This 1-day workshop will create space for experienced facilitators. In particular, this training is for those who have completed a minimum of 25 hours of facilitation training, to do a deeper dive into their practice. This training is also relevant for specialists who have previously worked with victim survivors in support group and/or groups for women who use force.

The purpose of this workshop is to provide hands-on advanced facilitation skills training for behaviour change group program facilitators and victim survivor group program facilitators. This workshop will be delivered in a highly interactive format. Participants will explore:

how they are addressing accountability of the violence while accounting for the humanity of the program participant;

how they are addressing accountability and the needs of victim survivors who have used resistive violence;

the ways that facilitators are navigating the invitations to collude from persons using violence;

how they are accounting for the lived experience of survivors and the power differential that domestic violence creates in relationships;

their positionality in co-facilitation;

the four pillars that keep widespread domestic violence in place;

what makes an effective facilitator;

the connection between the social, cultural, and individual experiences of power, families, and violence;

a deeper understanding of dialogue.

Event Details

Workshop: Friday, 19 September 2025
Time: 9:00am - 4:00pm AEST
Location: TBC, Cairns

Please note: Participants are required to attend face-to-face.

Who should attend

Those who facilitate one-on-one sessions or groups in the domestic and family violence field. In particular, this training is for those who have completed the 25-hour training requirement for working with perpetrators of domestic violence. In addition, this training is relevant for specialists who facilitate groups with victim survivors for support groups and/or women who use force.

About the facilitators

Melissa (Petrangelo) Scaia, MPA

Co-founder of Global Alliance for Women’s Safety and Equality

Domestic Violence Trainer and Consultant for UN Women and Domestic Abuse Project in Minneapolis, MN

Co-founder and author of Domestic Violence Turning Points

Former Director of International Training at Global Rights for Women

Former executive director of Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs (DAIP) also known as “the Duluth Model”. Prior to working in Duluth she was the executive director of Advocates for Family Peace (AFFP) for 17 years, a local domestic violence advocacy program. She has also trained internationally on Integrated Responses and has led and organized three Coordinated Community Responses (CCR) to address domestic violence in Minnesota. She also has trained internationally on perpetrator programmes while also co-facilitating groups for men who batter and women who use violence for nearly 25 years.

Dr Brodie Evans

Dr Brodie Evans (they/he) is a domestic violence specialist with a focus on interventions with persons using violence, currently overseeing a team delivering behaviour change interventions in community. Brodie has experience in program design and development of both mainstream and LGBTIQA+ behaviour change programs. They provide supervision and training to domestic violence practitioners and organises a state-wide Community of Practice as the current Secretary of the Services and Practitioners for the Elimination of Abuse QLD (SPEAQ). Passionate about DFV prevention and responses in the LGBTIQA+ community, Brodie co-founded Queer and Trans Workers Against Violence (QTWAV).

Tickets are limited. We reserve the right to cancel non target registrations if oversubscribed.