Grants
Working with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to respond to men using Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence (DOCG202331633) funded by The Children and Community services Ministerial body Through The Department Of Communities
Commencing on the 1st November 2023, Stopping Family Violence has been working alongside two ACCOs (Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations) – 1 metro and 1 regional/remote, with afocus on workforce development across the perpetrator intervention space to increase the safety and wellbeing of women and children. The workforce development will support the ACCOs to work with men who use family, domestic, and sexual violence. A set of guidelines will be developed for the considerations needed in workforce development for ACCOs to safely work with men who are using family, domestic, and sexual violence.
Early Intervention with Adolescents Program.
Funded by Paul Ramsay Foundation
This project builds on early intervention pilot programs delivered by SFV at two schools in 2020 and 2022 and with a youth organisation in 2023. Funding over two years was granted via the Paul Ramsay Foundation’s 2023 Specialist DFV Programs: National Open Grant Round. Learnings from the previous work pointed to the need for early intervention with adolescent users of FDV to include a systemic approach that supports consistent and evidence-informed multi-agency responses. Therefore, this program included an additional component of sector development, where intersecting systems and services received FDV-informed training to enable them to have the skills and knowledge to identify, respond and refer young people who may be perpetrating or are at risk of perpetrating FDV. Beginning in July 2023, the project has focussed on developing program materials and building partnerships with schools and youth organisations to co-deliver the program. Three sector development training sessions have also been provided. Program delivery to adolescents across multiple sites is scheduled to commence in the latter half of 2024 as well as up to seven more sector development training sessions.
Wraparound stakeholder engagement and terms of reference consultancy.
Funded by ACT Government
SFV were engaged as consultants to develop revised Terms of Reference for the Wraparound service model, in collaboration with participating agencies and in keeping with recommendations of the Listen. Take Action to Prevent. Believe and Heal report. The Wraparound model was initially established as a best practice coordinated systems response to support victim survivors of sexual offences. However, over time Wraparound had ceased to operate in its original form and instead operated as a referral pathway between agencies. SFV facilitated consultations with key stakeholders and agencies to inform a draft revision of the Terms of Reference for the ACT Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Office.
St John
“The Department of Communities has provided St John WA with grant funding to deliver a Family and Domestic Violence (FDV)-informed education program to 3,000 emergency response team members including, State Control Centre (SCC), Paramedics and Clinical Volunteers state-wide. SFV was selected as the lead agency to assist with co-designing and co-facilitating the education. The training has been delivered in both metropolitan and regional areas in WA.
The education package has been developed to build the capacity of emergency response team members to recognise and respond to the needs of patients who may be experiencing FDV. It includes two distinct units – “FDV Education Program Unit 1” and “FDV Education Program Unit 2”. This first online unit is foundational and is delivered online. The second unit expands on the first and is tailored to the specific requirements of each cohort.
The delivery of the project commenced in October 2023 and it is anticipated to take approximately 12-18 months to roll out.
A separate independent subject matter expert, the Centre for Social Impact at the University of Western Australia has been engaged to complete an evaluation of the effectiveness of the education program, prior to the closure of the grant in June 2026.
Training & Supervision
Supervision: Stopping Family Violence Family and Domestic Violence Informed Supervision Services
Stopping Family Violence continued to offer supervision services throughout the 2023/24 financial year for those working in the family and domestic violence sector. Throughout the financial year, Stopping Family Violence delivered 22 hours of supervision to 4 different agencies.
Supporting employees who have challenging roles in the family and domestic violence sector with best practices and evidence-based advice. Supervision and training are just part of the journey to embedding better practices and responses to FDSV.
Training: Safe and Together Training Provider
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence in partnership with Safe & Together has continued to deliver Safe & Together training since 2017
Details: The Safe & Together Institute is a systems change and training organisation that helps diverse sectors transform their approach to family and domestic violence informed approach. Using a behavioural, whole-of-family approach, the Institute’s Perpetrator Pattern-based, Child Centred Framework encourages interventions with perpetrators as parents and partners with adult survivors
Impact: The Safe & Together Model is designed to create systems and practice change that is child-centered, keeping children safe and together with the protective parent.
Training: Caring Dads Training Provider
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence has continued its partnership with Caring Dads since 2017
Details: Caring Dads is a group intervention program for men who have abused, neglected, or exposed their children to domestic violence. Stopping Family Violence runs facilitator training events to train facilitators in this model.
Impact: Caring Dads training is devoted to ensuring the safety and well-being of our communities most vulnerable. Stopping Family Violence trains facilitators in this model that will work with fathers who have been abusive neglectful or violent in their families.
Early Intervention with Adolescents Program – Sector Development Training.
