Since its inception earlier this year, the WA Men’s Behaviour Change (MBC) Network has been working to develop a collective, powerful voice for perpetrator programs in WA and support the ongoing evolution toward a standard of excellence across the sector. The Network has become an important forum for collaborative practice, discussion, and establishing cohesive research and development agendas across the perpetrator response sphere.
The Network’s meetings focus on:
- Supporting the development of research agendas relating to sector issues, and supplying knowledge that contributes to the evidence base that supports MBC work. Key areas discussed in meetings include partner contact practices, measurements of behaviour change, methods to strengthen perpetrator accountability, and training and accreditation frameworks;
- The continued building of collaborative relationships to establish practical outcomes across the sector, including through discussion and development of staffing and recruitment options;
- Reiteration of the importance of the Network to communicate as a collective voice in terms of responding to policies and the conveyance of key messages, rather than individual organisations speaking alone.;
- The continued need to raise greater awareness of the requirement of pivoting system response to the perpetrator thorough further discussion with FDV practitioners and women’s services. This is crucial in order to develop the focus of establishing an integrated system response across services.
A key priority for the Network is the continued development of accredited training for providers of MBC programs. The development of accredited training courses remains imperative to instil practice standards and a basic knowledge across the sector, and ensure practitioners are meeting well-defined requirements within their practice.
The Network is committed to be a key contributor and support base for the development of accredited training across various levels, including:
- A forum for discussion of the key issues affecting MBC providers at practice and structural levels to develop ways that accredited training can help address these issues;
- An evidence base of knowledge from the sector itself, to ensure that eventual accredited training will be practical, helpful, and supportive of the professional development of staff;
- An opportunity to collaborate across organisations to develop avenues for peer-supervision to assess the effective facilitation of MBC programs as a part of an accreditation processes;
