Ms Krystal Schaffer is an accredited AASW Social Worker and Lecturer in Social Work and Human Services. She has ten years of industry experience in tertiary and secondary child protection and domestic and family violence (DFV) services. Krystal’s framework for practice and subsequent research interests focusses on subjectivity, intersectionality and empowerment as concerns childhood abuse and neglect and prevention of domestic and family violence. Krystal is a confirmed PhD candidate with a 2024 projected completion date. The focus of Krystal’s PhD shifts from her previous tertiary and secondary Social Work work-experience to a focus on primary Social Work practice; through engagement in a Social Work research methodology, designed to culminate in a tailored preventative domestic and family violence intervention, using virtual reality simulations, for social work education. Krystal has presented as a panel member at the “Providing Expert Knowledge of Domestic and Family Violence for General Practitioners in Rural and Remote Queensland” in Toowoomba QLD 2020; and as co-presenter at the 2020 USQ Domestic and Family Violence Symposium – Preventing cumulative harm through perpetrator-focused risk assessment. Krystal is a member of the Attorney-General Domestic and Family Violence Death Review and Advisory Board working group, supporting the development of DFV training in key frontline areas and its implementation across the Queensland workforce. Krystal was awarded the USQ Early Career Teaching Award in 2021, the USQ Excellence Award for University Teaching (2021) and is a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. Academic qualifications include Bachelor of Arts (Criminology and Sociology Majors) (University of Queensland); Graduate Certificate - Community Services Practice (Client Assessment and Case Management); Graduate Certificate - Community Services Practice (Statutory Child Protection); and Master of Social Work (PQ) – dissertation pathway (Griffith University).