newsletter - Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearing House

Newsletter
36
Newsletter 36
inside
editorial
1 editorial
2 news
3 CLEARINGHOUSE
UPDATE
4 ISSUES IN GOOD
PRACTICE
Multicultural identity and
working across cultures in
responding to violence
6 FEATURE
The Road Home: an
opportunity to address
women, domestic and
family violence and
homelessness
8 NEW RESOURCES &
INITIATIVES
9 NEW RESEARCH
Criminal law and breaches
of domestic violence
protection orders
10 PRACTICE NOTES
‘Opening Closed Doors’
project in Sydney’s Jewish
community
13 REVIEW
Violence against Women in
Melanesia and Timor-Leste
14 RECENT ADDITIONS TO
THE RESEARCH AND
RESOURCES DATABASE
15 RECENT ADDITIONS TO
THE GOOD PRACTICE
DATABASE
16 FORTHCOMING
CONFERENCES AND
SEMINARS
Welcome to the Autumn 2009 edition
of the Clearinghouse Newsletter. The
last few months have seen a number
of innovations announced such as the
introduction of homicide review processes
in Victoria and New South Wales, a closer
collaboration between the police and
child protection workers in some parts
of Western Australia and introduction of
mandatory reporting of domestic and
family violence in the Northern Territory.
South Australia has called for more
specialist domestic violence courts. There
has also been a significant and pleasing
acknowledgement in the White Paper on
Homelessness, The Road Home, stating that
expanded models of integrated support
are needed to enable women and children
experiencing domestic and family violence
to remain safely in their own homes.
While all of these initiatives may be valuable
and effective strategies, this assortment
of initiatives serves to illustrate the lack
of consistency across the states and
territories in the way
they deal with domestic
and family violence.
The Clearinghouse is
eagerly awaiting the
release of the National
Plan produced by
the National Council
on Violence Against
Women and their
Children. We hope
that this plan will
incorporate strategies
aimed at creating
a more consistent
approach to domestic
and family violence across all states and
territories so that, irrespective of their
location, victims of violence are able to
receive the range of services they need
to enable them to live free of violence.
A problem of this dimension requires a
national, united approach, with cooperation
from all jurisdictions to invest in and commit
to ending violence against women and
children.
Those of you who are regular users of
our website may have noticed our new
Researchers Database. This new database
brings together information about
researchers working in the field of family and
domestic violence. If you are a researcher
and would like to be added to this database
or know someone who should be added
please contact us. We are also improving
our search functions on our Research and
Resources Database and welcome your
feedback on both of these changes.
Gaby Marcus, Director
Rabbis participating in JewishCare’s ‘Opening Closed Doors’ project see pages 10 –12.
autumn 2009

2
news
Criminology Research Council research
grants – now open
The 2009 round of Criminology Research Council
research grants is now open. Closing date for
applications: 21 August 2009. Documentation is
available from the Criminology Research Council
website.
www.criminologyresearchcouncil.gov.au/
applications/
SA Rural Women’s Community Grants
A small grants fund from the Office for Women,
Government of South Australia, has been created
for women in drought affected communities with
three funding rounds in 2009. The Rural Women’s
Community Grants 2009 provide organisations with
an opportunity to receive small grants of up to $1000
towards a community project that will build resilience
within the community and support the continued
work of local organisations. Closing dates for the
second and third funding rounds are 30 June and 31
October 2009.
wis.sa.gov.au/index.phpsection=1079
‘UNiTE to end violence against women’
campaign gathers momentum
The UN Secretary-Generals‘ campaign, ‘UNiTE to end
violence against women’ campaign, 2008-2015, has
the overall objective of raising public awareness and
increasing political will and resources for preventing
and responding to all forms of violence against
women and girls – in all parts of the world.
www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/Words%20
to%20Action%20Issue%20No.%202.pdf
The Federal Government’s annual ‘Closing
the Gap’ report released
The Rudd Government released its first Annual Report
on ‘Closing the Gap on Indigenous Disadvantage: the
Challenge for Australia’, on 26 February 2009 to mark
the one-year anniversary of the National Parliament’s
apology to the Stolen Generations. The full report is
available at:
www.fahcsia.gov.au/indigenous/closing_the_gap/
closing_the_gap.pdf
Free subscription!
For a free subscription to Clearinghouse
publications, phone or fax us, or subscribe online.
Mandatory reporting laws passed in NT
The Northern Territory Government has passed an
amendment to its Domestic and Family Violence Act
2007, that mandates the reporting of domestic violence
against both adults and children. The law requires
all adults to report domestic violence if they believe
another person’s life is in danger or they believe a
person has caused, or is about to cause, serious harm to
another person in a domestic relationship. The Territory
Government will also commit $15 million over four
years to support more crisis accommodation, increased
counselling services and continuing public education
campaigns surrounding the new law. More information
about this radical amendment will be provided in the
next edition of the Clearinghouse Newsletter.
WA child protection workers to
accompany police on call-outs
The Western Australian (WA) Government has
introduced a system whereby child protection workers
will accompany police to domestic violence callouts
across the Perth metropolitan area. The child
protection officers will provide families with support
and referrals for both men and women to domestic
violence services. The move is based on a successful
trial in Armadale and Cannington in WA, where it was
seen to be responsible for a decrease in incidents.
Hairdressers talking health
The Body Shop Australia has provided
a seeding grant for a project that will
develop hairdressers’ skills in effective
communication around relationship
abuse and difficulties, as well as
serious health issues, loss and grief
and depression. The inaugural training
workshops commenced in Victoria in
February 2009.
blog.thebodyshop.com.au/2009/01/hairdresserstalking-health.htm
Training calenders available online
Victoria
Domestic Violence Resource Centre (Victoria) training
calendar can be found at:
www.dvrcv.org.au/TrainingHub/DVRC%20Tng%20
Calendar%20Jan-June09.pdf
NSW
Education Centre Against Violence, NSW Health,
course calendar can be found at:
www1.health.nsw.gov.au/ecav/index.asppg=5&s=C
newsletter 36

