SOCIAL WORK Introduction Domestic violence can be considered as a major threat to the health and safety in Australia. Under theFamily Law Act1975 domestic violence is seen to be defined as any behavior by a person that is violent or threatening and can be seen to be coercing or controlling any member of the family of the person that makes that family member fearful. There are various forms in which domestic violence could be classified, such as assault, physical aggression, sexual abuse and intimidation. In almost all socio-economic, age and demographic groups certain instances of domestic violence can be found. However there are certain communities where the problem is seen to be more intensified. In Australia the indigenous people are seen to be suffering from the problem in a more prominent way. For the reduction of violence among the indigenous people a number of rules, regulations and policies have been introduced by the Australian Government. In this analysis focus has been given on the policies that could be changed and the rationale behind the change. The essay would further provide feasibility of the change that has been proposed in relation to the socio-political factors. Current scenario As per the data provided by Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in the year 2018 it was found out that 1 in every 6 women and 1 in every 9 men in Australia were seen to be experiencing at least one incidence of domestic violence since the age of 15. In the same report it was revealed that almost 72000 women, 34000 children and 9000 men were being employed in the homelessness services because of domestic violence. This rate can be seen to be higher at appalling level in the Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal communities. In recent years the
SOCIAL WORK instances of domestic violence in the indigenous communities have been seen to become a grave problem in Australia (Wuerch, et al., 2019). As per various reports it can be seen that there had been an increase in the rate of domestic violence in a drastic manner in the Indigenous communities in Australia (Marchetti and Daly, 2017). As compared to the Australian women the women of the indigenous communities are 35 times more hospitalized for domestic violence (betterhealth.vic.gov.au, 2019). As per the reports of the Australian Productivity Commission because of domestic violence there are more deaths among the women in the indigenous community in comparison to the deaths of Australian women (Spangaro et al., 2019). The average cost for the violence that has been committed against the Indigenous women has been estimated for the year 2021-22 to be approximately $2.2 billion. Current Policies Under theFamily Law Act1975 domestic violence is seen to be defined as any behavior by a person that is violent or threatening and can be seen to be coercing or controlling any member of the family of the person that makes that family member fearful. The Act is seen to be including incidents in relation to sexually abusive behavior, assault, physical violence, physical, psychological, economic and emotional abuse. For the outline of the legal responses towards the domestic violence the Government of Australia is seen to be adoptingFamily and Domestic Violence Strategy2016-19. The strategy is expected to be having serious effect among the families, individuals, community and workplace. The current strategy has been developed by the Government in continuation with the first and second action plan that was focused on the prevention of family and domestic violence
SOCIAL WORK (García-Moreno, 2015). Several initiatives were taken for the reduction of violent behavior towards the women and children in the first action plan. Various social media campaigns were also conducted by the government for the enhancement of awareness on the activities of violence among the individuals in the society. In the second action plan the focus was to strengthen the links between various projects with the current project. The alignment of the action plan with the other plans can enable the government to be taking holistic approach for the reduction of violence towards women and children. Issues in the Current Policy The National Action Plans that are adopted by the Government of Australia can be seen to be impacted significantly by the social, political and economic context of the occurrence of the violence. In the situations of recent conflict the prevention and response towards the violence against women are envisaged by the States in different ways. The prevention and the nature of various forms of the Government can be seen to beundergoing evolution in case of shift in the demography, economy, society or culture of the country. Formulations of Plans are needed to be done by the States in a most effective way in context with the particular forms of violence against women in particular territories. In the Smaller States where the resource bases can be seen to be relatively limited would be needing to be prioritizing and staging action that would be built on the infrastructure that is already existing, and to be maximizing the opportunities of partnership with international institutions and civil society.
