DVRC TRAINING NEWS 
Family Violence Risk Assessment and Risk Management Training Program
The Victorian Government has contracted Swinburne University, in partnership with the Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria and No To Violence to design, develop and deliver training programs based on the Family Violence Risk Assessment & Risk Management Framework. The training will be delivered to over 3300 professionals across Victoria during the coming year.
To make sure the training is relevant and addresses current practice issues, we have consulted with a wide range of groups, including domestic violence specialist services, courts, police, Maternal and Child Health Nurses, General Practitioners, statewide family violence. We have also consulted with advocacy organisations to ensure the training addresses issues for diverse groups of women including CALD and Indigenous groups and clients with a disability.
The consortium will develop six training programs including Identifying Family Violence; Preliminary Risk Assessment; Comprehensive Risk Assessment; and train the Trainer. Tailored half day training programs will also be provided for Maternal and Child Health Nurses and for Magistrates' Court Registrars. An important part of the program is an educational DVD. Training delivery will commence in October.
FORTHCOMING TRAINING
Domestic Violence and the Family Law Act
The recent reforms to the family law system have major implications for survivors of domestic violence when making post-separation parenting arrangements. This training is designed to give workers an overview of key legal and other reforms, the possible consequences for victims of domestic violence and how workers might support clients affected by these changes. It will also consider ways to support and advocate for victims who are required to use family dispute resolution, including planning for safe processes and safe parenting arrangements.
Dates: Wednesday & Thursday, 15 & 16 October. Location: Stawell. Time: 10am - 4pm each day. Cost: $50 per participant. Registrations: Close 1 October. Contact DVRC, Tel: (03) 9486 9866
Not Seen or Heard: the Effects of Domestic Violence on Children (Accredited Unit CHCDFV 8B)
This three-day accredited training delivers the DV Competency CHCDFV8B: Provide support to children affected by domestic and family violence. It will cover: creative techniques for engaging children; exploring issues and developing safety and therapeutic plans, providing support, advocacy and information. The pre-requisite for this course is the Accredited Course, ‘Introduction to Domestic Violence' or equivalent (either training or work experience). If you wish to be assessed for this course, you will need to have successfully completed the Introduction to Domestic Violence course or have an equivalent qualification (i.e. Family Violence A elective delivered by a TAFE college), have satisfactorily completed an RPL process (Recognition of Prior Learning) with DVRC.
Dates: Tuesday 25 & Wednesday 26 November & Wednesday 3 December. Location: Camperdown. Time: 9.15am - 4.30pm. Cost: $75, $225 non-SAAP. Contact DVRC, Tel: (03) 9486 9866. This Training is SAAP Funded.
DVRC PUBLICATIONS NEWS
DVRC Quarterly
The latest edition of the DVRC Quarterly has been released. This Winter edition includes: an article on the use of the word incest, an update on the Victorian Family Violence Justice Reform, an article on the different levels of prevention of domestic violence, a feminist analysis of antidepressants, an outline of domestic violence within lesbian relationships, and all of the regular features.
Download a subscription form from the DVRC website: http://www.dvrcv.org.au/PublicationsHub/PublicationsIndex.htm
Call for Articles
We are interested in hearing about the work going on within the family violence sector, so if you have written a report or article you would like to share with other workers in the field, you are welcome to submit it for consideration for an upcoming edition. Many of our reports and project highlights are 1-2 pages, and feature articles can be up to 3000 words.
We would also be happy to receive news for the Noticeboard section, if you have information you would like to share, or an event to promote. If you would like to contribute a feature article, program profile, or review for a future edition please email your submission, as a word document, to the Quarterly's Editor, Belinda Morris to: bmorris@dvrcv.org.au
The DVRC Quarterly is the newsletter of the Domestic Violence Resource Centre, Victoria. The Quarterly has a distribution of approximately 1000, predominantly workers within the community sector. It contains feature articles pertaining to violence against women, sector updates, and project overviews, as well as a noticeboard section of upcoming forums, initiatives, and general items of interest (see our website for selected articles from back issues: http://www.dvrcv.org.au/PublicationsHub/PublicationsIndex.htm ).
DVRC PROJECT NEWS
Happy Birthday Partners in Prevention!
Partners in Prevention has just had its first anniversary. Project worker, Kiri Bear, has increased her hours at DVRC in line with the scale-up of the project and consequently has had time to reflect on the ups and downs of the last year. Partners in Prevention is a network for all those engaged in working with young people towards the prevention of violence against women.
An evaluation report of PiP's first year in operation is now available from the PiP website at http://www.dvrcv.org.au/pip.Thank you to all network members and PiP supporters who have contributed so whole-heartedly to the success of PiP and the advancement of primary gender-based violence prevention in Victoria.
International Conference on Homicide: Domestic Related Homicide
Homicide is the most serious criminal offence in every country of the world. The Australian Institute of Criminology will host the International Conference on Homicide: Domestic-related Homicide at the Holiday Inn, Surfers Paradise from 3-5 December 2008. This international conference aims to highlight research and practice in the field, with domestic-related homicide a major theme. The conference is cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary.