CLEARINGHOUSE UPDATE
New services online
Researchers Database: We have created a
Researchers database where you can search for
Australian researchers working in the field of
domestic and family violence. This database will
help connect researchers across the country and
those looking for research services. Please contact
the Clearinghouse to add your details to the
database.
www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au/Researchers.htm
Evaluation webpage: Evaluation is a critical
element in improving strategies and building an
evidence base. The Clearinghouse website has
a new Evaluation webpage, where you will find
information about evaluation guides, evaluations of
programs and services, information about training,
conferences and seminars, links and more.
www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au/evaluation.htm
Research and Resources Database: We’ve
improved our Research and Resources database by
breaking down some of the browse categories into
sub-categories, to make searching easier and faster.
We love to get your feedback, so let us know how
you find these changes and anything else we can
do to improve our services:
clearinghouse@unsw.edu.au
3
We are also delighted to have Samira Ali and
Ariyan Daly, third year Social Work students from
the University of New South Wales, with us for four
months on their student placements. Sam and Ari are
jointly working on a project involving a partnership
with the Benevolent Society (BENSOC), NSW
Older Women’s Network (OWN), the Family Abuse
Prevention Center (YWCA NSW – South East Region)
and the Sydney Women’s Counselling Center. The
project partners are compiling a resource package
to go out to general practitioners in NSW, informing
them about the impact of domestic violence for their
patients and providing referral pathways in their
region, to support women seeking assistance. Ari
is also assisting in a project involving independent
research on women from the Pacific regions who are
experiencing domestic violence, as well as examining
the services, resources and support available to them
locally, regionally and internationally.
Seeking partners in research
The Clearinghouse is seeking partners to conduct
research projects over the next two years. We are
interested in local, state and national projects that
can inform a national perspective and understanding
on family and domestic violence prevention. We are
currently looking at the following areas:
•the capacity of regional integrated strategies and
multi-purpose family violence services to address
the challenges of family violence prevention in rural
and remote Australia
www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au
New staff and students
Sarah MacGregor joined the Clearinghouse team as
a Research Assistant for three months this year. We
thank her for her contribution to the research project
examining ways to improve financial security for
women victims of domestic violence in Australia, as
well as her other research work. Sarah will soon take
up a research position at the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare.
The Clearinghouse is very pleased to welcome Andree
Mansour as our Administration Officer. Andree
previously worked in the Australian Graduate School of
Management at the University of New South Wales and
started work with the Clearinghouse in mid March.
•good practice in state-wide family violence referral
systems
•the hidden homelessness of single and older
women, with a mapping exercise of service
provision, barriers and gaps.
If you are interested in speaking with us about these
areas, please contact Gaby Marcus, Director, email:
clearinghouse@unsw.edu.au
New Clearinghouse paper
•Campbell G, Steendam W, Little C & Marcus G 2009,
Better Policing, Better Outcomes: changing police
culture to prevent domestic violence and homicide,
Issues Paper 18, Australian Domestic and Family
Violence Clearinghouse, Sydney
Can’t wait for the Newsletter
Subscribe to Clearinghouse e-news and get monthly updates on news, awards, grants, new books
and reports, new resources, and conferences and events. Contact us or subscribe online.
http://adfvc.unsw.edu.au
newsletter 36

4
ISSUES IN GOOD PRACTICE
Multicultural identity and
working across cultures in
responding to violence
by Beata Ostapiej-Piatkowski
and Stephanie Anne, Immigrant
Women’s Support Service, QLD
Practitioners communicate numerous
concerns to us in relation to crosscultural
practice in working with
women from non-English speaking
backgrounds (NESB 1 ) who have
experienced violence.
Of most concern are
the confusions many
practitioners hold
in relation to being
responsive to the issues
of violence that women
may be experiencing,
and maintaining cultural
sensitivity at the same
time.
The seemingly
overwhelming difference between
our own and another culture may
lead to ‘professional paralysis’ and
feelings of cultural inadequacy in
many practitioners, particularly
in mainstream domestic violence
services. Some may attempt to
resolve this discomfort by refusing
to take responsibility for the
provision of services to women from
NESB - apart from referring them to
a multicultural and/or other specific
agency. Others may provide
a service but dismiss cultural
discomfort and apply practice and
understandings based on a western
analysis alone.
It is important to understand that the
very cultural discomfort we are trying
to avoid holds the potential for our
expanded awareness. Following its
direction will not only enrich our own
self-understanding but also will allow
us to perceive others on a deeper
level, where human communication
and connection replaces crosscultural
fears.
“It appears that we
are comfortable
to name violence
when it comes to
our own culture
but shrink from
naming it when it is
perpetrated by and
to those whom we
identify as ‘other’.”
The issue of us and them –
challenging false separations
In giving some thought to the
implicit messages of some crosscultural
confusion, it is clear that
many of us are confused as to the
nature of our own community and
the nature of ‘culture’ itself.
As a multicultural community
Australia has diverse cultures,
backgrounds, languages, spiritual
beliefs, values and world views. It
is critical to recognise that those
differences of opinion, practices
and perspectives on life
are essential in building
our social unity. The
premise of Australian
multiculturalism is in
acknowledgement
that every individual
contributes to
the wholeness of
our community.
Consequently each
individual has the
right to be heard and
have his/her opinion respected,
considered and included in all
community endeavours.
When we assert that we work
with our community and yet we
continue to consider elements
of the Australian community as
outside of our ability to engage,
two implications are evident. Either
we are not ready to recognise
ourselves or ‘others’ as belonging
to this diversity, or we are not able
to work with what is humane. Of
course, most Australian community
workers would reject such an
insinuation; however it is not the
English language but our everyday
actions that need to communicate
our intention to work with diversity
and our courage to engage.
The flip-side of this contradiction
is that it makes us feel inadequate
whenever we are faced with the
same aspects of diversity again.
Moreover, the people whom
we secretly ‘disown’ from the
community sense this separation
and then add to the distance by
maintaining close connection only
with those from similar culture.
Often NESB women comment
to Immigrant Women’s Support
Service (IWSS) on their sense
of isolation, which arises when
they are supported by workers
who never ask directly about the
meaning of a woman’s culture and/
or experience, while alluding to
their own feelings of inadequacy
and cross-cultural fear. It is no
coincidence that whenever IWSS
consults with new communities as
to their needs during settlement,
it is the need for acceptance above
all that is expressed over and over
again.
Disturbingly, this imaginary division
between ‘us’ and ‘them’ can, and
frequently has, become a very fertile
ground for those in our community
who seek power and control over
others. At IWSS, we see too often
the consequences of induced
isolation and the strength that the
sense of community belonging
brings. Therefore, we need to be
even more vigilant in responding
to the voices of those who profess
that it is within their cultural
heritage to deny or abuse other
people’s human rights. In working
with domestic violence, this is
particularly vital.
Violence and culture –
challenging cultural relativism
It appears that we are comfortable
to name violence when it comes
to our own culture but shrink from
naming it when it is perpetrated by
and to those whom we identify as
‘other’. This act alone suggests that
still on some level we are inclined
to believe that there are people
for whom the ability to recognise
violence and understanding of
human rights do not apply.
1 The term NESB in this article is used in recognition of the specific language barriers that may be experienced by those from diverse communities, who must
learn another language while experiencing the many difficulties in transitioning to Australia. Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) women is otherwise
used, as cultural diversity is not always based in language. There is no one single, official or State and Commonwealth-endorsed definition of the term CALD.
The Victorian Multicultural Strategy Unit (2002) provides the following definition: ‘In the Australian context, individuals from a CALD background are those who
identify as having a specific cultural or linguistic affiliation by virtue of their place of birth, ancestry, ethnic origin, religion, preferred language, language(s)
spoken at home, or because of their parents identification on a similar basis.’
newsletter 36

