Inaugural funding boost to support family violence research

Inaugural funding boost to support family violence research

11 August 2022

VACCA welcomes the recent State Government announcement of an inaugural Family Violence Research Grant to support family violence research.  

VACCA, in partnership with the University of Melbourne will receive funding to develop a holistic, culturally relevant measure of client outcomes in Aboriginal family violence services for women and children affected by family violence.  

The grant will enable the development of a culturally appropriate measure of outcomes for women and children affected by family violence. It will help service providers like VACCA and government to improve services for victim survivors, allocate resources based on need and build the evidence of what works. 

VACCA CEO, Muriel Bamblett AO says “The voices of survivors of family violence, including children and young people, are central to defining what success looks like in Aboriginal family violence services and is fundamental to developing an outcome tool that has the best chance of being acceptable and feasible.  

“Building an Aboriginal evidence base is an essential part of Aboriginal self-determination: for too long the success measures have been mainstream constructs and inherently miss the importance of culturally responsive, trauma informed practice. Ms Bamblett said.  

 “Alongside the voices of women and children, we will draw on the expertise of our VACCA practitioners to contribute to a shared understanding of what should be measured and understood as an outcome of “success” from an Aboriginal perspective” she said. 

Currently there is no relevant outcome instrument for use in family violence services for Aboriginal victims that considers their perspectives of success, and which also possesses properties of cultural appropriateness, validity for Aboriginal populations, sensitivity to change and user-friendliness.  

This research will play an important role in addressing this gap. Embedding a robust outcomes measure in programs and interventions that support Aboriginal people affected by family violence will generate data that can be used for service improvement and to spread programs and practices supported by a strong evidentiary base. 

ENDS