Good practice in Indigenous family violence prevention : designing and evaluating successful programs

Description

Family violence mars the lives of a very large number of Indigenous Australians, helping to effectively disable many communities and deny future generations a basic chance for health, happiness and prosperity. The core aim of this paper is to consider the current state of good practice with regard to projects or programs aimed at reducing family violence, and then provide a set of ideas and strategies for good practice based on learning from both Australian and international Indigenous projects and programs. Firstly, a portrait of the policy context out of which a number of significant funding programs have emerged over the previous decade. This leads into a broad discussion of what types of techniques or strategies have been tried and how to analyse or categorise them, as well as the key principles that would be essential to any holistic approach. A theoretical framework is then set up through which to consider the issue of violence related to families in an Indigenous context. Good practice Indigenous initiatives in violence projects that have been undertaken in North America, New Zealand and Canada are summarised to provide additional good practice benchmarks. Some significant Australian family violence projects that have been evaluated and displayed good practice are also examined. The key elements contributing to the success of Indigenous violence programs, and how to evaluate such success are discussed. Finally, a number of models and strategies that would support the sustainability of programs within Indigenous communities are outlined.

Copyright Information

The copyright for this resource belongs to the Australian Domestic & Family Violence Clearinghouse. Inquiries should be referred to the copyright holder. As stated in the body of the resource: © 2009 Australian Domestic & Family Violence Clearinghouse. This is a refereed publication. The views expressed in this Issues Paper do not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Government or the Australian Domestic & Family Violence Clearinghouse. While all reasonable care has been taken in the preparation of this publication, no liability is assumed for any errors or omissions. Permission to publish was provided by Gendered Violence Research Network at the University of New South Wales.