Research, trial and evaluate interventions for perpetrators

Implemented

Who is leading the change

Family Safety Victoria

The Victorian Government, subject to advice from the recommended expert advisory committee and relevant ANROWS (Australia’s National Organisation for Women’s Safety) research, trial and evaluate interventions for perpetrators that:

provide individual case management where required
deliver programs to perpetrators from diverse communities and to those with complex needs
focus on helping perpetrators understand the effects of violence on their children and to become better fathers
adopt practice models that build coordinated interventions, including cross-sector workforce development between the men’s behaviour change, mental health, drug and alcohol and forensic sectors

The Department of Justice and Community Safety and Family Safety Victoria are working together to develop a more coordinated and responsive approach to perpetrator behaviour change and keeping perpetrators in view.

This involves identifying and addressing service gaps to help increase the access to and the responsiveness of interventions, as well as integration and trialling of innovative delivery methods.
A range of new perpetrator interventions have been implemented.

These include:
- Domestic Violence Victoria and No to Violence providing a coordination function to build the capacity of the mental health and drug and alcohol sectors to identify and respond to perpetrators of family violence
- court-based initiatives to address LGBTIQ+ perpetrators and perpetrators with complex needs
- adaptation of Corrections Victoria’s Respectful Relationships program for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse groups and incorporation of culturally inclusive material for all programs
- family violence practitioners in the Children’s Court of Victoria
- 7 trials delivered by community service organisations to pilot programs for people who use violence from diverse communities
- Caring Dads, a parenting program for fathers who use violence.
- case management that aims to reduce the risk associated with a perpetrator’s use of family violence by providing an individualised and tailored response to address the barriers to engaging in the change process.
- five Innovative Perpetrator Interventions Grant Programs delivered through the Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS)
- a range of in prison and individualised community-based support for perpetrators delivered through the DJCS, including introduction of individual perpetrator case management for family violence offenders in the community, a parenting program for male and female prisoners, and a new program for women who use force at Tarrengower prison.
The new perpetrator interventions have been evaluated in line with the Family Violence Outcomes Framework to build the evidence base for working with people who use violence from diverse communities.

Further perpetrator interventions are also being trialled and evaluated, including perpetrator accommodation services that enable victim survivors to remain safely in the home.

Updated 23 September 2021