Page 1593 - Week 06 - Thursday, 23 July 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The framework will also be used as the foundation for the reworking of the family violence intervention program—FVIP—case tracking as a consistent and integrated domestic violence service model for the ACT. The ACT government domestic and family violence training complements the messages and approach of the risk assessment and management framework.
Understanding the circumstances leading up to a death resulting from domestic and family violence is vital for preventing the likelihood of similar deaths occurring in the future. The office of the Coordinator-General for Family Safety is leading the development of an ACT domestic and family violence death review mechanism to be established in the ACT. Once it is operational, in 2020-21, all deaths resulting from domestic and family violence will be reviewed and there will be recommendations for system-wide reform, including changes to policy, services and legislation. Having this death review mechanism will allow for more robust data collection and informed public awareness campaigns.
Understandably, much effort and many resources have been invested in supporting those who are impacted by violence against them. However, if there is no focus on perpetrators, we will only be responding to each crisis after it has happened, rather than preventing violence from occurring in the first place.
The ACT government continues to fund the Domestic Violence Crisis Service to run Room4Change, a therapeutic residential men’s behaviour change program that commenced in 2017. Room4Change helps men make their own lives better by stopping their use of violence and assisting them to explore what is important for them and their current and future relationships. The program also supports partners and children to stay safely in the home while men are engaged in a six-month therapeutic program which includes group work, one-on-one case management and accommodation.
Room4Change is an important program for the ACT as it has the capacity to support the whole family. It is one of a small number of residential behaviour change programs nationally. In the first phase of the safer families package, the ACT government committed $964,000 over four years to establish the program. In 2019-20 the ACT government committed an additional $4.243 million over four years to fund the Room4Change program, allowing for a full evaluation of this program after two years and ongoing service delivery.
In partnership with the ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner, two forums were convened to discuss best practice approaches for people who use coercion, control and violence in their intimate relationships and their families. The two forums had representatives and senior executives from across the sectors that respond to family violence, including direct service providers in health, housing, justice and community services. Work is continuing to pull together all these learnings to determine the most appropriate steps forward to both hold perpetrators to account for their violence and assist them to get the help they need to stop their violence.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video