We often hear practitioners refer to
women from NESB in the following
ways: “they are so different”;
“their culture is more violent
and oppressive”; or “they do not
recognise the law in Australia”.
Whilst we acknowledge the many
differences that exist between
cultures, we also must acknowledge
that violence against women is
recognised by all cultures.
It is crucial to
understand clearly the
nature of violence and
to recognise it clearly
without depending on
identifying its cultural
form or shape. The
forms that violence
takes are as diverse
as humanity itself
and though violence
might appear in many
different forms, some not easily
perceived, its function is always
the same. It does not always
matter as much how things
were done to the one who has
experienced violence but it always
matters what consequences it has
had and what toll it takes.
Violence does not hold its identity
in culture. However, culture might
be incorporated or employed
in justification, understanding
and responding to violence. It is
this continuous justification that
shifts the focus away from the toll
violence takes and makes some
types of violence invisible and
socially/culturally sanctioned or
accepted. It is valuable if workers in
mainstream services become aware
“… whenever IWSS
consults with new
communities as to
their needs during
settlement, it is the
need for acceptance
above all that is
expressed over and
over again.”
5
of this and of the impact it has on
their work with women and children
who bear the consequences of
violence.
Many forms of violence in our
community are considered
normal and culturally appropriate.
Cultural appropriateness for
women can embrace working 24
hours a day, adopting masculine,
often aggressive, ways, and being
objectified, sexually.
It is ‘normal’ for us
to claim we have
‘freedom’ of choice
while the options of
choice are non-existent
or scarce. It is only
when looking through
a lens different from
our own cultural
perspective that we
may get the clarity
needed to identify violence in its
many forms. Embracing diversity
is certainly one way of increasing
our perceptivity.
Fear of engagement with
diversity – challenging
ourselves professionally
To respond to the needs of our
diverse community we must
embrace its diversity and recognise
it as our own. This recognition
alone can lend us the thirst for
knowing the true meaning of
multiculturalism and of our own
role within the community we wish
to serve. There are no shortcuts
when it comes to working with
another human being. Either we
work on the common level that
touches us all, or we are not truly
communicating.
Cross-cultural practice does
not depend on emphasising
differences. The knowledge and
adherence to the infinite diversity
of cultural practices and world
views are important tools but
do not constitute the essence
of the practice itself. Crosscultural
practice acknowledges
the diversity as an inherent
characteristic of our community
and seeks to answer to its
community needs on a platform
that is respectful to the whole of
humanity and therefore embraces
all cultures. This respect includes
engaging with women’s need for
safety and understanding and
not avoiding this by off-loading
through referrals to specialist
NESB community organisations.
The essence of integrating our own
diversity is not about allowing some
outside culture into our united
system but it is about introspection
and the courage to look deeply
into our own identity where the
old preconceptions, stereotypes
and cognitive constructs built on
the fear of difference still have their
place.
Of course, such an approach has
its own requirements and can
only be maintained by continuous
self-reflection and refinement of
our own individual cultural views.
However much discomfort as we
might meet, this path will lead
the way towards honouring and
supporting the real application of
multiculturalism in Australia.
www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au
About the Immigrant Women’s Support Service
IWSS is the only service of its kind in Queensland that provides culturally and linguistically
sensitive services for women from NESB and their children who are victims of domestic
and / or sexual violence. The service provides information and referral, crisis support and
counselling, advocacy, court support and ongoing practical and emotional support.
Good Practice Hotline
The Clearinghouse Good Practice Hotline is available on Wednesdays 2-4pm (Eastern Standard Time).
Call: (02) 9385 3843.
newsletter 36

6
FEATURE
The Road Home: an opportunity to address
women, domestic and family violence and
homelessness
by Ludo McFerran, Clearinghouse Project Officer
The Commonwealth Government’s White Paper
on Homelessness The Road Home (FaHCSIA 2008)
marks an important new direction in addressing
homelessness in Australia through a range of
strategies including:
•recognising that the homeless population is not only
made up of people who access funded supported
accommodation services (SAAP),
but also people who sleep rough
or are in temporary and insecure
accommodation
•setting concrete targets to
halve overall homelessness and
to offer accommodation to all
people sleeping rough by 2020
(COAG goals)
•allocating $1.2 billion over
the next four years as a ‘down
payment’ on the 12-year reform
agenda in the White Paper: $800
million for services to prevent and
reduce homelessness and $400
million to increase the supply of
affordable and supported housing
•positioning homelessness within
a mainstream framework, specifically proposing to
develop homelessness action plans with state and
territory governments, to improve collaboration
between mainstream and homelessness services,
and, importantly, implementing a ‘no exits into
homelessness’ policy from statutory, custodial care,
health, mental health and drug and alcohol services
•in conjunction with states and territories, delivering
expanded models to enable women and children
experiencing domestic and family violence to remain
at home safely, incorporating specialist outreach
workers, brokerage funds for home security systems 1 ,
and integrated family violence systems
•recognising the complexities of the ageing of the
homeless population and allocating aged care
places and capital for new specialist facilities for the
aged homeless
•enhancing the role of Centrelink to advise and
assist people at risk of homelessness with 90 new
Community Engagement Officers.
The homelessness sector has reacted positively and is
now scrutinising the detail. The capacity to deliver the
ambitious reform agenda will largely depend on the
outcome of negotiations with states and territories and
on the unfolding global economic downturn.
Nevertheless, the White Paper is a strong indicator that the
Commonwealth Government is prepared to address some
of the entrenched problems of gender disadvantage in
homelessness policy and provision, housing affordability
and the double victimisation of women and children as
a result of domestic and family violence. A gendered
position on women and homelessness is critically needed.
Recent research (Sharam 2008) has emphasised once again
the invisibility of women’s homelessness when not directly
linked to a recent incident of domestic or family violence,
and predicted a significant increase in
the numbers of pension aged women
into the primary homeless population
over the next 20 years.
Old connections
The relationship between
homelessness and domestic and
family violence goes back a century
and beyond. Religious organisations
ran women’s hostels providing
shelter for homeless women and
the Victorian YWCA opened its first
women’s hostel in 1887. Women’s
homelessness, however, remained
largely overshadowed by that of
men’s.
The feminist inspired refuge
movement in Australia in 1974-75 did
not differentiate between women’s need for housing and
need for safety from domestic and family violence. In the
first four months of opening, more than half the residents
of Elsie Women’s Refuge had been recently discharged
from psychiatric hospitals or were long-term, homeless
single women. But increasingly, the lifestyles and needs
of single women clashed with those of women with
dependent children, which led to a policy of prioritising
access for women with young children who had recent
experience of domestic and family violence. Despite the
opening of a small number of single women’s refuges in
the 1980s, homeless single and older women issues were
largely relegated again to obscurity.
Ageing women have not been identified as a target
group in domestic and family violence or homeless policy,
legislation or services. The Government’s White Paper
offers an opportunity to redress the neglect of single and
older homeless women that has been entrenched since
the decline of the open door policy at Elsie.
1 ‘Essential’ and integral’ is how Detective Superintendent Gerry Campbell from the London Metropolitan Police and Commander Colin Little from the Tasmanian
Police described the capacity to install security systems in homes for women and children, at the Clearinghouse Forum, Better policing: Better Outcomes: Changing
police culture to prevent domestic violence and domestic homicide, 4 December 2008, Sydney.
newsletter 36

