Evaluation of the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Capability Building for Social Responders Program

Domestic, family, and sexual violence (DFSV) is a significant and complex social issue affecting women, children, and families across Australia. Data shows that most women experiencing violence do not access formal support services, but often reach out to informal sources within their community, including friends, family, community leaders, and faith leaders. Community-based ‘social responders’ can provide an important first line of support, but may lack the knowledge, skills, and confidence to recognise and respond to DFSV effectively and safely.

To address this gap, the Office of the Women’s Safety Commissioner (OWSC) designed the DFSV Capability Building for Social Responders Program, which was then delivered by Full Stop Australia. The program involved developing and delivering training for informal community leaders in refugee and migrant communities in the Northern Rivers Region and Canterbury-Bankstown in NSW. Full Stop Australia worked in partnership with local community organisations, Women Up North and Canterbury City Community Centre, who supported the recruitment of participants and delivery of the training. The aim was to provide culturally tailored training and ongoing support in order to build their capability to recognise and respond to DFSV.

OWSC engaged ARTD to undertake an evaluation of the Social Responders Program to assess its design, implementation, and impact, and to identify opportunities for improvement in future delivery. The purpose of the evaluation was to assess:

• The relevance of the program activities to building trust, fostering open communication and ensuring the needs and priorities of the participants are clearly understood and addressed.
• The extent to which program participants’ capability to identify and respond to DFSV has increased as a result of the program and its activities.
• The extent to which the program activities can ensure ongoing peer support networks, collaboration, mentorship and continued learning.
• How delivery of capability building activities for social responders could be scaled up for wider reach and deeper impact.

ARTD used a mixed-methods evaluation design, combining qualitative and quantitative data to address key evaluation questions. Our methods included:

• reviewing program documentation and training materials
• developing a program logic and evaluation framework
• semi-structured interviews with stakeholders including FSA staff, trainers, delivery partner organisations and training participants in the Northern Rivers and Canterbury-Bankstown
• a post-training survey and post-shared learning space survey with participants to explore changes in their knowledge and confidence

The evaluation found that the Social Responders Program was delivered as intended, exceeding its target of training 100 social responders and reaching over 26 cultural and language communities. The partnership model between FSA and the delivery partners ensured culturally safe and accessible training, with materials tailored to the needs of refugee and migrant women.

Post-training feedback surveys and interviews with participants found that the training was effective in improving participants’ knowledge of and attitudes towards DFSV, increasing participants’ knowledge of available services and supports, and increasing participants ability and confidence to identify and safely communicate about DFSV. The scope and duration of the one-day program limited the extent to which training was able to build participants’ confidence to apply the skills they learned and know what to say in response to disclosures of DFSV. However, early evidence suggests that the program is helping social responders to have conversations about DFSV in their communities, as participants reported sharing resources and information about available support services, and felt more confident to continue having these conversations.

The evaluation identified key opportunities for any future commissioning, design and delivery of training for DFSV social responders, for both commissioning agencies and service providers.

Opportunities for commissioning agencies:

• For greater reach, consider commissioning future DFSV capability training through a consortium model bringing together DFSV specialist organisations and local community organisations to draw on the distinct strengths of each partner.
• For greater efficiency, as the evidence base regarding effective DFSV capability building training is built, consider opportunities for future training to make use of existing materials.
• For greater impact, consider funding intermediate-level training and/or other opportunities for interested participants to extend and/or maintain their skills.

Opportunities for service providers:

• For greater reach, consider what elements of the program need to be tailored to be appropriate for a specific group – such as culturally-specific case study examples or language supports – and what core elements can remain consistent across communities and be culturally appropriate and safe for a broad range of cultural backgrounds.
• For greater impact, consult with communities to help identify the most appropriate training participants.
• For greater long-term impact of the training, incorporate opportunities for participants to connect with one another, share experiences and knowledge, and reinforce the skills gained.