Fathers who use or are at risk of using violence will have greater access to holistic support programs, with the Paul Ramsay Foundation (PRF) announcing $24.5 million funding for organisations working to change trajectories for men and keep families safe and strong.
The Dads on Track National Grant Round recognises that addressing violence within families is critical to improving the safety of victim survivors and achieving long-term family stability, especially for children and young people. The grants are for organisations and collaborations that support fathers across Australia with evidence-based programs that see fatherhood as a critical period of opportunity, as well as risk, to reduce instances of family violence and strengthen familial relationships.
PRF Head of Families Jackie Ruddock says, “These grants emerged from listening to our partners in the sector and reflect PRF’s commitment to addressing complex, under-resourced parts of the family violence response system.”
Collectively, the organisations expect to work with more than 750 fathers a year across very remote, regional and urban areas in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Fourteen organisations will each receive $350K per year for five years.
Grants include six First Nations-led programs and four programs working specifically with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.
Two targeted interventions will address the increased risks of violence associated with drug and alcohol use, while whole-of-family and therapeutically intensive support models will offer alternatives to traditional behaviour change programs.
Four of the fourteen programs will be delivered as collaborations between two organisations coming together to share their expertise.
This grant round takes a two-pronged “investing to learn” approach by supporting the direct delivery of individualised support programs, whilst also building an evidence base of practices that strengthen family bonds over time, and work to interrupt developmental trauma.
Ruddock adds, “The evidence demonstrates that men who use violence often remain active in their children’s lives, even following relationship breakdown. Addressing family and domestic violence requires working with the family as a unit, as well as tailoring supports to individual family or kin, and their roles. This collective work is about investing in early engagement, and holding accountability, so that we can further develop healing-focused models tailored to different communities.”
The full list of grant partners follows.
Dads on Track grant round partners
First Nations-led programs
Ebenezer Aboriginal Corporation (Perth, WA) will deliver Warlang Maaman (Healthy Dads), bringing a stronger fathering focus to its existing culturally grounded and trauma-informed Men Supporting Men program.
Kornar Winmil Yunti Aboriginal Corporation (Adelaide, SA) will grow its existing My Spirit program by including individual case management alongside a 22-session group-based and culturally grounded behaviour change and prevention program.
Moogji Aboriginal Council East Gippsland Inc., together with Dardi Munwurro (Gippsland, Vic) will employ a locally based Aboriginal Men’s Mentor to deliver culturally responsive healing, behaviour change, and 1:1 mentoring in Orbost, East Gippsland with supervision support from specialist First Peoples family violence service Dardi Munwurro.
Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women’s Council (NPY Lands in the NT, WA and SA) will extend its Uti Kulintjaku Watiku Project; a strengths-based program delivered by senior Anangu men to ‘at risk’ young fathers, offering positive opportunities to connect with Anangu men’s knowledge, culture, and language. Central to the program will be Anangu-led multi-day men’s walks.
Tangentyere Council Aboriginal Corporation (Mparntwe/Alice Springs, NT) will deliver From our roots we walk right way, a culturally grounded, trauma-informed framework to strengthen safe, gender-equitable parenting and whole-of-family wellbeing.
Waminda South Coast Women’s Health and Wellbeing Aboriginal Corporation (South Coast, NSW) will deliver the Birrung Baabamarra project, a culturally grounded behaviour change, wellbeing and healing program for men which incorporates group work and individual case management alongside cultural and wellbeing-focused activities.
CALD-led programs
Australian Refugee Association (Adelaide, SA) will deliver the Connected Fathers Program which combines individual therapeutic case management with culturally responsive group education and accountable behaviour change support for fathers from refugee and migrant backgrounds.
Domestic Violence Action Centre Inc., together with Immigrant Women’s Support Services (Toowoomba, Qld), will deliver Strong Fathers, Strong Babas, a 6-month flexible, holistic and trauma-informed program that incorporates Caring Dads alongside individual case management for culturally and linguistically diverse dads.
intouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence, together with Relationship Matters (VIC) will co-design and deliver Bridges to Safety and Change, a family violence-informed 20-week parenting intervention for multicultural fathers.
NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Survivors of Torture and Trauma (STARTTS), together with Kateb Hazara Association (Cumberland LGA, NSW), will adapt existing Families in Cultural Transition and Purple Hearts programs into a fatherhood-centred domestic and family violence intervention for Hazara refugee fathers that will involve a 10-12-week group program, ongoing 1:1 support and community awareness education.
Other cohort programs
Act for Kids Limited (Moreton Bay region, Qld) will deliver Safe Families which uses a whole-family approach to support fathers using violence to develop safe, respectful parenting through individual support, care coordination and the evidence-based Caring Dads group program, while prioritising the safety and wellbeing of children and families.
Family Life Limited (Sandringham, Vic) will develop and deliver Talk4Change for Dads, a father-specific adaptation of its existing 20-week therapeutically intensive alternative to traditional behaviour change programs, designed for dads who present with co-occurring needs such as mental health challenges, substance misuse and justice system involvement.
Odyssey House NSW (Sydney, NSW) will deliver T.R.A.C.K.S, a 6-month program integrating case management, individual counselling and group work that includes parenting support and education, behaviour change, and treatment for underlying issues (including alcohol and other drug use, mental health and trauma).
Windana Drug and Alcohol Recovery Limited (Ballarat, Geelong and Frankston in Victoria) will expand delivery of its 25-week U-Turn program, which integrates family violence behaviour change approaches with AOD-informed practice in both group and 1:1 settings for fathers across Victoria.
About us:
About the Paul Ramsay Foundation
PRF is a philanthropic foundation.
The late Paul Ramsay AO established the Foundation in his name in 2006 and, after his death in 2014, left most of his estate to continue his philanthropy for generations to come.
At PRF, we work for a future where people and places have what they need to thrive.
With organisations and communities, we invest in, build, and influence the conditions needed to stop disadvantage in Australia.
