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Newsletter Bulletin
March 2023 |
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Front Row (left to right): Kay McGrath, Torita Blake, Vanessa Fowler, Bob Atkinson, Lynette Anderson, Nikita Sellin
Back Row (left to right): Sha-lane Gibson, Rachel Durdin, Adair Donaldson, Kai Lowah, Andrew Taukolo, Jacque Lachmund
Absent: Faiza El-Higzi and Ben Bjarnesen
The first meeting of the new term of the Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Council took place at Caloundra over two days on 1 and 2 March 2023.
As the Co-Chairs, we were very grateful for the commitment and contribution of all present, and the opportunity for Council members to get to know each other as we embark on a three and a half year workplan to 30 June 2026.
The refreshed Prevention Council includes 14 members from the community, ably supported by four senior Queensland Government representatives in an Ex-Officio capacity. You may recall our profile on returning member Faiza El-Higzi in February’s edition of our newsletter and this month we feature another re-appointed member, Andrew Taukolo.
The membership of the Council is reflective of the diversity of Queensland in all of its many aspects. The combination of experience, situational expertise, energy and motivation positions us well to achieve as much as possible over the four-year term of the Council as we contribute to the vision set out in the Fourth Action Plan of
‘A Queensland free from domestic and family violence.’
The accomplishment of that vision can only be achieved by a whole of Queensland effort at individual, organisational and government levels.
On behalf of the Council, we look forward to sharing that journey with you.
Vanessa Fowler OAM and Bob Atkinson AO APM
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Our priority work to 30 June 2026
The inclusion of the DFV Prevention Council, its linkages to primary prevention efforts and the assigning of actions for our delivery through the Fourth Action Plan is a significant achievement that recognises the work the previous Council undertook during their term under the Third Action Plan 2019-20 to 2021-22.
One of the key approaches to the work of the Prevention Council has been our focus on place-based design in partnership with local leaders.
This place-based design and the practice of leveraging the knowledge and skills of local people to create better outcomes and longer term impact will continue to be a priority principle in the way we will deliver our work under the Fourth Action Plan.
We will take a leading role to:
- Proactively engage local government authorities to raise awareness and support capacity building for place‑based prevention activities and leadership in regional, rural and remote Queensland
- Identify and engage in proactive media engagement opportunities that contribute to community education and awareness and challenge the values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours that contribute to violence and abuse
- Lead a pilot project to develop a practical action-orientated toolkit that will activate boys, young men and men as allies in the prevention of violence and abuse using best practice and evidence-based approaches
- Co-Chair the Local Government Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Champions network with the Local Government Association of Queensland and participating local government authorities to build capacity for place-based prevention activities and local leadership
- Engage with Government statutory authorities to support their internal and external capacity and capability to effectively respond to domestic and family violence in the workplace and across community
We will also use our expertise to contribute to and support key Government agencies to deliver on the following actions:
- Coordinate an annual Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month program that will contribute to awareness raising in regional, rural and remote communities through local government libraries, visitor centres and community hubs
- Partner with agencies to connect with young people who are disengaged from schooling to support expansion of appropriate respectful-relationships education and awareness
- Develop and implement a comprehensive and integrated plan for the primary prevention of violence against women
We look forward to sharing our plans to educate and inform Queenslanders during Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month, and hope to engage you and your workplace or community organisation in this project. More to come on that in our April newsletter.
Overall we hope our engagement throughout Queensland will enable communities to be better informed and resourced to create local solutions that respond to DFV in all its forms. |
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Excellence in Law Enforcement for Women Initiatives
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Congratulations to the Queensland Police Service's Domestic and Family Violence Training Team who were recognised for outstanding commitment, work and outcomes in developing and delivering refreshed domestic and family violence training to Queensland Police members.
The highly dedicated and knowledgeable members of the joint project team, with members from the People Capability and Vulnerable Persons Commands were awarded in the ‘Excellence in Law Enforcement for Women Initiatives’ category of the Queensland Women in Policing Awards at an International Women's Day Event in Brisbane on 8 March 2023.
This award recognised the importance the new victim-centric trauma informed training has had on enhancing QPS capability to protect women and children experiencing domestic and family violence since being introduced late last year.