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SOCIAL WORK Implementation of the Bacchi Model for the Reform Policies The ‘What’s the Problem Represented to be’ approach can be seen to be offering different way for the conceptualization and understanding of the policies. In contradiction to the usual approaches tending to be treating policies to be self-evident, the approach of Bacchi can be seen to be challenging the privilege of all form of expertise and knowledge. The WPR approach can be said to be a tool or resource that has been intended to be facilitating the critical interrogation of public policies. The task in ‘WPR’ is seen to be reading the policies on the basis ofsixquestions.Thequestionsaretheproblem,reflectionoftheunderlyingpremises, considerationofthecontingencypractices,possiblegapsinthepolicies,impactofthe representation and how the representation has been produced, disseminated and defended. In answering the first question the problem in the scenario is the rate of domestic violence seen to be affecting the indigenous women in Australia. According to the evidences present it can be seen that the problem of domestic violence towards the indigenous women have been increasing in a alarming rate as many indigenous women are afraid to be lodging complaints in fear of discrimination and racism (alrc.gov.au, 2019). Various conundrums have also been confronted by the indigenous women from the social workers and the police (Chmielowska and Fuhr, 2017). In answering the third question it can be said that formulations of Plans are needed to be done by the States in a most effective way in context with the particular forms of violence against women in particular territories. As for answering the fourth question it can be seen that the improper implementation of the available plans and laws is a problem in the case. In the areas where there exists silence voices are needed to be raised along with awareness among the women. By implementation of proper action plans and raising awareness the cases of domestic violence
SOCIAL WORK could be reduced. With proper awareness programs th harmful effects that domestic violence has on the society could be reduced. Feasibility The feasibility of thee changes in the policy could be leading towards the increase of features,natureanddynamicofdomesticviolenceovertheindigenouswomen.Further amendment is needed in theFamily Law Amendment Act2018 for the feasibility of change in addressing of the gaps present in the domestic violence laws. Advocacy The role of advocacy can be seen to be crucial at the time of changing policies. The process of advocacy includes activities like public speaking, media campaigns, commissioning and researching. By way of advocacy the awareness can be raised against domestic violence among the indigenous women. Conclusion It can be concluded from the above analysis that domestic violence is one of the biggest problems among the indigenous women in Australia. In the analysis feasibility of the change in policy has also been discussed. Apart from this focus has been given on the policies that could be changed and the rationale behind the change.
SOCIAL WORK Reference alrc.gov.au (2019) News Available at:https://www.alrc.gov.au/CFV-Indigenous [accessed on 23rd May 2019] betterhealth.vic.gov.au(2019)NewsAvailableat: https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/Family-violence-and-aboriginal-and- torres-strait-islander-women [accessed on 23rd May 2019] Chmielowska, M. and Fuhr, D.C., 2017. Intimate partner violence and mental ill health among global populations of indigenous women: a systematic review. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 52(6), pp.689-704. Family and Domestic Violence Strategy 2016-19 Family Law Act 1975 Family Law Amendment Act 2018 García-Moreno, C., Zimmerman, C., Morris-Gehring, A., Heise, L., Amin, A., Abrahams, N., Montoya, O., Bhate-Deosthali, P., Kilonzo, N. and Watts, C., 2015. Addressing violence against women: a call to action.The Lancet,385(9978), pp.1685-1695. Marchetti, E. and Daly, K., 2017. Indigenous partner violence, Indigenous sentencing courts, and pathways to desistance.Violence against women,23(12), pp.1513-1535.
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SOCIAL WORK Spangaro, J., Herring, S., Koziol-McLain, J., Rutherford, A. and Zwi, A.B., 2019. ‘Yarn about it’: Aboriginal Australian women’s perceptions of the impact of routine enquiry for intimate partner violence.Culture, health & sexuality,21(7), pp.789-806. Wuerch, M.A., Zorn, K.G., Juschka, D. and Hampton, M.R., 2019. Responding to intimate partner violence: Challenges faced among service providers in northern communities.Journal of interpersonal violence,34(4), pp.691-711.