Final Evaluation Report

3.4 Awareness of Response and Preparedness to Intervene

Figure 3.14: Measures of awareness of response mechanisms for violence against women

Source: KPMG analysis of the NCAS

The 2014 NCAS also revealed that 98 per cent of respondents are prepared to intervene if a known woman is being assaulted by her partner and 92 per cent are prepared to intervene if an unknown woman is being assaulted. This was the first time these questions were asked so it is not possible to measure a change in the community attitudes to intervening on behalf of a victim of violence. The first-time results for these questions are positive results however it would be beneficial to ensure that in future greater progress is sought against measures for awareness about response mechanisms for example the proportion of people who know where to get help regarding a domestic violence problem. Furthermore, it should be a priority to decrease the proportion of people who think that women with disabilities are less likely to be believed when reporting sexual assault. Currently this stands at 42 per cent of respondents, a 5 per cent increase on results for 2009. This indicates that there is a need to improve the accessibility of response options to women with a disability and better manage the evidence base in terms of measuring the prevalence of violence against women with a disability. Similarly to the PSS the NCAS has been criticised for not reliably representing women with a disability in its sampling.

As discussed above in the challenges to measuring the prevalence of violence, the inclusion of measures for violence in non-private dwellings and institutional and disability accommodation settings in the PSS and the NCAS would be one practical way of including women with a disability in the National Plan as they would be more reliably represented in the evidence base and therefore changes in outcomes could begin to be measured over time. In particular, greater awareness about the higher risk for women with a disability to be victims of violence could reduce the proportion of respondents who consider that women with disabilities are less likely to be believed when reporting sexual assault, as measured in the NCAS.

Summary – the Evidence Base

Despite the richness of data on offer from the NCAS, PSS, NATSISS and the crime statistics data, an issue remains in the representativeness of the evidence base for Australian women and their children. Furthermore, the data sources are not consistent and therefore not comparable between jurisdictions for crime data. Feedback from service providers via the survey and consultations has revealed that there is significant concern around the lack of performance indicators for the National Plan as well as concern about the consistency and completeness of the data used to develop the evidence base.

Although high level indicators have been established for the National Plan, these indicators do not adequately account for all cohorts of women at risk of violence or adequately account for all forms of violence that women and their children could be exposed to. Furthermore, data is not currently collected to assess progress against some measures of success for the National Plan e.g. reduction in the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who consider that family violence, assault and sexual assault are problems for their communities; and an increase in the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who are able to have their say within their communities. For this reason the Department of Social Services should consider agreeing indicators of change and ‘performance’ indicators with stakeholders for the National Plan. These indicators would measure the reduction in violence against all women and their children and the progression against the National Outcomes.

112.Evaluation of flagship programs

This section of the report considers how the Second Action Plan has been effective in maintaining, and utilising, a number of flagship programs to progress the five outcomes of the National Plan and reduce violence against women and their children.

The three flagship programs established under the First Action Plan are: ANROWS, 1800RESPECT and Our Watch/ The Line. Together, these flagship programs are crucial to maintaining a research centre and evidence base for the development of policy; driving cultural change to prevent violence against women and their children; and increasing the accessibility of counselling and support services via a national phone line.

4.1 ANROWS

Overview

ANROWS is a not-for-profit organisation, established as a flagship initiative under the National Plan, to build the evidence base for violence against women. Its stated mission is “to deliver relevant and translatable research evidence which drives policy and practice leading to a reduction in the levels of violence against women and their children.” The organisation has four goals:

1. 
   deliver high quality, innovative and relevant research;
   
2. 
   ensure the effective dissemination and utilisation of research findings;
   
3. 
   build, maintain and promote collaborative relationships with and between stakeholders; and
   
4. 
   be an efficient, effective and accountable organisation.
   