Well done to all involved. |
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Meet Andrew Taukolo
Andrew is a returning member of the Prevention Council, having joined its ranks in 2021. This month he shares his views on what drew him to primary prevention work with young people.
How did you first become an advocate for domestic and family violence prevention?
Back in 2015, YFS Ltd. had just started a peer-to-peer educational preventative strategy called R4Respect, young people educating young people on respectful relationships. Growing up as a young Pasifika male in Western Sydney and later in Logan Queensland, there wasn’t a lot of positive stereotypes or narratives attached to both those characteristics, so me and my mate thought it would be a good platform for us to share our experiences with other younger men and hopefully guide them in their own journey.
My understanding of DFV at that time was that you just don’t hit women and that was it. I wasn’t aware that DFV can look like many things not just physical, so that was a wake-up call for me to reflect on myself and not be content with the low bar standard of “I don’t hit women”. I knew if I wasn’t fully aware of these things, many other young men didn’t know either. In 2019, we started the Men4Respect program, similar to R4Respect instead it was young men for young men. From there I was fortunate to be appointed to the DFV Prevention Council.
You have worked with young people for most of your career. How important do you think this cohort of our community are to prevention efforts and why?
Young people need to be centre of all prevention efforts. If young people aren’t included or considered in any preventative strategy, then who are we preventing future issues from? Young people are agents of change, not agents to be changed.
Do you think Queensland is making positive progress toward preventing domestic violence?
Yes. Whether it’s a pace we like or not, Queensland is making positive progress. I look to the time when I first entered the DFV Prevention space - there wasn’t many, if any, programs for young people, nor was there many young male facilitators and advocates in this space. Within the last couple of years, more and more young people are becoming aware of DFV and more and more young men are understanding our role as advocates of this issue and are joining the conversation in their own capacities, big or small.
What barriers do you see that exist in equipping young people with the skills they need to build respectful relationships?
What helped me join the conversation was opportunity.
What helped me grow in this space was trust and guidance.
If I wasn’t given the opportunity to join the conversation in 2015, I may have joined much later or never joined at all. Once given the opportunity, if I didn’t have the trust and guidance from the experienced adults in this space, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity and safety to learn and grow from my mistakes.
To me, that is what most young people need and want, the opportunity to be contribute and the safe place to learn and grow that comes from trust and guidance.
Is there one myth about domestic and family violence that you find yourself frequently busting?
The myth or debate that frequently comes around is the care versus control. Understanding when behaviours have crossed the line from care into control. For a lot of people it isn’t always so black and white, the line can be very faint, but by educating people on the signs and the tools to self-reflect to ask that question; is this caring or is this controlling? is a great place to start.
What would you personally like to achieve through the Prevention Council this term?
With the release of the Fourth Action plan and the eight actions that the Prevention Council will lead or support, I’m really keen to amplify the work we are doing with men, young people and local communities. | |
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What are you planning for Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month?
We love hearing about community-led initiatives that are focused on preventing domestic and family violence.
Are you, your workplace, your service, sporting club or other community groups planning any events, campaigns, projects or activities in the prevention space for DFV Prevention Month 2023?
Is there a way that the Prevention Council can help play a role in promoting these initiatives or outcomes, or contribute to your messaging?
Drop us an e-mail and let us know what you are planning and any opportunities where the Prevention Council may add value.
It is important we keep working together to bring about effective change. | |
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A fresh start for domestic and family violence survivors
Last month the Prevention Council facilitated a presentation by Workhaven to our Local Government Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Champions on a specialist online, interactive program that supports victim-survivors of domestic and family violence to recover and rebuild.
The Fresh Start For Me program is scalable and accessible and designed to guide participants to overcome the impacts of their experience and return to living productive, happy and socially connected lives. It aims to break the cycle of DFV and reduce the incidence and impact of this situation.
To learn more about the program you can download the brochure, or connect with CEO Joanna Mason via e-mail jo.mason@workhaven.com.au or telephone 0404 510 383. | |
Download Brochure |
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Keeping you safe from technology facilitated abuse
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Technology-facilitated abuse involves the use of technology as a means to coerce, stalk or harass another person.
The Safety Net Australia Project at WESNET have created a number of practical resources for women experiencing tech abuse to increase and improve their safety and privacy.
