A world-first program conducted by the former Department of Justice and Department of Premier and Cabinet aimed at reducing the risk of domestic violence reoffending failed to achieve its purpose according to an evaluation by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR).
In a statement, BOCSAR said the joint project What’s Your Plan? was a behaviour change program designed to increase Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO) compliance and was available to Aboriginal defendants with ADVOs between March 2017 and October 2019.
BOCSAR said the Program applied two self-regulatory behaviour change strategies that were supported by evidence in psychology literature.
“Participants were asked to imagine the future with and without breaching their ADVO, and to identify and plan for potential obstacles to compliance,” BOCSAR said.
“What’s Your Plan? was delivered in court by trained Aboriginal Client and Community Support Officers and reinforced with a follow-up call and SMS reminders,” it said.
BOCSAR said its evaluation considered the impact of the Program on both ADVO breaches and proven Domestic Violence (DV) charges, including the proportion of reoffenders and the number of days until the offence occurred (if ever).
“The evaluation found no evidence for any impact of the What’s Your Plan? Program on breaches of ADVOs or DV-related charges,” the Bureau said.
Commenting on the evaluation, the Executive Director of BOCSAR, Jackie Fitzgerald said the negative finding might be because domestic violence was notoriously difficult to influence through perpetrator interventions.
“The drivers of domestic violence are complex,” Ms Fitzgerald said.
“Brief interventions, such as What’s Your Plan?, may need to be combined with more intensive behavioural change programs and/or long-term social support to have any impact on rates of DV offending,” she said.
BOCSAR’s 21-page evaluation report can be accessed at this PS News link.