Ageing and homelessness
Over the next 20-30 years Australia
faces a crisis in housing affordability
and safety for a wave of ageing
female baby boomers many of
whom live alone and lack the savings
to enjoy old age (McFerran 2009).
Already women constitute the bulk
of the ageing population and older
women a significant proportion of
those who experience domestic and
family violence. 2 Yet these levels are
not reflected in the concomitant
access of older women to most
domestic violence support services,
including those that specifically
provide housing (McFerran 2009).
Older single, homeless women are
likely to have experienced such
trauma as sexual assault, domestic
or family violence, poor mental
and physical health and a range
of substance and chemical abuse
(Burich, et al. 2000). An apparent
shortage of services catering to the
needs of homeless single women
means many are unable to access
crisis accommodation (Robinson &
Searby 2006; Sharam 2008).
The Australian Institute of Health
and Welfare (2008, p.3) annual report
on homeless people in SAAP for
2006-07 indicates that less than five
percent of recurrent SAAP funding is
allocated for single women and no
recurrent funding for older women,
as a primary group. To the best of
the author’s knowledge, there is
no funded crisis service specifically
for older women in the country.
As a consequence, for many older,
homeless single women the situation
is no better than during the 1970s.
The exception is community housing
where services, such as the Sydney
Women’s Housing Company, have
7
been transformed over 20 years from
a young single women’s service to
an older women’s service. Robinson
and Searby (2006) criticise the
‘mismatch of crisis accommodation
provision and models with likely
crisis needs’ and recommended a
‘re-examination of single homeless
women as a significant homeless
group in Australia’. The White Paper
reform agenda offers an opportunity
to set targets for appropriate longterm
housing solutions for the ageing
female population.
There were a total of 683,322
Aged Care Assessment Team
and Home and Community Care
clients aged 65 years and over in
the year 2004-2005: two thirds
of clients were women (AIHW
2007). In contrast, older women
who accessed SAAP for reasons of
domestic violence or relationship
breakdown in one year numbered
only 1,279 3 . As these figures clearly
indicate, the aged care sector is
the major support system for older
women, it is therefore critical to
include this sector in an integrated
response to domestic and family
violence if we are to reduce and
prevent violence against older
women. The introduction of the
NSW Interagency Protocol for
Responding to Abuse of Older
People (NSW Department of Ageing,
Disability and Home Care 2007)
includes steps for staff to report
domestic and family violence. The
Protocol provides an imperative for
interagency collaboration, including
joint training with domestic
violence workers, and for further
opportunities to test new strategies
and techniques to support older
women remaining safely in their
homes.
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006,
Personal Safety Survey, Australia, 2005,
cat no 4906.0, ABS, Canberra
Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare, Australia’s Welfare 2007, Cat.
AUS 93, AGPS, Canberra
Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare 2008, Homeless people in SAAP:
SAAP National Data Collection annual
report 2006-07 Australia, AGPS, Canberra
Burich N, Hooder T, Teesson M 2000,
Lifetime prevalence of trauma among
homeless people in Sydney, Australian
and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry;
34:963-966
Chamberlain C & MacKenzie D 2008,
Counting the Homeless, Australia 2006.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra
Harding and Smith unpublished, in
McFerran L 1988 First Ten Years of the
Australian Women’s Refuge Movement
McFerran L 2009, ‘The disappearing age:
a strategy to address violence against
older women’, Clearinghouse Newsletter,
issue 35, summer, pp. 6-7
Robinson C & Searby R 2006,
Accommodation in Crisis: Forgotten
Women In Western Sydney, UTS
Shopfront Research Monograph Series
No.1, University of Technology, Sydney
Sharam A 2008, Going it Alone: Single, Low
Needs Women and Hidden Homelessness,
Women’s Information, Support and
Housing in the North, Victoria
Despite the challenging economic
conditions, this Commonwealth
Government declares itself
committed to the long-term planning
necessary to tackle homelessness.
More than ever, it is time to ensure
that being an ageing, single, older
woman is not a barrier to be being
safe, well and housed.
www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au
See the Homelessness White Paper:
www.fahcsia.gov.au/housing/homelessness_white_paper
Interagency Protocol:
www.dadhc.nsw.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/E38724C5-74FB-4768-AD4B-C9AFD1F39D53/2972/
InteragencyProtocol1.pdf
2 According to the ABS (2006) Personal Safety, Australia (2005) survey, one in four women who experienced an incident of physical violence in the past 12 months
was aged 45 years and older. The greatest increase in reported cases of violence between the two national safety surveys (1996-2006) was against women over
55 years old.
3 Supported Accommodation and Crisis Services Unit, AIHW information provided to author: female SAAP clients aged 45 years and older whose main reason for
seeking assistance was domestic or family violence or relationship or family breakdown in the year 2006-2007.
newsletter 36

8
NEW RESOURCES & INITIATIVES
Victorian Family Violence Database (Volume
3): Seven Year Trend Analysis Report
Measuring Family Violence in Victoria, third in this
series of reports, was released in January 2009 by the
Department of Justice Victoria. It is the most recent
update of a project begun in 1999 which analyses
family violence incidents reported in that State. The
database, now administered by the Victims Support
Agency in the Department of Justice, incorporates
data from Victoria Police family violence incident
reports, Victorian Magistrates’ and Children’s Court
finalised intervention order applications and the
Victorian Supported Accommodation Assistance
Program (SAAP). The seven year analysis (1999-2006)
includes three new data sets: statistics from Victorian
Public Hospital Emergency Departments, initial
snapshot data from the Department of Justice Victims
of Crime Helpline and the Department of Human
Services Integrated Reporting and Information System
(IRIS). The report’s three appendices provide police
data, VEMD data and court data according to local
government area (LGA). VEMD is the Victorian public
hospital system category identifying human intent
injuries caused by a family member.
Victorian Public Hospital emergency presentations
for family violence (VEMD) figures are recognised as
an important inclusion in this kind of data collection,
as two per cent of all injuries to women presenting to
a hospital emergency department are considered to
have been human intended and caused by domestic
partners. The VEMD data also allows limited analysis of
family violence among Indigenous and CALD persons
and, for the first time, analysis of family violence
among women with a disability is included.
The Victims of Crime Helpline has also contributed
one year of data to the report. This free service is
confidential and information collected is voluntary
and limited to the type of crime, gender of client, type
of assistance provided and any other services already
involved. Family violence (including child abuse)
is the second most commonly reported crime and
constitutes 9.5 percent of all calls to the helpline.
In the past four years family violence incident reports
to the police have levelled off at around 28,000
incidents and the ratio of male to female victims
has remained consistent throughout the seven year
collecting period. The steady increase in the number
of children recorded as witnesses to family violence
is seen as validating the increased training of police
members in the awareness of the impact of family
violence on children.
There continue to be significant gaps and limitations
in the data collection and there is an awareness of
the need for data collection agencies to provide
information in a way which is comparable across the
various agencies, to better implement integrated
responses to family violence. System reform over the
past four years has seen an increase in the reporting
of family violence and in the accountability of
perpetrators, and it is hoped that a more complete
picture of family violence reform will be illustrated
at the end of 2009, once the new Family Violence
Protection Act and Victorian Police Safety Notices have
been in place for 12 months.
New Clearinghouse issues paper:
Better Policing, Better Outcomes
This latest Issues Paper from the Clearinghouse explores
the ways in which three police agencies have better
realised their capacity to keep people safe from domestic
and family violence. In the paper, three senior police
from different jurisdictions comment on the positive
changes their organisations have made to address the
issue of domestic and family violence. Some key themes
emerge across the different jurisdictions about the
elements essential to making change happen within
police agencies and in public perceptions of police work
around this crime. The paper is based on presentations
on policing practice made by the authors at a
Clearinghouse forum held in December 2008 in Sydney.
Its publication follows the release of the Australasian
Policing Strategy on the Prevention and Reduction of
Family Violence, in November 2008. That document sets
out priorities for action and performance measures for
success in a framework to be taken up by each state and
territory in Australia and New Zealand.
Issues Paper 18 - available now
Campbell G, Steendam W, Little C & Marcus G 2009,
Better Policing, Better Outcomes: changing police
culture to prevent domestic violence and homicide,
Issues Paper 18, Australian Domestic and Family
Violence Clearinghouse, Sydney
New international journal calls for papers
A new international journal Partner Abuse published
by Springer Publishing is calling for submission of
papers. Partner Abuse wants to promote new work,
research, interventions, policies, etc. pertaining to any
aspect of family/intimate relational violence.
www.springerpub.com/journal.aspxjid=1946-6560
Changed your address
If you’ve changed your address, email or other
contact details, let us know so that we can update
our mailing list. Please phone (02) 9385 2990 or
email: clearinghouse@unsw.edu.au
newsletter 36

