Additional study led by Professor Marcia Langton under the ANROWS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Stream.

ANROWS has commissioned a significant new research project in perpetrator interventions. Improving family violence legal and support services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men who are perpetrators of family violence will be headed by leading scholars, Professor Marcia Langton and Dr Kristen Smith from the University of Melbourne and Professor Megan Davis from the University of New South Wales.

This project complements current ANROWS research on Improving family violence legal and support services for Indigenous women with the same research team and locations.

This study will identify the practical and legal supports available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men who are perpetrators of family violence in two regional communities: Mildura (VIC), and Albury/Wodonga (NSW/VIC). Using a strengths-based approach, the study will explore the barriers faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male perpetrators of family violence that increase their likelihood of recidivism. It will also identify key factors impacting their effective engagement with police and the criminal justice system. The study will analyse the ways in which policy and legal frameworks provide support or impede the capacity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male perpetrators of family violence to engage with available support services.

Working collaboratively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Mildura and Albury/Wodonga, this mixed-method study will contribute to the evidence base on best-quality practices to strengthen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and services. This will not only hold Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male perpetrators accountable for family violence, but significantly improve their capacity to navigate through the criminal justice system – from the police, to the courts, to violence prevention programming.

The study will produce key resources for practitioners, policy-makers and the public, including research publications and a support guide for justice services to facilitate improvements to existing programs. The study is due for completion in early 2020.

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