One of the key commitments of ANROWS was to establish the National Research Agenda in order to guide ongoing research. To develop the National Research Agenda to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children ANROWS undertook a multi-stage process that included:

• 
  reviewing the National Plan and related policy documents;
  
• 
  commissioning two gap analyses of Australian research on violence against women, the first on national statistical collections and the second on research since 2000; and
  
• 
  national stakeholder consultation and engagement which included 127 written submissions and six stakeholder roundtables involving over 75 participants.⁶¹
  

The 2014 - 2016 ANROWS research program was launched on 31 October 2014 - the key areas of research to be undertaken are outlined in Figure 4.1 below:

Figure 4.1: National Research Agenda summary

Note: SRT refers to strategic research themes

Source: Adapted from ANROWS, 05/2014, National Research Agenda to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children

There are 20 projects occurring across these four strategic research themes (SRTs) with grants awarded for a total of $3.5 million.⁶² A fifth SRT was identified as research translation and evaluation. This SRT applies across others and aims to make research usable for government and non-government stakeholders to drive policy and program development. In order to make their research translatable, ANROWS publishes a range of reports and policy papers, including:

• 
  ANROWS Horizons: Research reports;
  
• 
  ANROWS Landscapes: State of knowledge papers;
  
• 
  ANROWS Compass: Research to practice and policy papers;
  
• 
  ANROWS insights;
  
• 
  ANROWS fast facts: quick reference resources;
  
• 
  ANROWS Footprints: Quarterly publication; and
  
• 
  ANROWS Notepad: Fortnightly publication.⁶³
  

Publications range from in-depth research reports to brief short summaries on the research conducted.

113.

Effectiveness - Other evaluations of ANROWS

KPMG has conducted an independent evaluation of ANROWS that is currently in draft form and which was submitted to Department Social Services on 16 February 2016. The review found that leadership and the research conducted by the Board was held in high regard by stakeholders. The review also found that since its inception, ANROWS has made significant progress towards fulfilling its strategic objectives. Key findings of the evaluation are:

• 
  ANROWS delivers high quality, innovative and relevant research - ANROWS has established a comprehensive research program underpinned by rigorous processes and is making progress in delivering high quality, innovative and relevant research.
  
• 
  ANROWS ensures effective dissemination and utilisation of research findings - The Review found that at both the governance and organisational level, ANROWS is aware of its ‘opportunity and responsibility’ to provide national leadership in knowledge translation and exchange for policy and practice in domestic, family and sexual violence, and that it has developed a process for enabling this process to occur. The Review also found that ANROWS is still building capacity in knowledge translation and exchange.
  
• 
  ANROWS builds, maintains and promotes collaborative relationships with and between stakeholders - ANROWS has made progress in building effective relationships with a broad range of stakeholders across the domestic, family and sexual violence sector. Through the efforts in setting the NRA, developing the Research Program and establishing the PEG, ANROWS has provided consistent, effective leadership in its advocacy and support of the National Plan. It has succeeded in establishing mechanisms – through the PEG and the Networking Database – that link people and organisations working in related areas.
  
• 
  Maintaining and building momentum - ANROWS has achieved steady progress since its inception. It is led by an accomplished Chair and Board who have provided stable and effective governance. The organisation has recruited staff with a strong track record in the area of domestic, family and sexual violence, although the Review noted that staff retention remains a concern.
  

An internal board review occurred. However, this is not publicly available.

Effectiveness - Stakeholder views

Stakeholders consulted during KPMG workshops indicated generally positive responses to the quality and amount of research ANROWS has provided. Stakeholders noted that the ANROWS research on perpetrators had been particularly interesting and informative as this was an area in which there had previously been little research and no focused interest.

However, concerns were raised by stakeholders across the country that the amount and distribution of the content could at times be overwhelming. Stakeholders indicated that the extent of the research and the length of the executive summaries was extensive and often prevented them from reading and then potentially utilising the research. Both non-government and government stakeholders suggested ANROWS produce more succinct, one page executive summaries of the research with a focus more on the wider population and less on academics. This would allow individuals to read, decide whether the research was relevant or interesting to them and take a more in depth look if necessary.

While it is noted that ANROWS does provide a range of summary documents to assist stakeholders in viewing and utilising the research, stakeholders indicated that some of these were either too lengthy or they were unaware of the summary reports.

Stakeholders suggested additional areas for research could be disability and domestic violence with a need for increased research of the diverse experiences of domestic violence. Many stakeholders indicated that some of this research was already occurring but continued enhancement of the evidence base in this area was still warranted. Stakeholders in QLD suggested that there should also be a greater focus on sexual violence particularly research into perpetrators of sexual violence.