Engaging men on their use of sexual violence as a power and ...

practice notes
LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE: THE FUTURE PARENTS PROGRAM BY MEGAN SETY,
CLEARINGHOUSE RESEARCH AND INFORMATION OFFICER
This year saw the Mackay-based Centre for Domestic and
Family Violence Research’s annual Indigenous Family Violence
Prevention Forum alternate from a national to a regional
Queensland focus. Plenary sessions and yarning circles
gave attendees opportunities to hear and ask questions
about innovative programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander families. Throughout the conference, presentations
and discussions highlighted opportunities and challenges
in primary prevention and early intervention for children and
young people.
Save the Children Australia’s Future Parents Program was
one of the longer running programs featured at the forum.
This early intervention model seeks to assist young people
in creating safer environ<strong>men</strong>ts for children within their
community. The program increases young people’s capacity
to identify dangerous situations for children and develops their
awareness of strategies to keep themselves and children safe.
Delivered through a twenty-hour fun and interactive course,
the program is designed for young people aged thirteen to
nineteen. It addresses safe and positive childcare practices,
healthy relationships, problem solving and conflict negotiation.
The program increases young people’s access to support
services through the strategic inclusion of relevant community
connections.
The Future Parents Program was developed in 1989 and
Save the Children currently delivers courses to young people
in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Western
Australia and the Northern Territory. Originally designed as
a general program for young people, it has been adapted for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and each
course is specifically tailored for individual communities.
communities. In addition to maintaining the core structure
and ‘not changing what works’, Leanne and Terri-Anne felt
that clear and sustainable objectives, a commit<strong>men</strong>t to
building strong partnerships, quality evaluation tools, initial
and ongoing quality training and a flexible approach were
essential to the program’s success. They also emphasised the
need to respect and incorporate feedback from young people
wherever possible.
At an individual level, passion, commit<strong>men</strong>t, self-care,
knowledge of the program and respect for the community
made the difference in sustainable work. Respect for
the community surfaced as a theme in many of their
recom<strong>men</strong>dations around networking and successful
partnerships, including holding pre-planning meetings to
tailor the program, knowing and acknowledging community
protocols, aiming to meet the needs of the target group and
keeping your focus to avoid politics. When starting out,
Leanne and Terri-Anne emphasised the need to be confident
in knowing your program and to be able to see a future for
the program based on clear objectives and a sustainable
approach.
Although I have only highlighted one program here, the
conference featured presentations on many other programs
which offer ideas and models for developing future work.
From art therapy to trauma-informed practice frameworks,
from school-based programs to interventions with violent <strong>men</strong>,
programs covered the full spectrum of community-based
initiatives needed to prevent and reduce family violence.
For more information on the Future Parents Program,
contact Leanne Smith on (07) 3844 2699.
17
Attending the conference to speak about the Future Parents
Program were Leanne Smith (Program Coordinator) and
Terri-Anne Goodreid (Program Facilitator) from Queensland’s
arm of Save the Children. With increasing focus on respectful
relationships and associated funding under the National Plan
to Reduce Violence Against Wo<strong>men</strong> and their Children, I was
interested to know what they felt others could learn from the
experience of the Future Parents Program. I asked them what
made the program successful and whether they had any tips
for others starting out.
Leanne and Terri-Anne attributed the program’s long running
success and expansion to a variety of individual, program
and community factors. The program itself has changed
little over time, with two key exceptions: first, content on
domestic and family violence has been added; and second,
the program has been adapted for specific groups, including
young <strong>men</strong>, young parents and young people from Aboriginal
For the conference program, speakers’ presentations
and forum report, visit the Queensland Centre for
Domestic and Family Violence Research web site at
www.notviolence.com.au
The Clearinghouse’s Good Practice database
also contains a growing collection of examples of
Australian domestic violence-related programs,
services and responses which reflect ele<strong>men</strong>ts of
good practice: www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au/good_
practice.html
www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au