The Department of Justice is responsible for the intervention program for family violence offenders mandated by the criminal justice system. The program that has been selected for implementation in Tasmania has been adapted for Tasmanian family violence offenders from the highly successful violent offenders programs currently offered by the New Zealand Department of Corrections.
After an initial screening process conducted by police, offenders who are assessed as having a high risk of re-offending, or increasing their violence, will be referred to the program. An in-depth assessment of the offender will be undertaken by qualified Department of Justice staff to determine their suitability for the program.
The first intake of specialist facilitators for the program were trained in July 2004. Co-facilitators will deliver the intensive program which runs for 100 hours, delivered in 4 weekly sessions of 2.5 hours each over 10 weeks.
Victims will be kept informed of the progress of the offender through the program.
