Monday, 1 June 2015 Royal Commission into Family Violence: NTV/MRS consultation and your key issues, findings Dear Member, The Royal Commission into Family Violence has now received all final member submissions of No To Violence, The Men’s Referral Service and the sector. The State Government has made its submission public June 1st with a strong call for integrating service for better systemic responses to hold perpetrators accountable and how gender inequity and negative attitudes to women are the key contributing factors to family violence. You can access the Victorian Government submission online via this link. As No To Violence and The Men’s Referral Service indicated, there will be a combined submission which includes contributions from the NTV membership base: volunteers, men’s behaviour change providers, individual members, practitioners and agencies. We have endeavoured to consult with all NTV members, including forums, phone consultations and SurveyMonkey. We thank you for your valuable contributions during this busy time. We all recognise this is a significant opportunity. As such, key recommendations based on your contributions will be built in to our final submission. With a focus on both prevention and male family violence, NTV and MRS will be lobbying for real systemic change; this was the main common theme that we heard from you, in addition to more funding and resources. The following are key issues, not necessarily in order of significance, that represent the views of members that contributed to the consultations and SurveyMonkey completed in May 15 2015. Strengthening the web of accountability • The system is untenable in the current state: the safety of women and children is compromised as it now “bursting at the seams” with inadequate responses; legal, crisis and court respondents are being overwhelmed, with inadequate resources for frontline staff as the gaps increase. • • • • • • The Men’s Behaviour Change waiting list for men and perpetrators is dire and further escalates risk as more men slip through the gaps or men opt out. The onus of responsibility should not be only on Men’s Behaviour Change programs, the agencies that are beleaguered with all the burden and risk of family violence. This risk needs to shift and be shared with DHHS, Courts, and Child Protection. Repair and fuel the system: many members believed that the system was not entirely broken but rather needed more communication, consistency and collaboration with Courts, Child Protection to strengthen the web of accountability. There are many cases where one size does not fit all, whether it be for our rural, metro, CALD or Indigenous members. The challenges are different and our framework needs to reflect that, and be more inclusive. We need to begin with making the link between gender inequity and family violence, and to engage and educate communities. Early intervention and primary prevention is the key, with men’s programs and women’s services working together where possible. Real systemic change from the upper echelons to the frontline; change legislation: Make Family Violence a crime not only a civil matter and make breaches to Intervention Orders matter. We also heard: • • There are fine examples of integration and effective case management at various levels despite lack of resources. There is a need for more accreditation, with attainable and inclusive standards, guidelines and more evaluation of the effectiveness of programs in the short and long term. For further details, contact Family Violence Royal Commission Member Liaison and Project Coordinator, Mary Karambilas, directly at [email protected] NTV/MRS, as part of the No More Death’s Alliance of family violence organisations, have received additional time to complete our submission. As such, we’ll be disseminating the final submission in the coming weeks, and will continue member engagement and discussion. In the interim I welcome your questions or comments about NTV / MRS’s work in the Family Violence Royal commission. For your information please refer to the No More Deaths Alliance document Principles Framework for Family Violence System Reforms and a letter to the Alliance from the Chair of the Royal Commission into Family Violence. Yours sincerely, Jacqui Watt Chief Executive Officer No To Violence Male Family Violence Prevention Association Men’s Referral Service
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