To support the growing policy focus on perpetrators of domestic, family and sexual violence, ANROWS commissioned and published 20 relevant research reports between 2018 and 2020.

This paper synthesises their key findings and the recommendations arising from these findings. The majority of these studies were funded by the Australian government Department of Social Services (DSS), through the Perpetrator Interventions Research Stream, to build an evidence base that could support the implementation of the National Outcome Standards for Perpetrator Interventions.

In line with the NOSPI, ANROWS research explores how human services agencies (particularly mental health, alcohol and other drugs, and child protection services) could be recognised as essential parts of broader perpetrator intervention systems. Human services agencies could play a pivotal role in linking men into behaviour change interventions, and could work together with the legal system and men’s family violence interventions to keep perpetrators’ use of violence in view. This means having agencies monitor perpetrators’ risk over time, sharing information and working collaboratively to manage risk.

Improving services and systems to better respond to men’s use of violence will require:

• addressing trauma and inequality
• providing early and holistic support for associated issues
• supporting community-led approaches
• integrating service systems
• building workforce capacity