For more information regarding this conference and presentation topics, please visit the Australian Institute of Criminology website at http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/2008-homicide/index.html
White Ribbon Day 2008
The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (IDEVAW) known in Australia as White Ribbon Day is on Tuesday 25 November. This date marks the anniversary of one man's massacre of fourteen women in Montreal in Canada. The white ribbon is the most recognisable symbol of men's opposition to violence against women and every year on 25 November men worldwide are encouraged to wear a white ribbon to acknowledge their support for the cessation of all forms of violence against women. The symbol of the white ribbon is either worn as a pin, or the logo is printed on T-shirts or hats. Some participants use the logo on pamphlets, posters or on television advertisements.
Australia's White Ribbon Foundation runs a national media campaign as well as education and male leadership programs aimed at men and boys around Australia. In 2008 the Federal Labor government has committed one million dollars to the White Ribbon Campaign.
A number of national, state and territory and local activities are planned in the lead up to this day and as part of this campaign. Many of these are promoted on the White Ribbon Campaign's website. The main events this year are the White Tie dinner in Sydney on 17 September and a fashion parade in Sydney on 8 November. In Melbourne there is a Bands Rock Against Violence Event (BRAVE) which aims to support women and children leaving violent situations. This event will be held on 29 November at the Hi-Fi Bar, 125 Swanston Street Melbourne from 12pm-5pm for those underage and from 7pm for those over 18.
Keep an eye on the Events and Activities page of the White Ribbon Campaign's website at http://www.whiteribbonday.org.au for notice of other events or contact the White Ribbon Foundation to post an event.
NEW LIBRARY RESOURCES
New Report on Adolescent Violence towards Family Members
On the subject of Adolescent Violence to Parents, the Inner South Community Health Service this month launched both a detailed research report and a handy, accessible resource booklet for parents and carers. There has been an established violence to parents program at ISCHS for several years offering various forms of support. The research conducted there highlighted generational issues relating to family violence, the impact of sons' abuse and violence on mothers and siblings, its increasing prevalence, and the need to recognise this form of family violence in its own right. Copies of the report It All Starts at Home and the booklet (in English or Greek) are available by phoning ISCHS on (03) 9534 0981 or by emailing one of the authors: jhoward@ischs.org.au.
DVD on Hypersexualisation and Effects on children
The 2007 DVD Our Children Under Influence: A critical look at the phenomenon of hypersexualization by Sexy Inc. and produced by the National Film Board of Canada, analyses the hypersexualisation of our society and the effects this has on young people, particularly young women. Experts on the DVD provide criticism on the unhealthy culture created by advertising and the media and give numerous examples of how children are reduced to consumers and bombarded with images of girls treated as sexual objects. The film gives interviews with experts in the field, who demonstrate the ways in which the stereotypes, as well as early exposure to pornography, are damaging young peoples' development. Young women are also involved in the critique, giving their opinions of music video clips and the media in general, and how the sexualisation of young women's bodies makes them feel about their own bodies and lives. There is a facilitator's guide that can be downloaded at the film production website which will assist with discussion after viewing the DVD.
Both of the above resources can be borrowed from the DVRC library. Please email: library@dvrcv.org.au for more information or to arrange this.
THE FAMILY VIOLENCE PROTECTION BILL 2008: NEARLY THERE!
The new Family Violence Protection Bill 2008 was debated in the Legislative Assembly of the Victorian Parliament on Thursday 21 August 2008.
The Opposition moved an amendment to allow a maximum five-year penalty for multiple breaches of intervention orders. The existing Crimes (Family Violence) Act 1987 allows a maximum sentence of two years for a first breach, and up to five years for subsequent breaches. The new Bill reduces the maximum sentence for subsequent breaches to two years. The amendment was rejected, and the Bill passed with an absolute majority in the house.
The Bill is now due to be debated in the Legislative Council, with the earliest and next possible date for debate being when Parliament resumes on Tuesday 9 September. Even then, the timing of the debate will depend on other parliamentary business before the Council. All going well we will have a new Family Violence Protection Act before the end of September, with government working towards enactment by the end of the year.
Training is being rolled out across police and justice agencies. DVRC and other non-government agencies are currently talking with the Department of Human Services and the Department of Justice about training options for our sectors.
Reminder! We Have Changed Our Name
Our service has changed its name from the Domestic Violence and Incest Resource Centre to the Domestic Violence Resource Centre (Victoria). We have long had debates about labelling and language. You may remember that the first DVRC discussion paper was called What's in a Name? Definitions and Domestic Violence. There are many meanings and implications attached to whatever name is applied to either a social problem or an organisation. Each word of our name has its protagonists and its antagonists, even a word like Centre. Finally we opted for the least change in a time when so much else seemed to be on the move. The word incest was being blocked by content filters on computers, preventing people's access to our websites. Besides that, incest is a term rarely used now and the current preferred term is child sexual abuse. Our new domain name is dvrcv so our website is now: www.dvrcv.org.au and all our email addresses are now [insertname]@dvrcv.org.au. For example dvirc@dvirc.org.au is now dvrcv@dvrcv.org.au. Please update your records accordingly. We will keep the dvirc domain for a while yet so all web and email traffic will be diverted to our new site and emails.
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Copyright (c) DVRC 2008
292 Wellington Street, Collingwood 3066, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
http://www.dvrcv.org.au/ | Tel: 03 9486 9866 | Fax: 03 9486 9744