Government partnership to deliver innovative domestic violence interventions in South Australia

The Albanese Labor Government is partnering with the Malinauskas Labor Government to help address family, domestic and sexual violence and help keep women and children safe.

The Commonwealth is providing up to $3.4 million over five years to the South Australian Government to trial three projects that will improve women’s safety through helping boys and men to stop using violence in their relationships.

The projects will explore new approaches to support men and boys to examine, and change, their behaviour, such as mentoring, online behaviour support and community-based programs.

They are:

• A trial of a mentor to work with participants in the existing KIND Program, which provides therapeutic intervention for adolescents who use violence in their relationships. Implementing a male mentor is intended to extend learning beyond the therapeutic sessions and integrate it into the community and home.
• Scoping and software development for online or digital platforms to enable men across South Australia to check their behaviours and quickly access interventions.
• A scoping study on effective interventions for First Nations men, to inform a trial of Cultural and Healing Camps for men with a history of violence and a community based program for men at risk of using violence.

The funding is part of the Innovative Perpetrator Response program and the National Partnership on Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Responses, under which the jurisdictions are working together to develop innovative ways to address the perpetration of domestic violence.

Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth, said the Commonwealth and South Australian governments were working together to progress the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032 and its goal to end violence against women and children in one generation.

“Violence against women and children is a serious issue that is significantly affecting many people across our nation. South Australians are rightly shocked by the recent deaths of women allegedly at the hands of intimate partners,” Minister Rishworth said.

“The National Partnership is bringing together all levels of government to shift behaviours, address the drivers of violence, and prevent harm to women and children,” Minister Rishworth said.

“Our Innovative Perpetrator Responses funding and the South Australian projects are about trialling new and effective ways to stop violence reoccurring, by working with adolescents and men who have used or are at risk of using violence. We are pleased to be contributing to these projects which will help change violent behaviour, and make South Australia a safer place for women and children.

Assistant Minister for Social Services, Justine Elliot said the projects are an important part of the Government’s work to ensure South Australian women and children feel safe and supported in their community.

“The Government is dedicated to trialling a broad range of products under the National Partnership to ensure we are both addressing perpetrator behaviour, and also supporting victim-survivors of family, domestic, and sexual violence,” Assistant Minister Elliot said.

South Australian Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Katrine Hildyard said the prevalence of violence against women is utterly unacceptable.

“Our South Australian community has been devastated by the recent deaths of four women in one week and by the ongoing prevalence of violence against women.

“Our South Australian Government is working in close partnership with the Federal Government to help end violence against women in a generation.

“To realise this vision, it is crucial that we tackle the gender inequality that leads to disrespect and violence toward women. Doing so means investing in innovative perpetrator programs that help men shift harmful attitudes and behaviours and sees them stop using violence in their relationships.

“We are really pleased to see this Federal funding through the National Plan focused on addressing perpetrator behaviour; we want everyone in our community to understand that violence is never an option.”