Grants
Pilot: Development of a Men’s Behaviour Change Program and Alcohol and Other Drugs Intervention
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence, funded by the Department of Communities
Details: Develop and evaluate an integrated family and domestic violence, perpetrator and alcohol and other drug (AOD) intervention that is culturally relevant for Aboriginal perpetrators. This project supports further implementation of the State Government’s Safer Families, Safer Communities Kimberley Family Violence Regional Plan 2015-2020 (Kimberley Plan).
Impact: The Kimberley Plan is to reduce family and domestic violence and improve community safety in the Kimberley Region. However, the main aim of the project is to conceptualise and ultimately pilot a coordinated response to perpetrators who are impacted by the co-occurring issues of family and domestic violence and AOD in a place based and co-designed way.
Events & Training
Event: Family and Domestic Violence Conference – Pivoting to the Perpetrator; Honouring children’s Experiences
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence funded by the Department of Communities
Details: The first Stopping Family Violence conference bought together the family and domestic violence sector to improve responses and practice in perpetrator response. The conference hosted national and international speakers to discuss and consider children within the context of perpetrator response.
Impact: The presentations delivered covered various issues and debates relevant to perpetrator response systems and honouring children’s experiences within them.
Event: Dignity Conference
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence Presenters
Details: Through a highly participatory workshop, Damian Green and Rodney Vlais discussed perpetrator intervention work at the Dignity Conference held in May.
Impact: Over 40 years of women’s activism has culminated in emerging national conversations about family and domestic violence like never before. The stakes and gravity of these conversations are of course very high. With new and a greater diversity of community representatives, groups and organisations taking an interest and joining in on these conversations, the future feels both tentatively promising and unpredictable.
Research
Research: Implementation Plan for the National Outcome Standards for Perpetrator Intervention (NOSPI)
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence in collaboration with Department of Child Protection and Family Support (now Department of Communities).
Details: The project plan is part of an ongoing process to strengthen safety for victims, accountability for perpetrators, and help define roles and responsibilities within the family and domestic violence systems response. This will support identification and responses to perpetrators, keeping them within view of the system, especially in terms of ongoing risk assessment and risk management. Improved awareness, and identification of strategies to address gaps between NOSPI and service providers’ current role in perpetrator response work.
Impact: Increased understanding of responsibilities and linkages with regard to the NOSPI, including strengthening information sharing, data collection and collaborative working.
Increased understanding of training required for the implementation of the NOSPI.”
Research: Family and Domestic Violence – Issues Paper
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence for the family and domestic violence sector
Details: Stopping Family Violence released their first issues paper ‘Family and domestic violence perpetrator programs. Issues paper of current and emerging trends, developments and expectations.
Impact: The paper offers a national view of trends and developments in family and domestic violence research and literature, ranging from the systemic level to daily practice, to stimulate discussion and action about the steps required to build perpetrator intervention systems which will strengthen existing family and domestic violence efforts and MBCPs within the system.
Research: Curtin University in Family and Domestic Violence
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence and Curtin University
Details: As a university with an established reputation for innovation, Curtin excels in a diverse range of research areas that aim to make tomorrow better for people all over the world.
Impact: The partnership with Curtin University has enabled Stopping Family Violence to grow its research capabilities and increase capacity to participate in a wide variety of research projects.
Research: ANROWS Advisory Group
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence in partnership with ANROWS
Details: Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety Limited is an independent, not-for-profit research organisation established to produce evidence to support the reduction of violence against women and their children.
Impact: Stopping Family Violence contributed to 3 ANROWS publications in an advisory role these are: ANROWS Program quality and outcomes in men’s behaviour change, ANROWS Improving safety through better engagement and retention of perpetrators across the systems of interventions, and ANROWS Invisible Practices: Moving towards child protection practices through a community of practice approach.
Network & Partnerships
Network: Chair of the Men’s Behaviour Change Network WA
Partnership: Men’s Behaviour Change Network WA lead 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 and support as we work to reduce family and domestic violence in Australia.
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 – CWSW,
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. Partners 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.
Network: 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: Multi-cultural Advisory Forum
Partnership: Led by Department of Human Services
Details: Stopping Family Violence was invited by Department of Human Services to join the Multi-cultural Advisory Group in 2017.The forums provide consultation with multicultural communities at local, state and territory levels. These forums ensure communities know about the department’s programs, services and new initiatives which have an impact on CALD customer. The group provides advice and feedback about the quality and effectiveness of the department’s service delivery to multicultural customers.
Impact: As one of the only representatives for perpetrator intervention work in the forum, SFV offers expertise and advise in the area of engaging with perpetrators in this space to increase the safety of women and children. SFV also utilises the information in these forums to further inform men’s specialist services.
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.
Partnership: WA Police Response to Family and Domestic Violence
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence in Partnership with WA Police
Details: Stopping Family Violence has been working with WA Police to develop training for new recruits on how best to interact with perpetrators and create opportunities for intervention. The team also provided input into scripts which have been recorded by actors to represent perpetrators of family and domestic violence.
Impact: Improved training and responses in WA Police to victim-survivors and perpetrators of family and domestic violence.
Partnership: Legal Aid Training & Framework
Partnership: Stopping Family Violence in partnership with Legal Aid
Details: The Framework is a comprehensive document to support staff within Legal Aid to work more effectively in the area of family and domestic violence. This compulsory training is far-reaching and will inform all Legal Aid workers from administrative to managerial levels on how to work with victims and perpetrators of family and domestic violence.
Impact: Stopping Family Violence has been providing advice to Legal Aid as they develop an adaptation of a Victorian based Family Violence framework document and training for their staff.
