Reflections

Naming the problem to change it: Reflections on addressing violence across multicultural communities

By Dr Tessa Boyd-Caine, ANROWS CEO

Estimated read time: 5 minutes

Gathering with purpose

Recently, I had the opportunity to join the Hon. Tanya Plibersek, Assistant Minister Ged Kearney, Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin, and a room full of sector leaders working to address domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) across multicultural, migrant and refugee communities.

It was a powerful convening, not just for the depth of expertise in the room, but for the willingness to keep showing up. Even when the challenges we face are systemic, complex, and decades old.

As one advocate noted, “We need to name these problems to change them, not to shame or blame.” That framing stayed with me. It reflects the spirit of the day, and the role ANROWS continues to play in supporting change through evidence, translation and collaboration.

Framing experience without flattening it

A recurring theme in the discussion was the need to avoid reducing or homogenising communities when describing experiences of violence.

Participants asked important questions:

• How do we understand issues through multiple cultural, linguistic and gendered lenses?
• What role does power play across different layers of experience?
• And how do we talk about systemic inequity without erasing individual stories?

This is central to how we build evidence, and how we use it responsibly. These are principles embedded in Australia’s National Research Agenda to End Violence against Women and Children, particularly around valuing lived and practitioner expertise alongside academic research.

 

What we already know, and what we must act on

There was no shortage of solutions offered. In fact, the clearest takeaway was this: we’re not starting from scratch. There is an existing evidence base and a wealth of practice wisdom, what’s needed is the will and coordination to act on it.

Key suggestions from participants included:

• Embedding community-led approaches in research and practice
• Sharing lessons from practice and investing in what works
• Prioritising relationship-building across sectors, not just program delivery
• Improving data quality and visibility, especially to understand who’s missing out

There was also a generous and honest reflection on where mainstream organisations have moved too slowly. Structural inequality, across racism, homophobia, transphobia and more, requires mandated action, not goodwill alone.

 

Inside our organisations: leading for inclusion

Another important theme was the need for intentional leadership inside organisations, especially mainstream ones. There were calls for:

• Creating working environments that value and reflect diverse experiences
• Recognising how exclusion is built into organisational cultures and systems
• Resourcing leaders to support diversity with depth, not just visibility

When the systems meant to support communities are inaccessible or unsafe, people disengage, and that carries real-world consequences.

What this means for ANROWS

For ANROWS, the reflections from this conversation connect directly to our national role. Several key priorities stood out:

1. Synthesising the evidence for practical use

What do we know about multicultural, migrant and refugee communities in relation to DFSV? What’s changed in the evidence? And what knowledge is well-established but underused?

2. Valuing practice-based expertise

Practitioners, especially those working with men, women and children in multicultural communities, hold critical insights. Our work must support the translation of this knowledge into policy, programs and public understanding.

3. Supporting peer learning across services

Practitioner-to-practitioner learning can be transformative. We need to ask: How do we share what’s working across programs, sectors and communities? And how can evaluation support this process?

4. Building the evidence system itself

This includes strengthening evaluation frameworks, funding service capacity, and resourcing the capture and measurement of what works. That’s how we move from anecdote to evidence, and from promising practice to lasting impact.

 

Looking ahead: from conversation to action

This was a timely reminder of the shared responsibility we carry, across government, research, and community sectors, to build responses that are nuanced, inclusive, and evidence informed.

At ANROWS, we remain committed to ensuring that research reflects the lived realities of those most affected by violence. We know the work ahead is hard. But we also know it’s possible, because the solutions are already with us; we just have to listen, learn and act.