CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes will start a crucial initiative to break the cycle of domestic violence in western NSW, working with men who cause harm and want to change.

The organisation will deliver its Men’s Behaviour Change Program (MBCP) at Parkes, Forbes, Condobolin, Narromine and Bourke from next month.

The safety of victims, including children, is the highest priority of the program.

CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes is registered with and received funding from the NSW Department of Communities and Justice to provide the MBCP.

Its MBCP is called SEEDS (Support, Educate, Empower, Develop Skills), and a successful pilot was held at Parkes in 2021.

The Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes has some communities that sit in the state’s top 10 for rates of domestic and family violence, Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data shows.

CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes has long worked with families in the early intervention and prevention space, but saw a need to work directly with men who use violence, as well as support victim-survivors, through an integrated approach.

The MBCP works with male participants to enable them to recognise their behaviour and the impacts the behaviours have on those around them and develop strategies for them to change. “If we do not offer intervention to the user of violence, he will just continue those behaviours with different women and children,” MBCP co-facilitator Rebecca Palenapa-Pili said.

“This is more than a band-aid approach, it offers a real chance of breaking the cycle of domestic violence.”

Key to the program is that it involves a multidisciplinary team that works with all parties. A dedicated women’s advocacy worker offers support to the victim-survivors of the violence. A comprehensive intake process assesses the men for their readiness to take part, including their recognition that their behaviour needs to change.

CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes is now recruiting for multiple positions for the delivery of the program to Forbes, Parkes, Condobolin, Narromine and Bourke, with applications closing on Friday July 29, 2022.