Webinar:
Enhancing practice when working with men from refugee backgrounds who use domestic and family violence

People from refugee backgrounds are likely to have experienced significant trauma and challenges around settlement. 

When working with refugee men who use violence, it is important to consider the context of pre-migration and post-settlement refugee experiences as well as the gendered nature of domestic and family violence.

This webinar will explore how services can strengthen men’s behaviour change programs and practice when working with men from refugee backgrounds who use domestic and family violence.

Drawing on new ANROWS research, ‘Best practice principles for interventions with domestic and family violence perpetrators from refugee backgrounds’ to be published on 29th April 2020, this expert panel of researchers, consultants and practitioners will discuss:

• practice and service issues to consider when working with men from refugee backgrounds who use violence
• key recommendations of the research and the ‘best practice principles’.

There will also be a live Q&A.

This webinar is designed for:

• practitioners and policymakers working in men’s behaviour change programs, and others who work with men who use violence
• practitioners and policymakers working within refugee, migrant and settlement services; and domestic and family violence services.

Attending this webinar earns 1 Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) continuing professional development (CPD) point.

Enquiries: [email protected]

WATCH

Presenters

Professor Colleen Fisher
The University of Western Australia

Colleen Fisher is a professor and Head of the School of Population and Global Health at UWA. Her research expertise of domestic and family violence includes experiences and impacts across the lifespan, cross culturally and in refugee contexts. Colleen lead the ANROWS funded research ‘Best practice principles for interventions with domestic and family violence perpetrators from refugee backgrounds’ published in April 2020.

Professor Fisher has also been a member on related government panels including the WA ‘Safe at Home’, Development and Implementation Panel, Family and Domestic Violence Homicide Review Panel and the WA State Government – Advisory Group on Family and Domestic Violence Prevention.  Colleen was the first past President and Chair of the Council of Academic Public Health Institutions Australasia (CAPHIA).

Mark O’Hare
Operations Manager, Stopping Family Violence

Mark O’Hare is the Operations Manager with Stopping Family Violence and has a wealth of experience in working in Men’s Behaviour Change Programs (MBCPs), Violent Offender Programs, Sex Offender Programs and working with Men with alcohol and other drug issues. Previous to working with Stopping Family Violence, O’Hare held specialised FDV Coordinator and consultant roles with WA Department of Justice and worked closely with community based MBCPs. Additionally, O’Hare has held managerial and leadership positions in government overseeing the delivery of criminogenic programs for offenders in WA prison and community settings.

Elizabeth Lang
Founder and CEO of Diversity Focus

Elizabeth Lang is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Diversity Focus. Diversity Focus works with government, not-for-profit, tertiary institutions and the private sector in providing training, consulting and research services on a range of diversity and inclusion topics. Elizabeth’s areas of expertise include intersectional diversity & inclusion and domestic & family violence in cross-cultural contexts. She is a PhD candidate at Curtin University and her thesis, titled ‘Conceptualising Domestic and Family Violence in the Frame of Collectivist Cultures’, seeks to broaden the current socio-cultural understanding of what constitutes ‘domestic and family violence’ in the Australian context.

As a Sessional Academic, she has taught a range of multidisciplinary units with Curtin’s School of Occupational Therapy, Social Work and Speech Pathology since 2015. Elizabeth has also published on international refugee advocacy and has worked on a range of national domestic and family violence research projects including with the University of Melbourne, Curtin University and as a Research Associate coordinating the ANROWS funded ‘Best Practice Principles for Interventions with Domestic and Family Violence Perpetrators from Refugee Backgrounds’.  She is also the author of the upcoming book ‘Wired for Bias’.

Facilitator

Amanda Gillett
Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre, Perth

Amanda Gillett has over 25 years’ experience working in the not-for-profit and international development sectors. Amanda is currently Manager of Community and Organisational Development at the Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre (MMRC) in Perth. Prior to this position she was Manager of Community Services at the Association for Services to Torture and Trauma Survivors (ASeTTS). In both these roles Amanda has worked with programs or initiatives aimed at addressing family and domestic violence in refugee background communities. While working for the Australian international development program (then AusAID) in southern Africa, Amanda established the Addressing Gender Violence Fund which provided grants to civil society organisations working to eradicate gender-based violence in their communities in South Africa. Amanda has a Bachelor of Arts (Social and Political Theory), a Post Graduate Diploma in English and a Master of Management (Public and Development Management).