Abuse Prevention Programs

In reply to Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (21 July 2014). (Estimates Committee A)

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety): I have been advised:

The pilot of the program was 10 weeks in duration and was completed at the end of September 2013. The evaluation report is imminent and will assist in informing the future of the program.

The pilot program and the program referred to on the Department for Correctional Services (DCS) website are two different programs. The website is referring to the Domestic Violence Prevention Program, also referred to as the Abuse Prevention Intervention Program by the Courts Administration Authority (CAA).

The Domestic Violence Prevention Program is one component of a larger integrated response model which was developed by a number of government agencies in preparation for the introduction of the Intervention Orders(Prevention of Abuse) Act 2009.

DCS is funded by the CAA to deliver the group behaviour change program for men. The group behaviour program is run weekly for two hours and takes approximately 24 weeks to complete.

The 10 week pilot is the Domestic Abuse Program, which ran from 9 July 2013 to 24 September 2013 at the Elizabeth Community Correctional Centre. The pilot targeted offenders who had been charged with a domestic abuse related offence and were under the supervision of DCS. The evaluation report has been finalised and tabled by executive.