Family Violence Programme to Better Suit Tasmania’s Needs

HMA has had a strong relationship with Tasmanian Safe At Home project for a number of years. With responsibility for delivering stopping violence interventions coming back to Community Probation Service, HMA was asked to redesign the original programme to meet the challenges of delivering a programme in both urban and more remote areas of Tasmania, such as the far north. To that end we have designed a 50-hour open group intervention along with a 12-hour individual program. Ken McMaster recently had the opportunity to spend a week in Hobart training staff in the delivery of the programme. Ken will also supervise the initial delivery to ensure programme fidelity is maintained.

To read the 13 April 2011 press release click here:

A new and improved version of Tasmania’s leading Family Violence Offender Intervention Program (FVOIP) will be released at the Hobart Magistrates Court tomorrow.

The original program’s author, Ken McMaster, has re-designed it to better suit Tasmanian circumstances, and allow more offenders to complete the programs.

The Attorney General, David Bartlett, says the program helps family violence offenders reduce their violent and abusive behaviour.

It’s delivered to individuals and groups by Community Corrections as part of the ground-breaking Safe at Home initiative.

“Safe at Home is widely recognised as one of the most innovative and effective initiatives for countering family violence, anywhere in Australia,” Mr Bartlett said.

“It’s also attracted overseas attention, from jurisdictions looking to strengthen their approach to family violence.”

“Like all effective programs, we’re constantly looking for opportunities to strengthen and improve it,” he said.

Ken McMaster is well known to Correctional Services in New Zealand and Australia – with 26 years of experience delivering group-work programs in addiction, violence and sexual abuse. He’s in Tasmania to provide family violence offender intervention training, which began this week and ends Friday.

Probation Officers will facilitate the 12-hour individual program, as well as the 50-hour group program, which has been designed as a rolling group to allow more flexible entry into the program.

“The programs will be available statewide, and delivered outside normal business hours, as required,” Mr Bartlett said.

Community Corrections staff, who have received specialised training in working with family violence offenders, will also continue to supervise family violence offenders, subject to community-based orders, on a one-on-one basis.

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