A commitment to bring down the level of family and domestic violence in the Northern Territory has this week earned an Alice Springs project’s reference group their second major acknowledgment this year.

The Deputy CEO of the Department of the Attorney-General and Justice, Meredith Day, said the Integrated Response to Family and Domestic Violence Project’s  Alice Springs Reference Group was awarded a commendation in the Social Change category at the inaugural Northern Territory Human Rights Awards in Darwin on Wednesday night.  

“The Fitzgerald awards celebrate the achievements of those in the NT who have worked to promote human rights and raise awareness of fundamental human rights,” Ms Day said.

“This is the second award for the Alice Springs group in four months, as they won national acknowledgement at the recent Australasian Council of Women and Policing’s Excellence in Policing Awards.”

Ms Day said she was honoured to receive the commendation on behalf of the dedicated and hard-working members of the Reference Group, which is also supported and sponsored by the Department of Children and Families.

“It is fitting that the Reference Group has been acknowledged both within the Territory and nationally for its innovative, integrated and evidence-based response to family and domestic violence.

“This is due recognition for a community committed to real and lasting change,” she said.

Ms Day said the Territory had unacceptably high levels of family and domestic violence and the nature of the violence was extreme.

“This is particularly evident in Alice Springs where Aboriginal women face some of the highest rates and most extreme forms of family and domestic violence in Australia.”

Ms Day said the Alice Springs Integrated Response Project was committed to the prevention of family and domestic violence, which she described as a “fundamental breach of a person’s human rights”.

“The Project is contributing to the growing public and community awareness of family and domestic violence as predictable and therefore preventable.

“Not only is this the first time this approach has been comprehensively instituted in the Northern Territory, the Alice Springs Integrated Response Project is also the basis for the recently launched Territory-wide whole-of-government Domestic and Family Violence Reduction Strategy 2014-2017: Safety is Everyone’s Right.”

The Project and the Territory-wide strategy aim to increase the safety of women and children and improve accountability of men who use family and domestic violence and support them to change their behaviour.  

Examples of social change mechanisms include the Family Safety Framework which responds to women and children at high risk of injury or death and the Men’s Behaviour Change Program that assists men who use violence to change their behaviour.

Media contact: David Harris 0400 342 389