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Research

Our research

Violence against women and children affects everybody. It impacts on the health, wellbeing and safety of a significant proportion of Australians throughout all states and territories and places an enormous burden on the nation’s economy across family and community services, health and hospitals, income-support and criminal justice systems.

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ANROWS hosts events as part of its knowledge transfer and exchange work, including public lectures, workshops and research launches. Details of upcoming ANROWS activities and news are available from the list on the right.

ANROWS

About ANROWS

ANROWS was established by the Commonwealth and all state and territory governments of Australia to produce, disseminate and assist in applying evidence for policy and practice addressing violence against women and children.

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER

Resources

To support the take-up of evidence, ANROWS offers a range of resources developed from research to support practitioners and policy-makers in delivering evidence-based interventions.


PEOPLE WHO USE VIOLENCE (NPRF 24.05)

Using data to respond to domestic and family violence perpetration within military and veteran families

Project length
2 years

Domestic and family violence (DFV) presents a significant issue within both current and former members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF).


Strategies are required to address the use of violence in this population and to facilitate collaboration between military and veteran-centric agencies and community organisations.

These collaborative strategies must be informed by robust data and an awareness of factors that may limit the data’s potential to convey the full extent of the issue.

 

Research aims

This project aims to lay the groundwork for monitoring trends in DFV use among ADF personnel and veterans through ongoing data analysis. It will also ensure that methods for data use are informed by a deep understanding of military cultural and organisational contexts, as well as veteran-centric systems. This may also improve understandings of how these contexts may enable the continued use of DFV.

Methods

  1. Data mapping and profiling: Potentially informative data sources will be identified from existing data sets, while descriptive profiles of data will be developed and used to select key sources for analyses.
  2. Data analysis: Following data access negotiations, descriptive and trend analyses of data regarding DFV use will be conducted.
  3. Qualitative data collection: Interviews and focus groups will be conducted to explore the contexts for data collection and points of contact with service systems, as well as roles of military and veteran-centric systems and contexts in enabling DFV use. Participants include service users including current or former military personnel who have experiences of DFV use, the family members of personnel, service providers and current or recently retired service leaders or senior stakeholders in military or veteran-centric services.

 

Significance

Data mapping and analyses will lay the foundations for regular reporting on DFV, and benchmarking against goals of ending violence in military and veteran families. Enhanced data on DFV will aid victims and survivors by enabling better detection and intervention.

This improvement will extend to both military and veteran-specific environments, as well as to mainstream services that similarly require enhanced data gathering. Finally, services will benefit from improved understanding and sensitivity to military cultural and organisational contexts, as well as veteran-centric systems.


Researchers

Project lead

Associate Professor Sean Cowlishaw, Turner Institute for Brain & Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences at Monash University.

Research team

Dr Jasmine McGowan, Lecturer in Criminology, School of Social Sciences, Monash University, lead researcher, Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre

Associate Professor Jon Lane, Psychiatry Lead, University of Tasmania School of Medicine, Consultant Psychiatrist, Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA), veterans’ and families counselling service Open Arms, Lieutenant Colonel, Australian Army Reserve.

Ms Cath Allen, Wellbeing Support Services Manager, RSL LifeCare, major Ex-Service organisation, provider of veteran-centric mental health, wellbeing, and family support services, Australia

Nadia David, PhD Candidate, School of Law, Monash University

Research partners

This project will be conducted in partnership with the Australian Government Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA).

Budget

$435,428 (excluding GST)

This project is co-funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services ($233,430) and the Australian Government Department of Veterans’ Affairs ($201,998).

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