Unique new website ‘HURT’ tells real stories
9
HURT is an online interactive virtual house containing embedded
video clips of women, children and men describing their
experiences of domestic and family violence. This one-of-a-kind
resource hopes to raise the curtain on the hidden devastation
and turmoil of domestic and family violence, breaking the barrier
of shame and silence that so often surrounds women’s and
children’s experiences. The stories in HURT are true stories re-told
by actors. Actors were used to preserve the privacy and safety
of the survivors, perpetrators and service providers who shared their experiences. The website invites users to explore a
virtually constructed house from the perspective of any one of 27 characters linked to more than 100 video clips.
A DVD and training guide have been produced to facilitate the use of the HURT video clips in a training setting. The
training resources are available from the Women’s Council: $25 for members, $50 for non-members, plus $2.50 postage
and handling. To obtain a copy contact Nicole or Janette on (08) 9420 7264 or policy@womenscouncil.com.au The
Women’s Council for Domestic and Family Violence Services (WA) launched HURT in November 2008 in conjunction with
the State’s White Ribbon Day activities. The project was funded by the Office for Women, Department of Families, Housing,
Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
www.hurt.net.au
www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au
NEW RESEARCH
Criminal law and breaches of domestic
violence protection orders
by Dr Heather Douglas, Senior Lecturer, TC Beirne
School of Law, University of Queensland
Scholars and activists have long campaigned for
domestic violence to be recognised as criminal
offending. At the same time, however, they have
consistently demonstrated how criminalisation of
domestic violence and the processes associated
with criminalisation frequently impose further
harm on women. This research draws on a study
of 645 criminal prosecutions of breaches of
domestic violence protection orders in south east
Queensland magistrates’ courts in 2005. It explores
the process of criminal intervention in this context.
This study found that although criminal breach
charges are laid, criminal responsibility is often
minimised by police prosecution authorities in
terms of the type of charge applied. For example,
breach charges were preferred even where the
offence was identified by police as assault or
criminal damage. Furthermore, the research found
that defendants minimised their responsibility in
the offending conduct, often by blaming the victim.
This study reveals several key findings:
•that defendants charged with breach of a
domestic violence order are less likely to plead
guilty than defendants charged with nondomestic
violence matters
•defendants are more likely to be legally
represented in breach matters
•criminal prosecutions of domestic violence matters
will take longer to finalise than other criminal
matters heard in the Magistrates courts, and
•overwhelmingly breach charges will result in
fines, usually under $200.
In most cases sentencing justices fail to tailor an
appropriate sentencing response that takes into
account the particular background of the offence
and the relationship between the perpetrator
and the victim. In many cases examined in this
study, the victim was drawn into the prosecution
process to assist in withdrawing charges or to
support mitigation of penalty. The approaches of
respondents, police, lawyers and magistrates in
colluding in the minimisation and trivialisation of
violence and the shifting of blame to the victim in
the course of applying criminal justice responses
were recognised in this study and have been
recognised elsewhere. The impact of this approach
is that it inflicts further harm on women.
The research explores whether there are shifts and
changes that can be made in this area of criminal
law so that it better embraces the three principles of
justice that have been identified by Barbara Hudson:
discursiveness, relationalism and reflectiveness.
For discussion of this research see:
Douglas H 2008, ‘The Criminal Law’s Response to
Domestic Violence: What’s Going On’ Sydney Law
Review, vol. 30, no 3, pp. 439-469
Douglas H 2007, ‘Not a Crime Like Any Other:
Sentencing Breaches of Domestic Violence
Protection Orders’ Criminal Law Journal, vol. 31, no.
4, pp. 200-233
newsletter 36