The Women’s Technology Safety & Privacy Toolkit includes resource guides to help you better manage your online privacy, smartphone location services and much more.
Before clicking the link:
If you think someone is monitoring your devices, visit this website from a computer, tablet, or smartphone that isn't being monitored. | |
Learn More |
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Using technology to combat domestic and family violence
Please share this opinion piece with your workplace and networks and support our efforts to raise awareness of domestic and family violence. |
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On March 8 each year, International Women’s Day acknowledges the outstanding progress and achievements of women across the world and provides a platform to discuss important issues relating to gender equity and equality.
This year, the United Nations’ International Women’s Day was themed around how innovation and technology can combat gender-based discrimination and contribute to a gender equal future.
Sadly, we’ve all heard stories about technology being used as a tool of domestic and family violence. Social media, smartphones, laptops and other devices can be used by ill-intentioned people to coerce, control and even distribute materials aimed to intimidate, like revenge porn.
In 2020, the Women’s Services Network (WESNET) released its Second National Survey on Technology Abuse and Domestic Violence in Australia. As part of the survey, 442 frontline DV practitioners in Australia were asked about the use of technology by perpetrators of domestic and family violence. The findings were alarming. 99.3 per cent of respondents stated that their clients had experienced technology-facilitated stalking and abuse, while more than a third of respondents said that Facebook had been used frequently by perpetrators of abuse. WESNET also reported a significant increase in surveillance activities since 2015 – enabled by video devices and GPS tracking apps.
While these responses are concerning and require the attention of State and Federal lawmakers, it’s important to remember that technology itself is not causing harm to women – but rather it’s abusers, who are misusing technology for their own means.
When used with the health and wellbeing of the community in-mind, we know technology can be a wonderful tool for social good. It can amplify the voices of marginalised groups and help activate important social justice movements like #MeToo and #TimesUp.
This Prevention Council acknowledges the organisations and programs are using technology to reach out to different demographics – creating apps which educate, empower and support.
That includes the Be There app - a world-first platform, supporting ‘bystanders’ who know someone experiencing domestic or family violence. Delivered by the Griffith University’s MATE Bystander Program – with funding and practical support from the Queensland Government and Telstra – the app encourages bystanders to act safely and responsibly, priding them with information and tools to help recognise abuse and offer support.
Queensland-based charity Beyond DV have also created the Love & Learn app, helping teenagers to understand healthy relationships and providing resources and support to those who are in unhealthy relationships. With videos and a quiz, the app is highly interactive and gender-neutral, acknowledging that all genders can experience unhealthy relationships.
As technology continues to evolve, so must our responses to domestic and family violence. As perpetrators becomes more tech-savvy, we must keep-up with developments and explore all legal and social avenues to keep victims safe online.
Together, we can use technology to empower women, educate young people, and prevent domestic and family violence.
Vanessa Fowler OAM and Bob Atkinson AO APM co-chair the Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Council. The Prevention Council is working to embed a zero-tolerance approach to domestic and family violence within our communities and across Queensland. | |
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Do you want to know what to say or how to ‘be there’ for a loved one, a friend or even a stranger who is in an unhealthy, toxic or abusive relationship?
Be There is a free app that gives you direct access to tools that empower, educate and support you to help someone who is experiencing domestic or family violence.
With Be There, you can find out ways you can help, learn more about coercive control, understand what you can say (safely and respectfully) to the person who is using or experiencing the behaviour, journal your thoughts and set reminders.
Importantly, the app encourages you to practice self-care, because we know that supporting someone through domestic violence is hard. We are here to help you help the person you care about.
Download the app now from the App store or Google play store. | |
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 The “Love&Learn” Teen Relationship App helps young people understand what healthy relationships look like and where to find support if you are experiencing an unhealthy relationship.
The App is highly interactive and gender neutral, recognising that all genders can experience unhealthy behaviours in relationships.
The Love&Learn App is free and is available in the Apple and Google playstores now. |
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For information and support options - www.qld.gov.au/dfvhelp
For confidential crisis support - DVConnect Womensline on 1800 811 811 DVConnect Mensline on 1800 600 636
In an emergency, call Triple Zero (000) and ask for Police |
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