Family Safety Victoria was established as an administrative office by an Order in Council on 22 June 2017 (Vic. Gazette Notice No: G 25, 22 June 2017). It commenced on the 1 July 2017 as an independent administrative office within the Department of Health and Human Services (VA 5037) portfolio, with the Special Minister of State as the responsible minister.

The establishment of Family Service Victoria was in response to recommendations from the 2016 Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence (VA 5075) and as a part of Victoria's Family Violence Rolling Action Pan 2017-20. It is Victoria's first government agency solely dedicated to delivering family violence reform.

At the time of its establishment, the responsibilities of Family Safety Victoria were to:

- Lead the establishment of Support and Safety Hubs in the Department of Health and Human Services regions across Victoria which are to provide women, children and young people experiencing family violence access to coordinated support from justice, health and social services,
- Lead the implementation of family violence information sharing reforms,
- Establish and operate a Central Information Point to enable information to be shared between police, courts and government services so that perpetrators can be tracked and victims kept safe,
- Lead the redevelopment of the Family Violence Risk Assessment and Risk Management Framework, and
- Establish a Centre for Workforce Excellence to help develop workforce capabilities of the services involved in family violence.