10
PRACTICE NOTES
‘Opening Closed Doors’ project in Sydney’s
Jewish community
by Roberta Freedman, Program Manager Family and
Children’s Service, JewishCare, and Rochelle Braaf,
Clearinghouse Senior Research Officer
About JewishCare
JewishCare is a non-government organisation,
providing welfare services to the Jewish
community of NSW. Contact: phone: 1300 133
660, PO Box 647, Bondi Junction NSW 1355.
Raising public awareness of domestic violence,
gaining support of community leaders to encourage
disclosure and referral to domestic violence services,
and providing relevant information and support to
victims of violence is a challenging, long term project
in any community. These tasks can be more complex
in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups,
such as the Jewish community in Sydney, which is
multi layered and comprises many different language
groups and levels of religious belief.
To address these issues, JewishCare ran the Opening
Closed Doors project in 2007-08 in Sydney’s Jewish
community, a one-year community development
project, funded by the Office for Women, Department
of Families, Housing, Community Services and
Indigenous Affairs. JewishCare sought to raise
awareness about domestic and family violence,
and sexual assault in a culturally sensitive way, in
diverse parts of the Jewish community, and to enable
women facing domestic and family violence to find
appropriate professional help when they need it.
Prior to the Opening Closed Doors project, JewishCare’s
experience of working on these issues indicated that
many Jewish people do not accept that there is domestic
and family violence or sexual assault in their community.
Even among those who agree that it does exist, there is a
level of denial and surprise as to the extent or seriousness
of the violence, and a professed lack of confidence in
Workshop with Rebbitzen (wives of Rabbis) who are key sources of
information in the Jewish community.
how to help someone experiencing such violence. There
are strong family and community values that prevent
some members and groups from accessing mainstream
domestic and family violence prevention services and
general community education about these issues. There
are also cultural concepts and values that may prevent a
woman telling others of her experiences, such as ‘shame’
and that the role of the wife is to ‘keep peace in the home’
(‘shalom bayit’).
In addition, the project faced complex requirements
to not just raise awareness about domestic and family
violence but also to educate about how to respond,
what might be helpful for women, children and families
affected by violence, what is culturally appropriate and
more likely to be accepted. In addition, JewishCare
needed to harness community development principles,
as well as cultural and religious knowledge, for the
project to be effective.
Innovative strategies
The Opening Closed Doors project represents an
innovative community development approach, aiming to
reach cultural and religious leaders in the different parts
of the community and to encourage people affected by
domestic violence to seek help. There were many different
components of the project, including 26 community
events held during February - March 2008.
The project staff:
•conducted a community survey in the Jewish
community in Sydney of understanding and
awareness of domestic and family violence, and
sexual assault
•designed, printed and distributed a culturally
appropriate pamphlet and card with information
about domestic and family violence, and healthy
relationships and where to get help
•conducted workshops for non-Jewish professionals,
such as hospital social workers, psychologists, local
welfare agencies, police and legal professionals, to
provide training about the cultural and religious
issues which may stand in the way of a woman
seeking help
•conducted workshops on healthy relationships in
four Jewish schools for years 10, 11 and 12, attended
by approximately 360 students
•ran self-defence classes for women including
mothers and daughters, people with disabilities and
older women
•engaged a speaker from Jewish Women International,
Deborah Rosenbloom, who led many of the workshops.
Inviting an international speaker highlighted the
professional nature of the project and attracted
considerable media attention for all the events she was
involved with and for the project as a whole
newsletter 36

11
www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au
Rabbis attending training sessions
•established a Taskforce
comprising female cultural
and religious leaders; e.g. two
Rebbitzen (wives of Rabbis), a
magistrate, local professionals,
and women in high community
involvement and leadership roles.
In terms of successful outcomes,
JewishCare established partnerships
with other organisations, for
example Woollahra Council, to run
self-defence classes and with other
Jewish organisations to run specific
workshops. A successful initiative was
the Taskforce, particularly as members
came from different parts of the
community and represented natural
and formal networks in communal
life. In terms of reach of the project,
more than 1,000 adults and young
people attended 28 workshops and
many more were reached through
articles in the local Jewish newspaper,
posters, flyers and a domestic
violence information card produced
as part of the project.
JewishCare commissioned the
Australian Domestic and Family
Violence Clearinghouse to advise
them on reviewing the project
and refining strategies used by the
project. A great deal of positive
feedback was received from those
who participated in events and
suggestions for improvements were
made, including provision of more
information. Some people were less
engaged with the issues and less
convinced of the seriousness of this
form of violence, which signifies the
need for further intervention.
Opportunities
The nature of relationships,
structures and methods of
communication within the Jewish
community presented particular
opportunities to reach out to
diverse sections of the community.
Networks ranging from the religious
observant to secular groups
presented different possibilities
in terms of people who could be
approached. For example, the
Rabbis and Rebbitzen play an
important role in supporting and
working with their congregations.
Educating these two groups has a
flow-on effect, enabling information
about violence within families to
be extended to those who would
not usually attend these kinds of
seminars.
Within the Jewish community there
are natural, informal leaders who
play educational and support roles
for people having family difficulties.
Opening Closed Doors targeted
these individuals and they went on
to play a major role in the project by
encouraging others to attend events,
and providing their homes as venues.
JewishCare realised the importance
of including women who manage
the ‘mikvahs’ (communal ritual
baths), which are a key part of
observant life and are an important
avenue for providing information to
the community. They were invited to
training sessions and asked to make
available the domestic violence
information cards for women
attending the mikvahs.
The project used specialised media
to educate the community about
domestic and family violence, and
sexual assault and where to get help;
e.g. synagogue newsletters and other
publications aimed at particular
groups, such as observant women.
Challenges
Some of the challenges posed by
working with the Jewish community
are common to all CALD communities,
such as dealing with small, close-knit
communities, making it difficult for
victims to seek help and stay in the
community, feelings of shame about
this issue as well as language and
cultural issues specific to the individual
cultures and religions.
The Jewish community has strengths
that can also present challenges to this
type of work. Certain attitudes may
prevent a woman seeking help for
violence in the home, for example:
newsletter 36

12
•the belief that a woman is responsible for making a
good and peaceful home or ‘shalom bayit’
•the view that gossip or ‘lashon hara’ is not acceptable
- often interpreted as not being able to tell someone;
e.g. a Rabbi, about what someone else is doing to you,
such as abusive behaviour, and
•feelings of ‘shonda’ or ‘shame’ in revealing that violence
is occurring.
Such community beliefs may be the backbone of a
strong community but can become obstacles when a
woman needs to seek help for violence in the home.
A major challenge of the project was ensuring that
these values were taken into account in the seminars
and workshops in communities and schools. This meant
being aware of culturally acceptable language around
these issues, being able to convey the nature and
manifestations of domestic and family violence and
sexual assault in acceptable terms and knowing the ways
to best present the information.
Accomplishments
The goal of the project was achieved to the extent that
the project did indeed ‘open doors’ and trigger discussion
about these issues. JewishCare noted an increase in
referrals for domestic violence, both self-referred and by
key people in the community. There were more phone
calls from Rabbis and Rebbitzen contacting JewishCare
for advice and information in the period following the
project. The subject is much more openly discussed
amongst different groups in the Jewish community.
The Taskforce has formally separated from JewishCare
to become the Jewish Alliance Against Family Violence
(JAAFV). This extremely active and committed group
of women has sought incorporation and is planning
events to continue raising awareness of domestic and
family violence and sexual assault in the community.
Several Rabbis and Rebbitzen are now very aware of
the issue and its effect on women and children, and are
active in speaking about it from the synagogue. Three
Rabbis ran ‘shiurs’ (educational talks) for women and their
congregations after the training they received, with one
Rabbi from the observant community running a shiur
about domestic violence, attended by 70 women, the
day after participating in Rabbinical training.
Staff training in domestic violence has broadened
JewishCare’s capacity to provide services to families
experiencing domestic violence. The organisation
continues to work in the area through its Family
Support Program and to raise awareness including
running a successful White Ribbon Day breakfast for
men and a T-shirt printing day for NSW Stop Domestic
Violence Day in November 2008.
Limitations
The nature of the project’s one-year funding was a
major limitation affecting longevity of outcomes. It
meant that while an enormous amount of work was
successfully completed, further funding needed to be
sought to work on sustaining the impetus. Part of the
success of this project was the intensity of the number
of events and circulation of information through as
many media as possible. The lack of ongoing funding
prevents JewishCare continuing this process and
achieving ongoing social change and education,
especially through the small communal networks
and meetings. The one-year time funding agreement
for the project also placed significant pressure
on implementing the project quickly. A longer
timeframe may have been even more beneficial than
an extension of funding, in order to engage in longterm
community capacity building.
A lack of time also impacted on quality control. One
of the tasks that was not implemented due to lack of
time was inviting an external organisation such as the
NSW Education Centre Against Violence to vet written
material and workshop content. This process would
have allowed for independent scrutiny of concepts,
principles, messages and modes of delivery. Instead,
these were developed based on the experience of
JewishCare staff who have worked in the area of
domestic and family violence prevention for many
years. The short timeframe also meant that some
strategies have not been completed, for example
working with synagogues to have the domestic
violence card in all toilets and bathroom facilities. This
is an important next step in the community education
process and in maintaining the momentum.
Where to next
JewishCare hopes to continue the work established
by the project, subject to availability of staff and
successful application for further funding, and to
continue partnership, support for and work with
JAAFV. JewishCare wishes to revisit the results for the
project to inform future work of this kind.
The organisation would like to continue training for
Rabbis and Rebbitzen and community education in
schools, in partnership with JAAFV, and to continue
training community leaders on a more formal basis.
In addition, NSW Health’s Education Centre Against
Violence has agreed to run a training program for
Jewishcare in August 2009 which will enable ongoing
staff development to ensure JewishCare continues to
provide appropriate professional services in the area
of domestic violence.
Prefer to get this Newsletter by email
If so, please let us have your email address and we will gladly email it to you: clearinghouse@unsw.edu.au
newsletter 36

