No to Violence’s Practice Development Manager, Michelle Perry, has been travelling across Victoria during September delivering information sessions about the new Men’s Behaviour Change Minimum standards, information sharing and risk assessment changes. These sessions were designed to assist MBC providers to better understand what these changes meant for them and to begin to embed these changes into their practice with men who use violence.

Five sessions were held in early September in Bendigo, Melbourne, Morwell, Ballarat and Mildura. Over 100 members registered for the sessions, most of whom work in Men’s Behaviour Change providers across a variety of roles ranging from management, assessment, facilitation, intake and supervision. Rather than analysing each new standard one by one, Michelle engaged members in structured discussions which allowed members space to float the various scenarios in which the standards would play out in their workplaces and practice.

Key issues and questions raised in the information sessions were recorded by No to Violence. Along with a post event survey, this feedback will provide the basis of a Frequently Asked Questions page on the No to Violence website and be reported to Family Safety Victoria, who are evaluating the standards after six months.

In all, these information sessions provided a great opportunity to hear first-hand the day-to-day perspectives of family violence practitioners and managers in a range of settings. While these changes may provide challenges for organisations in this early phase of transition, they present opportunities to better integrate services and work towards a ‘whole-of-family’ approach to ending men’s family violence.

We would like to thank the following member organisations for generously offering to host us on our roadshow: Centre for Non-Violence in Bendigo, La Trobe Community Health Service in Morwell, Child and Family Services in Ballarat and Sunraysia Community Health Service in Mildura.

In 2016, the Royal Commission into Family Violence (Victoria) recommended that the Government review the No to Violence Men’s Behaviour Change Minimum Standards (2006)”… to ensure that the minimum standards reflect emerging research, national and international best practice, and ‘the central importance’ of embedding partner work into men’s behavioural change programs”.

In 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) engaged Monash University to undertake the review, including:

• A comparative analysis of state and territory minimum standards
• A review of the international literature and practice guidance
• Detailed consultations with No to Violence, its member organisations, and Domestic Violence Victoria.

On the back of this 2017 review, the Men’s Behaviour Change Minimum Standards were distilled down to 10 key principles. These principles were drawn from Victoria’s Expert Advisory Committee on Perpetrator Interventions’ (EACPI) principles for perpetrator interventions (principles 1-8) and the National Outcomes Standards for Perpetrator Interventions (principles 9-10).

To provide further information on how to implement these new standards, No to Violence created the Implementation guide: Men’s Behaviour Change Minimum Standards in August 2018.

For more information, please contact Michelle Perry: MichelleP@ntv.org.au