Updates

New strategy puts spotlight on those using domestic and family violence

The Queensland Government has launched an Australian-first strategy that places greater emphasis on responding to people who use violence in domestic and family situations.

Broadening the Focus: Queensland’s strategy to strengthen responses to people who use domestic and family violence 2024 to 2028 (Broadening the Focus) is a pivotal strategy that builds on the significant progress that has been made in tracking DFV.

It revolves around strengthening and improving whole-of-system and community responses, to actively hold people using violence responsible for their harmful attitudes and behaviours, and support them to change.

The Strategy will be implemented over four years and has four ‘priority areas’ to tackle the perpetration of DFV:

• Increasing community understanding of why people use violence and how we can prevent DFV from occurring
• Enhancing support for children and young people using, or at risk of using violence
• Strengthening risk assessment, referral pathways and interventions for people using, or at risk of using violence
• Enhancing Queensland’s system of accountability to effectively respond to people using, or at risk of using violence.

Broadening the Focus explores interventions that provide the appropriate support to sustain behavioural change.

Stopping the perpetration of DFV will be achieved through the development and implementation of initiatives that cover the continuum of prevention, early intervention, responding to violence and systemic reform.

The Strategy is underpinned by a range of evidence and consultation with stakeholders from government, non-government and community-based organisations, the public and experts.

For instance, research has shown that four in five people using DFV are male. Because of this, the Strategy considers risk factors, drivers and behaviours that increase the likelihood of a man’s tendency to perpetrate DFV and takes an intersectional approach to interventions which is essential to creating meaningful behaviour change.

The Strategy is part of the government’s continuing work to change attitudes and behaviours towards domestic and family violence to keep victim-survivors safe.

The Strategy can be found here.