REVIEW
Violence against Women in Melanesia and
Timor-Leste
reviewed by Ludo McFerran, Clearinghouse Project
Officer
The report Violence Against Women in Melanesia and
East Timor (2008), by AusAID’s Office of Development
Effectiveness, is an assessment of the effectiveness
of current approaches to reducing violence in Fiji,
PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and East Timor. It is
a sobering account of the disadvantage and danger
experienced by many women and girls in our region,
the challenges faced by local women with few
resources to provide support and drive change, and
the positive role that Australians can play.
“If a girl has to stay late at school, she has to walk home alone,
and then she can be raped.” (Vanuatu)
“Girls can get raped at high school or at primary school by the
teachers. It’s a common thing.” (PNG)
“The father takes the money and sends the girl to the logging
camp. Or they negotiate for the logger to build a house or buy
an outboard motor. Some girls are only 14 or 15.” (Solomon
Islands)
“Even after the tensions, women married to men from the
opposite side were still being raped.” (Solomon Islands)
13
(p.17). Other problematic practices include polygamy
and the payment of compensation to the males with
rights over a women who has been injured (father,
brother, husband) in the interest of ‘maintaining peace
between groups and their male leaders’ (p.18).
Every country has at least one crisis support service for
women experiencing violence, though most are run by
NGOs on a shoestring with support from international
aid agencies. Very few receive core funding or national
government funds. Only the centres in Timor-Leste
provide onsite emergency shelter and most centres
are in urban areas, though the majority of women live
in rural areas. The report identifies limited access to
services, poor coordination between services and the
uneven quality of service as barriers for women and girls
seeking support.
Nevertheless, there has been significant progress
made under difficult circumstances. The report cites
as examples of promising practice, the inspiring
work of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre, the Vanuatu
Women’s Centres and the network of VAW Committees
in Vanuatu, and the establishment of a safe space in
Dili Hospital to treat victims of domestic violence,
sexual assault and child abuse. Health services
are identified as capable of playing a critical role
in supporting women and girls. One-stop shops
at health clinics that integrate medical care and
counselling with police and legal services and shelter
are recommended.
Violence Against Women in Melanesia and East Timor
challenges the Australian domestic and family violence
sector to better understand the lives of women and
children in our region, both those now living in Pacific
communities within Australia, and those still living in
their own countries. It challenges us to explore the
possibilities for support and exchange that closer ties
across our region could produce.
www.ode.ausaid.gov.au/publications/pdf/vaw_cs_
full_report.pdf
www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au
Despite the limited research that has been conducted
on violence against women in Melanesia and East
Timor, studies by the PNG Law Reform Commission
(1992) and the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (1999) report
alarming rates of violence, with two in every three
women reporting being physically abused by their
partners. Collaborative research in East Timor (Hynes
et al. 2003) found that intimate partner violence
and sexual violence are the most common forms of
violence in the country.
For the Violence Against Women in Melanesia and East
Timor report, an evaluation team made site visits
to each country, conducting interviews with key
individuals, including survivors. Local researchers
were trained to conduct further interviews and focus
groups in rural areas. Consequently, a great strength
of the report is the authenticity of the evidence from
local people that clearly demonstrates the danger of
daily life for many women and girls (p.13).
The report found that the low status of women in the
region is ‘a major obstacle to reducing violence against
them’ reinforced by a number of customary practices.
Bride price (except for Fiji) was cited with economic
dependence as the biggest factors in perpetuating
violence against wives because it relegates women
to the status of property: “I bought her for $5000. I
can do anything with her. She’s my property not yours”
newsletter 36

14
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE RESEARCH
AND RESOURCES DATABASE
Herrenkohl TI, Sousa C, Tajima EA, Herrenkohl RC,
Moylan CA 2008, ‘The intersection of child abuse
and children’s exposure to domestic violence’,
Trauma, Violence & Abuse, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 84-99
The authors of this article examine the overlap in
physical child abuse and domestic violence, the
prediction of child outcomes, and resilience in
children exposed to family violence. They explore
current findings within the context of other risk
factors, including community violence and related
family and environmental stressors. They find there is
overlap as well as compounding effects and possible
gender differences in outcomes of violence exposure.
Patrick R, Cook K, McKenzie H 2008, ‘Domestic
violence and the exemption from seeking child
support: providing safety or legitimizing ongoing
poverty and fear’, Social Policy and Administration,
vol. 42, no. 7, pp. 749-767
This article examines the Australian experience of lowincome
women on welfare seeking child support from
a violent ex-partner, and contrasting this with findings
from the United States and the United Kingdom.
The article explores the option of giving women an
exemption from seeking child support if this process
places them and their children at risk, and outcomes
of this policy. The authors argue that the needs of
women and their children can be compromised
by policy specifications and the way policies are
implemented.
Peri K, Fanslow J, Hand J, Parsons J 2008, Elder
abuse and neglect: exploration of risk and protective
factors: a report for the Families Commission,
Families Commission, Wellington [NZ]
This report looks at identifying risk and protective
factors surrounding the neglect and abuse of older
people. A range of older people, health professionals,
service providers and representatives of ethnic groups
and regions were sampled for qualitative information.
Data were collected through face-to-face, telephone
and focus group interviews. Risk factors for abuse
and neglect included isolation and increasing
physical (and sometimes mental) challenges
associated with aging, overburdened or greedy family
members, staffing issues in residential care settings,
undervaluing of older people in society, cost of living
and unavailability of care. Protective factors included
supportive families, well trained and well paid staff
in residential care settings and social connectedness.
Institutions like banks, lawyers, churches, faith
communities and police could also play a positive role.
Spangaro J, Zwi AB, Poulos R 2008, ‘The elusive
search for definitive evidence on routine screening
for intimate partner violence’, Trauma, Violence &
Abuse, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 55-68
Routine screening for intimate partner violence
(IPV) has been introduced in many health settings to
improve identification and responsiveness to IPV, amid
continuing debate. Three assumptions have impeded
progress in measuring the impact of screening: that
routine screening is a test only, and does not of itself
have an impact on patients; that it can be assessed
by evaluating interventions provided to women
after abuse is identified through screening, and that
there can be an agreed appropriate intervention for
IPV. In addition, there are significant impediments
to evaluating screening as an intervention through a
randomised control trial. These include identification
of the study group, isolating the control group from
the intervention, ethics, lack of baseline data and
recall bias. In researching this area, a range of study
designs is required and a rethink of assumptions is
needed.
Welsh K 2008, ‘Partnerships or palming off:
involvement in partnership initiatives on domestic
violence’, The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice,
vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 170-188
The author suggests that partnership initiatives are
largely driven by voluntary sector organisations
and that although some state agencies show a real
commitment to attending, involvement from other
state agencies is disappointing at best. The author
discusses what this reveals about who carries the
burden of partnership responses to domestic violence,
and what it suggests about the effectiveness of
partnership initiatives and whether such initiatives
are entitled to be afforded such significance in
government policy.
Looking for a researcher
Find Australian researchers working in the
field of domestic and family violence on the
Clearinghouse Researchers Database. You can
search for researchers by name, research area,
institution or by keywords.
If you want to be listed on the Clearinghouse
Researchers Database, please contact us:
clearinghouse@unsw.edu.au
newsletter 36

RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE GOOD
PRACTICE DATABASE
Through Young Black Eyes Workshop Kit
This collection of training and education materials
has been compiled by the Secretariat of National
Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) to assist
communities to address family and domestic violence
in Indigenous communities and reduce its impact
on children and young people. Innovative features
include SNAICC’s willingness to make materials
freely and widely available and encourage changes
based on community needs. The workshop kit is a
continuous ‘work in progress’ designed for adaptation
and feedback from colleagues around the country. It
is available in hard copy, downloadable or CD ROM
formats.
15
Koora the Kangaroo project
This school-based community education project
aims to address children’s attitudes to violence in
the central western Queensland community of
Woorabinda. The project revolved around stories
written by local community member, Ailsa Weazel, and
the development of a Koora “mascot” to accompany
story telling. The project targeted Indigenous
children at the Woorabinda State School and also
included school visits by local community members.
Queensland’s Centre for Domestic and Family Violence
Research (CDFVR) supported the program through
assistance with project development, printing of
resources, including illustrated stories and evaluation.
publicising an event
Let us help you
www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au
The NPY (Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara,
Yankunytjatjara) Family Violence Program
This perpetrator program arose from the Cross Border
Justice Project of the Western Australian, South
Australian and Northern Territory Governments. It
aims to address family violence in the NPY lands of
Central Australia, through group work with offenders
across the borders of the three jurisdictions which
cross these lands. The project is managed from the
Northern Territory Department of Justice office in
Alice Springs and involves extensive travel to remote
Indigenous communities to conduct four to five week
programs with perpetrators.
Are you holding an event such as a forum or
seminar, or launching a campaign or resource
Contact us to include it in our Newsletter, email
alert and on the website.
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The closing date for contributions to the winter
issue of the Newsletter is 13 May 2009. Be sure to
send in accompanying photos and images!
REMEMBER to contact the Clearinghouse for
information on how to register your program on
the Good Practice Database.
Publication information
The views expressed in this Newsletter do not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Domestic and
Family Violence Clearinghouse or the Australian Government. While all reasonable care has been taken in the
preparation of this publication, no liability is assumed for any errors or omissions. The Australian Domestic and
Family Violence Clearinghouse is funded by the Safety Taskforce, Australian Government Department of Families,
Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. The Clearinghouse is linked to the Centre for Gender-
Related Violence Studies, based in the University of New South Wales, School of Social Sciences and International
Studies.
ISSN: 1443 – 7236
© 2009
Australian Domestic & Family Violence Clearinghouse
The University of New South Wales
NSW Australia 2052
p: +61 2 9385 2990 f: +61 2 9385 2993 freecall: 1800 753 382 e: clearinghouse@unsw.edu.au
w: www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au
newsletter 36

16
FORTHCOMING CONFERENCES
AND SEMINARS
Working with women affected by
domestic violence: a strengths-based,
safety-focused approach
1 May 2009 – Glebe, NSW
This workshop aims to help social workers to
recognise the skills they already have to assist clients
affected by domestic violence, and to provide an
evidence-based model for approaching this work.
www.aasw.asn.au/about/branches/nsw_files/
WorkingwithWomenAffectedbyDomesticViolence-
010509.pdf
2009 Anaheim International Conference
on Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence &
Stalking
18-20 May 2009 - Anaheim, USA
This three day conference is aimed at law-enforcement
personnel, prosecutors, victim advocates, judges,
parole and probation officers, rape crisis workers,
medical personnel, faith community members,
educators and others, highlighting promising
practices and emerging issues in sexual assault,
domestic violence and stalking.
www.evawintl.org/conferences.aspx
From Ideology to Inclusion 2009: New
Directions in Domestic Violence Research
and Intervention
26-28 June 2009 – Los Angeles, USA
Billed as ‘the domestic violence conference of the
decade’, topics include aetiology and risk factors,
dynamics of partner violence, partner abuse in
a cultural context, and effectiveness of batterer
intervention programs.
www.favtea.com
Australian Social Policy Conference
8-10 July 2009 - Sydney, NSW
How can we build an inclusive society This theme is a
topic of growing importance in social policy – and one
that is central to the stated aims of the Rudd Labor
Government. At a time of global economic insecurity,
exacerbated by the challenges of climate change, the
conference explores how we create a society that is
both socially and economically inclusive within its
own borders and actively engaged with its regional
neighbours to promote a wider form of global
inclusiveness.
www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/ASPC2009/index.htm
Making it Happen! Sixth
Women and Policing
conference
23-26 August 2009 – Perth, WA
The theme of the 2009 women
and policing conference is
“Making it Happen”. Delegates will
explore practical and innovative
solutions to improving policing for
women – how police services respond to their female
employees and how policing responds to women in
the community.
www.acwap.com.au/conferences/conf09.html
CLC National Conference
14-17 September 2009 - Perth, WA
The National Association of Community Legal Centres
(NACLC) has held an annual conference every year
since 1979. This conference provides an important
opportunity for workers from CLCs to get together
and learn from each other, hear from inspirational and
interesting speakers and recharge their batteries.
www.naclc.org.au/conference
8th ISPCAN Asia Pacific Regional
Conference on Child Abuse & Neglect
15-18 November 2009 – Perth, WA
The conference theme is ‘Child Abuse and Neglect:
Looking Through the Lens of Prevention’ in
recognition of the need to focus attention on the
creation of holistic approaches that engage children
and families, communities, professionals, business
and governments in preventing child abuse. Early bird
registration closes 14 August 2009.
www.apccan2009.org.au/index.html
newsletter 36