EXTERNALLY FUNDED RESEARCH PROJECTS
Victoria Legal Aid Specialist Family Violence Court: Client advisory study
Background
This project is part of Victoria Legal Aid's (VLA) ongoing commitment to improve the legal services available to people who access the Specialist Family Violence Court system. This includes understanding how men who are required to appear in court for a family violence intervention order (FVIO) experience the legal system and the extent to which their pre-appearance, appearance and post-appearance needs are met.
Aim
The aim of this project is to improve the Specialist Family Violence Court’s response to family violence. This project considers all research questions for men from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB), First Nations men and Anglo men.
Methods
There are three phases of this project. Phases 1 and 2 were conducted through community consultation with men (n=13) who have been to court for an FVIO. Community consultations were conducted remotely on a one-on-one interview basis using a set of pre-determined guiding questions from VLA. In Phase 1 a total of seven Anglo (n=4) and First Nations (n=3) men were interviewed. In Phase 2, a total of six men of NESB were interviewed: half (n=3) were of Afghani background, two were of Indian background (n=2) and one of Sri Lankan background (n=1). Phase 3 is currently underway.