Funded by Paul Ramsay Foundation
Supporting intersecting systems and services to receive FDV-informed training to enable them to have the skills and knowledge to identify, respond and refer young people who may be perpetrating or are at risk of perpetrating FDV. Training examined the key components of FDV-informed practice, coercive control, contributing factors to FDV, gender roles and stereotyped constructions of masculinity and femininity, myths around FDV, and how services can collaborate to bring perpetrators into view and increase the safety of victim-survivors. In partnership with Ebenezer Aboriginal Corporation who kindly provided the venue, SFV trained 27 practitioners from ten different agencies and organisations located in the North Eastern corridor of Perth, with more training sessions to be delivered in 2024/2025.
Supervision: Stopping Family Violence Supervision Services
Stopping Family Violence continued to offer supervision services in 2023 for those working in the family and domestic violence sector.
Impact: Supporting employees that come from working in challenging systems with best practice evidence-based advice for those who work in the family and domestic violence sector.
Partnerships & Networks
Network: Member of the Commissioning Working Group
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence committee member led by the Department of Communities
Committee Details: The Commissioning Working Group was formed under the Community Partnerships Roundtable which was established in October 2020. The Roundtable and it’s working groups bring together a broad and diverse range of experience and expertise to jointly address matters of strategic importance relevant to the delivery of human services.
Impact: As a member of the Commissioning Working Group, Stopping Family Violence input will contribute significantly to stronger governance for the Department of Communities.
Network: Chair of the Men’s Behaviour Change Network WA
Partnership: Men’s Behaviour Change Network WA led by Stopping Family Violence commenced in 2017.
Details: Since its inception in early 2017, the Men’s Behaviour Change Program (MBCP) Network has been working to develop a collective, powerful voice for perpetrator programs in WA and support the ongoing evolution toward a standard of excellence across the sector. The Network has become an important forum for collaborative practice, discussion, and establishing cohesive research and development agendas across the perpetrator response sphere.
Impact: The Men’s Behaviour Change Network WA is a collaborative group established to strengthen the working relationships across the perpetrator intervention system in Western Australia. The Network provides a forum to support current practice whilst striving to further develop the sector through improved collaboration and evidence-based innovation. The purpose of the Men’s Behaviour Change Network is to bring the sector together to provide advocacy
Partnership: Co-Peaks The Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing – CWSW
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence and The Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing
Details: This partnership commenced in 2017, The Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing is an independent, representative peak body for women’s specialist domestic and family violence, community-based women’s health and sexual assault services in Western Australia is underpinned by our recognition of the importance of gender equality to reduce violence against women and their children and promote their health and wellbeing.
Impact: The Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing is the co-peak with Stopping Family Violence in family and domestic violence sector in Western Australia. Partnering with the women’s sector gives a cohesive approach to family and domestic violence for women and children and those perpetrating family and domestic violence.
Partnership with Preventing Violence Together
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence and Preventing Violence Together (PVT)
Details: Stopping Family Violence helped establish PVT in 2020. Primary prevention focuses on shifting the culture that permits violence to occur in the first place by identifying and challenging the social norms, practices and structures that drive violence against women. Preventing Violence Together works to build the capacity of local communities, state agencies and organisations, government and the private sector to develop, implement and evaluate effective primary prevention activities.
Impact: Stopping Family Violence works together with Preventing Violence Together to foster the primary prevention sector that is developing in our state by supporting shared approaches, consistent practice and confident professionals undertaking primary prevention of violence against women throughout WA.
Network: Chair of WA Family Law Pathways Network
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence Chair the WA Family Law Pathways Network Steering Committee
Details: The objective of the Western Australia Family Law Pathways Network is to foster strong links with locally based providers who operate as part of, or alongside, the family law system, to enhance collaboration and improve overall assistance to separated and separating families.
Impact: The WA Family Law Pathways Network hosts an annual conference for those working in the family law system to improve their practice to help families who have separated or are separating.
Network Member Humanitarian Entrants Interagency Network (HEIN)
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence became a network member of the HEIN Network led by Department of Communities.
Details: Stopping Family Violence commenced on the network in 2017. Metropolitan multicultural networks are gatherings of government, non-government agencies and community groups that share information, knowledge and resources so that they can better support their culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) communities.
Impact: HEIN facilitates relationships, collaboration and support, and the sharing of information, practice and ideas among agencies that provide services to people from refugee backgrounds.
Healthy Relationships Strategy Group Southeast Metropolitan
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence committee member
Stopping Family Violence is the Chair of this group and attends monthly meetings as part of the Healthy Relationships Strategy Group for the Southeast Metropolitan Corridor. This forum brings together delegates and partnerships from WAPOL, women’s services, perpetrator response, City of Belmont, City of South Perth, Town of Victoria Park, financial services and housing and AOD to identify early intervention strategies for Domestic Violence in the local community.
Impact: As the only representative for perpetrator response on the committee, SFV offers an important voice to this cross-sector collaborative discussion and implementation. SFV aims to ensure that notions of perpetrator accountability and empowering survivors of family and domestic violence remain a top priority of the committee’s discussions.
