NEW ANROWS RESEARCH

New ways for our families: First report launched

Child protection responses to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who have experienced or been exposed to DFV have led to the overrepresentation of these children in systems, and lifetime cumulative harm. A new ANROWS report from the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak (QATSICPP), which empowered local community researchers to investigate alternative responses, was launched earlier this month.

This report, New Ways for Our Families: Designing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural practice framework and system responses to address the impacts of domestic and family violence on children and young people, is the first in a series of publications which will culminate in a new framework of practice to be launched later in 2022. In this report, the researchers present their findings from a literature review and the first rounds of action research cycles conducted with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander chief investigators, community researchers and practitioners working in eight community-controlled child and family services across Queensland.

Since publication, the report has been well received. Articles focusing on the report in The Guardian, The Australian and Pro Bono draw attention to the fact that a man who experienced violence as a child will only receive help for these experiences when he is, himself, recognised as a perpetrator of violence.

That is, a child protection response to exposure to or experience of DFV is not enough. Instead, children and young people need opportunities for holistic healing; culturally strong and community-led whole of family support; therapeutic healing circles; and connection to and knowledge about traditional cultural values, systems and traditions.

System changes are also required. These include procuring place-based and healing responses that support self-determination and effective resourcing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services. More significantly, in terms of the effort required to achieve this, cultural capability across the services system needs to be enhanced, and structural racism needs to be eliminated in order to reduce the load on existing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services.

Importantly, the researchers noted that while Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s voices have largely been invisible in the design and creation of interventions, they have a crucial role to play in designing programs that respond to their needs.

DAHLIA-19 INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH STUDY

Australian case study highlights innovative practice in response to COVID-19

Since December 2020, ANROWS, in partnership with the University of Melbourne, has been working on DAHLIA-19 – an international research study investigating DFV service provision in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and the United Kingdom in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to producing an Australian in-country report as part of the study, we have now also published a case study focusing on the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia’s National COVID-19 List as an example of innovative practice.

The List, established in response to a significant increase in the number of urgent applications filed in the Courts in March and April 2020, is dedicated to addressing urgent family law disputes arising due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including matters where there is an escalation or increase in risk of family violence.

The case study situates the introduction of the List among a wider context of the shift to online models ushered in by restrictions associated with the public health response to the pandemic, and also considers it as one of a number of reforms currently taking place in the family law arena in Australia. The success to date of the List has led to the implementation of other national lists (such as the National Contravention List), and there is a suggestion that elements of the model could be transferred to state contexts, as well as rural and remote areas.

The two interim reports are also available through the DAHLIA-19 website, where a final report, incorporating findings from all participating countries, will be published later in 2022.

Opportunities

MISIDENTIFIED WOMEN’S EXPERIENCES IN COURT AND THE CHALLENGES OF CONSENT NEGOTIATION

As part of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre’s 2022 Seminar Series, Dr Ellen Reeves will unpack her PhD research to discuss the court experiences of women misidentified as family violence “predominant aggressors”. During the seminar, Dr Reeves will interrogate the problematic “culture of consent” while drawing on the lived experiences of misidentified women and their encounters with the court system.

The event, facilitated by Associate Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon, will take place online at 9:00 am, Wednesday 4 May.

WORKING WITH INTIMATE PARTNER HOMICIDE: EXPLORING SYSTEMS’ FAILURES AND POSSIBILITIES

Over two Wednesday mornings in May, ShantiWorks is hosting an online workshop series focusing on intimate partner homicides. The sessions are designed to enable participants to explore their theories and assumptions about intimate partner homicides to strengthen responses to men’s violence against and murder of women.

The first session, “Key Learnings”, will take place from 9:30am to 11:30am on Wednesday 18 May. You can register for one session, or both, through the ShantiWorks website.