There are no accredited men’s behaviour change programs in Wagga Wagga. In Wagga Wagga we were joined by representatives from CentaCare NSW, Mission Australia, Relationships Australia, Linking Communities Network (LCN), Taster Property, and Wagga Women’s Health Centre, as well as local candidates Joe McGirr (Independent), Keryn Foley (Labor), and Ray Goodlass (Greens). It’s absolutely ridiculous that there isn’t one here.” “Albury is the nearest men’s behaviour change program, and that’s 90 minutes away. The Nowra community explained the challenges that a lack of funding has created for the sector, with smaller groups, like ACCOs, unable to compete with larger services that have the funding to employ policy and tender staff. We had a full house in Nowra, with representatives from Anglicare, Waminda, South Coast Medical Service Aboriginal Corporation, Mission Australia, Illawarra Koori Men’s Support Group, Shoalcoast Community Legal Centre, and the Aboriginal Legal Service, as well as local candidates Liza Butler (Labor), Amanda Findley (Greens), and Luke Sikora (Liberal). Meanwhile, larger organisations that get the funding don’t have the expertise to work with communities.” “ don’t get funding for tender and policy staff. We heard that short-term funding is making it almost impossible to recruit staff, and that the housing crisis is impacting the family violence sector acutely, with victim-survivors unable to access emergency accommodation and perpetrators unable to leave the home while they seek support to change their behaviour. In Orange the room was filled with representatives from Mission Australia, Catholic Care, Birrang, Housing Plus, FACS, the Benevolent Society, and Stride, as well as local candidates Heather Dunn (Labor), Philip Donato (Independent) and Tony Mileto (Nationals). “We need to get rid of the expectation that men will complete a program and they’ll be ‘fixed.’ We need more funding over longer periods of time.” It was a missed opportunity to learn about how Penrith’s lack of housing is contributing to high rates of family violence, and that government needs to invest in perpetrator intervention programs that already exist. Representatives from Relationships Australia, Community Restorative Centre, Nepean Community and Neighborhood Services, Western Sydney Community Legal Centre, Mountains Youth Services Team and Transforming Justice Australia joined us for a lively discussion in Penrith.ĭespite extending invitations to all local political candidates, we were disappointed to see that none attended the event. “The candidates are showing how much they care, which is clearly very little. We heard their calls for the need for culturally-specific men’s behaviour change programs and deeper collaboration across the sector. We were joined by representatives from Relationships Australia, Catholic Care, Settlement Services International, SydWest, BaptistCare, NSW Legal Aid, and the Institute of Non-Violence, as well as local Labor candidates Hugh McDermott (Prospect) and Stephen Bali (Blacktown).īlacktown is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia, with over 70 different languages spoken in homes across the LGA. We kicked off our tour in Blacktown at Max Webber Library. “People are competing against each other for funding, rather than working together. Until then, here’s a wrap of the key issues unearthed from the Tour. Our full report and findings will be released next month. It was great to meet everyone in person after a couple of years of talking to each other through screens. We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to our members and the wider sector for attending our events and sharing their thoughts. We visited seven locations: Blacktown, Penrith, Orange, Nowra, Lismore, Wagga Wagga and Charlestown. The aim of the tour was to facilitate a conversation between the perpetrator intervention sector that No to Violence represents, as well as the political hopefuls that are vying for seats, about the challenges of preventing and responding to domestic and family violence in their local communities. In February and March 2023, No to Violence toured NSW ahead of the state election to meet with our members, the domestic and family violence sector and local political candidates. A thriving perpetrator intervention sector is crucial to addressing the scourge of domestic violence in NSW – the 2023 NSW Election Tour was part of our wider strategy to make this happen.
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