Christine du Toit, Windana Specialist Family Violence Advisor and U-Turn Program Lead. 

Care warning: This post discusses family violence. 24/7 Family Violence support is available in Victoria by calling Safe Steps on 1800 015 188.

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence provides an opportunity to acknowledge everyone impacted by family violence, including victim-survivors, their support networks, and the frontline workers who assist survivors and work to prevent violence.

This year, Windana’s message is clear: early intervention is essential for an effective, multi-layered response to family violence.

We see the effectiveness of early intervention every day.

In Windana’s U-Turn program, our Specialist family violence Advisors work with men who have used family violence and want to change their attitudes and behaviours.

Program objectives include reducing the prevalence of Family Violence in the community, increasing the safety of women and encouraging men to critically reflect on their use of substances, violent and/or controlling behaviours and their broader behavioural choices.

As one participant wrote, “The big learning point is taking ownership of my own actions but more importantly, considering others as equal.”

Most men are on interim or final Intervention Orders, where alcohol or other drugs have been involved. We also work with men who do not have Intervention Orders, but have chosen to engage with U-Turn after identifying unhealthy patterns in their family relationships that they wish to change.

The program runs closed groups in metropolitan and regional Victoria over 15 weeks. Men can self-refer, or be referred by magistrates.  

One of the things that makes U-Turn unique is that we focus on the contribution of alcohol and other drugs to family violence behaviours, which other programs do not.

U-Turn also addresses the needs of men who fall in the low to medium risk categories. These men are often overlooked when they participate in mainstream groups, and their narrative often centres around the idea of not being as troubled as other men in the group, for instance thinking “actually, I’m not doing anything wrong”.

U-Turn was developed in response to these glaring gaps and missed opportunities for targeted interventions that were closer to men’s first interactions with the police and courts in relation to family violence, rather than waiting for someone to have breaches and go into remand.

There will be better outcomes if we catch behaviours upstream.

The Monash Gender and Family Violence Centre conducted an evaluation study of U-Turn, and found that early interventions:

• Are needed at the intersection of family violence and alcohol and other drugs
• Assist men to maintain behaviour change, and
• Keep respondents with Family Violence Intervention Orders out of the Criminal Justice System.

Ultimately – and most importantly – the study found that interventions like U-Turn are effective in increasing family safety.

Australia’s first Royal Commission into Family Violence recognised the important role of Behaviour Change Programs in improving Victoria’s response to family violence. While the Royal Commission’s final recommendations were implemented in January last year, there is still much to be done to ensure Behaviour Change Programs are expanded and that people who need to know about them are aware. This includes lawyers, and diverse healthcare and social assistance professionals who can refer their clients, and men who are suitable for Behaviour Change Interventions.

If our community – including men and the services they interact with – works together to recognise the benefit of intervening early, we can help make behaviour, spaces and families safer.

More information

• U-Turn – Page on Windana’s website
• Evaluation of the U-Turn Program – Reports by Monash University
• 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence 2024 – Respect Victoria campaign