Family Violence Support
Empowering families: Standing strong against family violence together
We are dedicated to expanding our family violence support initiatives with a focus on addressing the needs of our community. We recognise that family violence doesn’t discriminate and affects Tasmanians of all ages, genders and backgrounds.
We are striving to create a network of support that addresses the complex dynamics of family violence, fostering a safer and more inclusive environment within our community.
MENS Program
The Men Engaging New Strategies (MENS) program is a self-referral program for men who are considered at low to moderate risk of perpetrating family violence.
The program is delivered statewide over 24 weeks and consists of eight individual sessions and 10 group sessions. Throughout the 24 weeks, the practitioners, one male and one female for each our Launceston and Hobart groups, help participants increase their awareness of triggers that lead them to become violent, to take responsibility for their actions and to develop skills and strategies to change their behaviour.
During this time, we also make sure the participants’ partner and/or past partners and children are kept safe from violence by regularly checking in and referring them to appropriate services if needed.
Our clients certainly see positive gains as a result of their participation in MENS. One participant’s partner shared that her husband’s behaviour has improved, and he is showing more respect and emotional empathy since he started the group sessions. She also noted a noticeable change in his overall attitude towards life after participating in the group sessions.
ACORN Children's Family Violence Counselling Program
The Children’s Family Violence Counselling Program, or ACORN, is a new statewide service that began in March this year. ACORN offers free counselling to children and young people aged 5 -18 years old who have witnessed or have been impacted by family violence. The name ACORN was chosen to symbolise the inherent growth and resilience of a child, drawing inspiration from the metaphor that within a small acorn, the potential for a mighty oak lies in wait.
So far, the service has already helped 62 children and young people who have experienced a range of issues as a result of violence in their family, including intergenerational trauma, ADHD, developmental delay, anxiety, depression, and behavioural issues.
ACORN is one of the few services in Tasmania that provides support to children whose parents remain together. Most services will not work with families who haven’t separated due to the children’s ongoing exposure to the perpetrator. The ACORN program focuses on ensuring that children are supported in regaining a sense of safety and managing their emotions associated with the past family violence within their home.
We also support the parents by providing warm referrals to other RA Tas programs such as the MENS Behaviour Change Program, Parenting Separately Program, and other victim survivor support services.
To accommodate having more children and young people in our offices, this year we have also been adapting our counselling rooms to create spaces that include additional play and art therapy resources. This, combined with our Safeguarding Children and Young People Accreditation ensures a child friendly, accessible and safe place for supporting children and young people.
In this short time of ACORN’s existence, we are already seeing positive outcomes for children and young people. One young person’s mother reported that she was happy with the service and has already seen changes in her daughter after only a few sessions.
Elder Relationship Service
The Elder Relationship Service (ERS) is a free, statewide counselling and mediation service which focuses on improving the lives of older Tasmanians.
The service has been operating since 2020, and in that time we’ve worked with 332 older Tasmanians, supporting them with issues including elder abuse, grief and loss, loneliness, entering retirement, caring for a partner or child, and improving relationships with family members. The service has evolved to become a key component of Tasmania’s support system for older Tasmanians, taking in many referrals from the Elder Abuse Helpline.
The program is unique in its specialist expertise in supporting elder family violence, with a particular focus on elder abuse and how it presents in our community. Our dedicated ERS practitioners have specialised training in supporting older people, and have the care, empathy and consideration to respond to their unique needs, help them navigate challenging family dynamics, and provide a sensitive, trauma-informed space for older Tasmanians to explore their emotions.
145 people accessed our program last financial year, with many clients stating that the program was instrumental in changing their perspective and helping them with strategies on managing challenging situations in their lives. One client shared this quote with us:
I felt like I wanted to die (before attending ERS), I didn’t want to live, with everything that was going on with my (adult child), then with the help I got from (practitioner) I feel joyful, I am painting, I have done 20 paintings since this has happened, I have my (adult child) out of my face, I am on Etsy selling my paintings, prior to that, I wanted to be dead, the depression the unhappiness, the blood pressure and feeling ill – now look at me, I have something to look forward to every morning. I am living life and enjoying it.
Family Violence Advocacy and Support Service
The Family Violence Advocacy and Support Service (FVASS) is a free statewide service that helps families dealing with family violence issues in the Family Court system.
Our Social Support Workers connect clients with various support services such as counselling for family violence, housing assistance, and services for children. Additionally, we provide help by walking alongside the client throughout the legal process; being present in court appearances, hearings, or trials, ensuring their safety and offering emotional support inside and outside the courts.
Throughout the last financial year, our service supported 407 Tasmanians through their journey within the Family Court system …
Throughout the last financial year, our service supported 407 Tasmanians through their journey within the Family Court system, with many clients expressing that having someone to offer understanding and trauma-informed support during one of the toughest periods of their lives was extremely beneficial.
Our work in Tasmania’s Family Court has allowed us to build a strong relationship with legal practitioners, which has led to more effective working relationships and has provided us with a platform to help educate the family law sector about the impact of trauma. As an example, in May our Social Support Workers delivered a presentation at a legal conference on trauma-informed practices, which received positive feedback from the legal community.