When people think of domestic violence they tend to imagine bruises, police being called and women and children fleeing their home.
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Whilst this describes a lot of the severe domestic violence that goes on all over Australia, there are organisations trying to prevent the above occurring through early intervention.
One such is Goulburn Family Support Services, who have been operating in the community for four decades.
Unlike other domestic violence services they use a 'explicit practice framework', something that is designed to enable better understanding and management of behaviour that harms relationships.
Service Co-ordinator Anne Cowling said a lot of what happens when severe domestic violence occurs can be seen in early behaviour.
"What we see when police attend an incident is a lot of behaviors on show," she told the Goulburn Post.
"So what we do here is, after all that happens, we can engage the whole family if they want to and hear what's been happening for them.
"We can engage them and teach them something about what happened, about how our emotions are wired into us and how they proceed and the cause of a lot of behaviors that happen."
It's an approach that works alongside policing and is designed to ensure law enforcement never need to intervene.
Ms Cowling said the service had built on something called Juvenile Offender Conferencing, a program set up in the 1990s by Wagga Wagga policeman Terry O'Connell.
"The police don't have time, as one cop said to us, we're about upholding the law," she said.
"Terry O'Connell was sick of seeing young offenders go in and out of the prison system and in and out of the courts.
"So what they did was, they actually got the families together and they all sat in a circle. They talked about what happened, who's been affected and how and what everybody needs to do to make things right and everybody had a chance to tell their story."
That model has been replicated by Goulburn Family Support Services who, whilst able to help people fleeing dangerous situations, are trying to address the problem at its source.
"It's a different approach to domestic violence, you're not going to find this anywhere else.
"We have shelters where women can go but really, what most people want we found is for the relationship to improve and the violence to stop."
What's next for the team? A new challenge has presented itself in the form of COVID with many children struggling to adjust back to school life after two years of interrupted routine.
Ms Cowling said they had received some additional funding to help deal with the strain on the system.
"There's a lot of children having issues going back to school and behavioral problems, because for a lot of reasons, we're not experiencing those day to day interactions.
"There's a lot more anxiety around social situations.
"We had a lot more referrals, they slow down over Christmas, but last two months of the year we had a lot of referrals, like 15 and 20, which is a lot for us because we're just a small agency."
If this article brought up issues or you would like to talk to someone you can seek support from one of these services. If it is life threatening call 000 Triple Zero.
- Kids Helpline 1800 551 800 (available 24/7, for young people between 5 and 25)
- eHeadspace 1800 650 890 (available 9am to 1am, everyday, for young people between 12 and 25)
- Lifeline 13 11 14 (available 24/7, for all ages)
- QLife 1800 184 527 (available 3pm to midnight, everyday, for all ages)
- 1800RESPECT 1800 737 732 (available 24/7, for all ages)
- Mensline Australia 1300 78 99 78 (available 24/7, for men of all ages)
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