Content warning: This article mentions domestic and family violence.
When Canberra builder Brendan Howe pleaded guilty to repeatedly assaulting his pregnant ex-wife, he almost went to jail.
The ACT Supreme Court found Howe had good prospects for rehabilitation and enquired about family violence programs that corrective services offered for "first-time" offenders.
Then came Justice Louise Taylor's words: "My understanding is there aren't any".
Ultimately, Howe was sentenced to a seven-month suspended prison sentence, a one-year good behaviour order, 50 hours of community service and a $1800 fine.
First timers generally seen as 'less risky'
Education offered for first time offenders include those by ACT Corrective Services and Canberra non-profits like EveryMan, Relationships Australia and the Domestic Violence Crisis Service. Most of these programs are completely voluntary.
ACT Corrective Services' 10-week program called EQUIPS (Explore, Question, Understand, Investigate, Practice, Succeed) Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) is available in prison and community corrections settings.
Sentenced and first-time DV offenders are also informed their participation in this program will be taken into consideration when applying for parole.
Criminologist and research fellow at the Australian National University Dr Hayley Boxall said a lot of men who offend for the first time had just been "detected" by police for the first time.
She said it was possible abuse could be occurring for years or that it was a significant act of violence.
"We could actually be talking about someone who's a really significant persistent offender [and] they've only just met the criteria for a criminal justice response," Dr Boxall said.
She said the system generally viewed first-time offenders as lower risk, and typically, offenders would only participate in a men's behaviour change program if it had been court-ordered.
"It very much depends on the type of offence [but] if they're deemed as less risky, they may be less likely to be referred to programs by the courts. It also may be that they're not seen as being sufficiently high risk, so they won't be prioritised for allocation to these types of programs," Dr Boxall said.
EQUIPS effectiveness either nil or unknown
The EQUIPS DV program delivered in the ACT is the same as the Corrective Services NSW program and its impact on a male offender's relapse into criminal behaviour has been seen as largely ineffective, according to experts.
Dr Boxall said corrective services across states had not been able to provide appropriate treatment because of the "one-stop-shop" approach.
"We need to have a program that can adapt to the individual needs and risks posed by different people," the criminologist said.
A review by the NSW government said while EQUIPS DV showed "positive indications", it was not known whether the treatment affected future reoffending and said more research was needed.
"There's experts that say for men's behaviour change to be effective it has to be long-term," Dr Boxall said.
"A lot of these programs run between eight to 16 weeks typically and then nothing else happens after that point. [Offenders] are kind of left to their own devices ... so it's not surprising that we're not seeing great outcomes for it."
Another evaluation by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research sampling more than 1300 offenders (low, medium and high risk) found almost 60 per cent did not start the program within a year of being referred.
The report also said there was no evidence of "a treatment effect" on those who had completed the program versus those who had never done it.
"A lot of different reviews have shown [existing domestic violence programs offered by corrections] are only slightly more effective than doing nothing at all," Dr Boxall said.
An ACT Corrective Services spokesperson said the department was developing ways to evaluate all programs, including the EQUIPS DV program to measure local effectiveness.
Dr Boxall said the criminal justice system was a suitable option for some perpetrators under specific circumstances but said it did not have "good nuanced responses" to end violence against women.
"I don't think it's an ACT problem. I think it's an everywhere problem. I don't think it's controversial to say that the criminal justice system isn't working. We can't arrest our way out of domestic violence."
'Ridiculously long' wait times
Dr Boxall said the wait times for men's behaviour change programs outside prison were "ridiculously long" and getting first-time offenders access to programs was difficult.
While wait times vary between organisations, EveryMan last month said it had about 70 men on the waitlist for DV programs. Some will need to wait a year before they can get help.
"There's a lot of concerns ... if [offenders] have to wait for a very long period, they may become less motivated, less willing to take part," Dr Boxall said.
She and experts from EveryMan have contributed to the Family Violence Support Action Program in the ACT.
At the other end of the offending spectrum, this program has targeted high-risk offenders since 2020 and is carried out by police and corrective services to stop domestic and family violence from escalating to homicide.
"It's a really positive thing for the ACT right now," Dr Boxall said.
- Support is available: Phone 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732; Men's Referral Service 1300 776 491; Lifeline 13 11 14
