical Neuropsychologist, educator, researcher and founder of Mindset Neuropsychology. With expertise in brain health, trauma, rehabilitation, and family violence, she is passionate about translating neuroscience into practical, evidence-based approaches that improve wellbeing, safety, and recovery for individuals and communities. She will be speaking about her own lived experience of non-fatal strangulation. - Erin Giles – Lived Experience Advocate for Change.
Erin Giles is an Advocate for Change, a mother of three beautiful children, living and working in the south of Tasmania, and she is a victim-survivor. She has lived through the experience of violence at the hands of an intimate partner and survived multiple violent relationships. She has also suffered systemic harm, not only during her time in prison, but also through her work as a former sex worker. She is committed to holding perpetrators of violence accountable, challenging a society that normalises abuse, and demanding accountability from systems and practitioners who fail to act. Her defiance drives her to use her experiences to advocate for young women, both within society and within systems, helping them recognise the early signs of abuse and understand that they deserve safety, respect, and a life free from violence. Young women need support, guidance, and someone who will stand beside them. My goal is to offer that support, whether inside prison, after release, or out in the community.
People are encouraged to care for their wellbeing when engaging with the content on this page.
The following services can be contacted for support:
- Family Violence Counselling and Support Service – 1800 608 122
- 1800RESPECT – 1800 737 732
- Lifeline – 13 11 14
- Kids Helpline – 1800 55 1800