Our story.
Why we exist
The experience of violence in the home is one of the most rattling and destabilising of adversities that we can live through. It often leads to family connections being severed and personal safety being heavily compromised. As a society, we are getting better at recognising the reality of the long-term impacts of this to physical, mental and spiritual health.
Australia’s not-for-profit sector has been mostly responsible for supporting people who are using or experiencing family and domestic violence. Professionals who support people to change their use of violence are limited in their response due to scarce research and resources on how to safely and effectively work with individuals who use violence; particularly those with culturally diverse affiliations, different sexual orientations, and adverse lived experiences of trauma.
The Institute offers a new vision and space to explore the ways in which systemic forms of oppression impact our lived experiences of multiple forms of violence. We apply expert knowledge and clinical experience to assist professionals who are working with family violence perpetrators via our suite of professional training and consulting services. We demonstrate the outcomes that can be achieved through creativity and innovation in tackling the use of family violence. We celebrate the inherently non-violent elements of being human, which are reflected widely in the nature around us; and we aim to offer a range of services to create more spaces where we can learn to create safety and harmony in our immediate environments.
Our vision
To create a world where non-violence is the social norm.
Our mission
To transform social structures that feed violence by:
- Offering expert knowledge in complex experiences of trauma
- Providing specialised training for a range of professionals
- Engaging people in innovative personal growth programs, with a focus on men
Our values
Safety – relationship dynamics are in balance
Equity – access to social forms of power is distributed evenly
Inclusion – diversity is celebrated and encouraged
Harmony – interactions are driven by compassion for the individual
Equality – interpersonal relations are founded on respect for all people
