Frankie's Newsletter- Family Violence & COVID19

View this email in your browser Issue #5

Hi everyone!

I hope you’ve been managing as well as possible during the continued stage 4 lockdown.

A few weeks ago, the Victorian Government announced an extra $20 million funding with a focus on support services that focus on those who perpetrate family violence and "to keep perpetrators in full sight."

Minister for Prevention of Family Violence Gabrielle Williams stated at the press conference:

"This investment will essentially get more perpetrators of family violence into alternative accommodation which … supports victim survivors of family violence to be able to remain safely in their own homes."

While the response to family violence has gone a considerable way towards removing the burden from victim-survivors and placing it on the system, this ‘system’ had not yet developed to the point of being fully effective, with its blunt response sometimes entrenching perpetrator narratives of victimisation instead. This raises the question of what ‘perpetrator accountability’ is understood to mean.

The ANROWS report, ‘Improved accountability: The role of perpetrator intervention systems’, to which the CIJ made a major contribution is linked in the newsletter below. The report explores the question of what ‘perpetrator accountability’ means within the family violence system and what it might look like if all family violence services operated as coordinated perpetrator intervention systems, working together to prevent and respond to harm.

Family violence responses need to become more effective and coordinated to ensure that any interventions are sustainable and the safest outcome for the victim-survivor.

If anyone you know might need assistance with family violence, some first points of contact include: 1800RESPECT – 1800 737 732; Safe Steps 1800 015 188; and Men’s Referral Service 1300 766 491.

More in the articles below. Until next time, take care, and as always feel free to contact us on cij@rmit.edu.au

Until next time!

Family Violence in the News

VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT PUTS $20 MILLION TOWARDS 'NEW WAY' OF REDUCING FAMILY VIOLENCE DURING CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

ARTICLE by Rachel Clayton (ABC News)

"Data supplied by the State Government showed family violence organisation Safe Steps reported a 30 per cent decrease in calls in April from victims of family violence, and the Orange Door reported a 12 per cent decrease over the past month compared to February.

But the Men's Referral Service (MRS) recorded an 11 per cent increase in calls to the over the past month, compared to the same time last year, and a 90 per cent increase in April when stage 3 restrictions were introduced."

HUGE JUMP IN URGENT FAMILY LAW CASES FUELLED BY LOCKDOWN STRESS
INTERVIEW with Sabra Lane (AM, ABC Radio National)

Listen to this interview with the Chief Justice of the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court, Will Alstergren CJ who reports an increase of almost 70 per cent in urgent applications relating to family violence between March and July this year.
IMAGE CREDIT: Nour Haydar (ABC News)

CIJ Research

Improved accountability: The role of perpetrator intervention systems

Perpetrator accountability is stated as a key aim in many domestic and family violence policies. However, there is little agreement on what this means or how it might be achieved. Various parts of the justice system (police, courts, corrective services) together with Men’s Behaviour Change Programs are key pathways for perpetrators, and therefore as critical points for perpetrator interventions.

To improve and enhance the response to family violence, it is critical that the perpetrator intervention system operates in a coordinated, aligned and timely way. With limited evidence in Australia about how the current systems interacts and intersects, this report aims to map out the range and breadth of available responses. This is to ascertain the most common pathways of identification, assessment and intervention for perpetrators and to identify opportunities to strengthen perpetrator intervention systems further and improve perpetrator accountability.

You can read the report here.

Check this out!

How COVID-19 has transformed Family Law

ABC's Law Report steps inside our family law courts to examine how the COVIE-19 crisis has transformed court processes.

In response to a surge in disputes over parenting plans, the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court created a COVID-19 List to hear urgent cases using Microsoft Teams. And this is not an isolated example, right now most hearings are taking place in a virtual space rather than in a bricks and mortar courtroom.

So will these new virtual courts stay with us in a post-pandemic future?

You can listen to the podcast here.

Upcoming Online Events

Responding to Family Violence by adolescents: Finding the best way forward
Presented by Centre of Innovative Justice together with ANROWS

Friday 11 September, 1pm - 2pm

Register here to attend

Use of family violence by adolescents is an increasingly acknowledged social policy problem. Yet jurisdictions around Australia adopt different approaches to this challenge – resulting in divergent legal responses and associated support for those experiencing it.

You are invited to a discussion exploring this challenge as it presents in Tasmania, as well as the way in which this contrasts with other Australian legal responses. The event will outline the findings of the ANROWS funded PIPA Project, as well as the practice and policy realities in the Tasmanian context.

ONLINE TASTER PLACEMENT: Restorative Justice
Presented by Centre for Innovative Justice together with Open Circle and the Neighbourhood Justice Centre

Monday 14 September, 3pm - 4.30pm

Register here to attend

Restorative justice seeks to bring together the victim (or person harmed) the offender (or person responsible for the harm) and communities through a facilitated encounter to come to a common understanding about why the harm occurred and how it can be repaired or addressed. It is an alternative approach to the adversarial justice system that focuses on addressing the harm caused to people by a crime or other wrong rather than on the violation of a law.

Restorative Justice:

Works toward the restoration of victims and communities, empowering them and responding to their needs as they see them.
Shows equal concern and commitment to victims, offenders, and communities by involving all in the process of justice.
Supports offenders, while encouraging them to understand, accept, and carry out their obligations.

Join us to hear how Open Circle and the Neighbourhood Justice Centre use restorative justice to heal relationships and achieve better outcomes for their clients and the community.