Family Violence Clearinghouse in new hands

The Families Commission, which has taken over responsibility for the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse from the Ministry of Social Development, is pleased to announce that operation of the clearing house has been successfully retendered and will now operate out of the School of Population Health at the university.

“The purpose of the Clearinghouse,” says Chief Families Commissioner Carl Davidson, “is to draw together and provide high quality family violence research and information for whoever needs it. This supports the Commission’s vision to be the centre of excellence for knowledge about New Zealand families and whānau and aligns with the Commission’s original purpose of acting ‘as an advocate for the interests of families in general’ but seeks to build that advocacy from a strong evidential base.

The Clearinghouse will use a number of different methods to make its information more accessible, including the development of a new state-of-the-art website, an on-site librarian and improved linkages to the family violence sector. The new website will be launched later this year

"We are excited that this project forms a new partnership between the Commission and the University of Auckland and look forward to the development of the Clearinghouse during the coming months,” says Mr Davidson.

“The Clearinghouse will draw on the expert leadership and academic excellence exemplified by Dr Janet Fanslow, whose work has contributed greatly to understanding family violence in New Zealand, and Associate Professor Robyn Dixon, who has extensive experience in leading multidisciplinary teams in research and evaluation projects.”

Note:
The NZFVC was established in 2005 The NZFVC website is accessible at www.nzfvc.org.nz The contract is for a three year period The Clearinghouse team includes: Dr Janet Fanslow and Associate Professor Robyn Dixon at the University of Auckland, Gay Richards as Information Specialist, Dr Chris Paton as IT Specialist and Jessica Trask as NZFVC Manager.

Janet Fanslow is a Senior Lecturer in Social and Community Health at the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland. Fanslow's research expertise are in the areas of violence against women, gender and health and mental health promotion, she has made a number of significant contributions to New Zealand research on family violence.

Her work Beyond Zero Tolerance in 2005 provided (for the families commission)

• definitions of family violence
• the level and nature of family violence
• the effects of family violence on individuals and the community
• information on interventions

She is a well known for her 2004 research Violence against women in New Zealand : prevalence and health consequences. This study is a benchmark in terms of prevalence rates of Intimate Partner Violence in New Zealand and is a replica of the World Health Organisation Multi-Country Study on Violence Against Women.

Associate Professor Robyn Dixon is a registered general and obstetric nurse and has a PhD in Educational Psychology. She is the Director of the Centre of Child and Family Research. The Centre is a consortium of multi-disciplinary research groups, combined administratively, to ensure high quality research relating to national policy issues concerning children, young people and families. Robyn has wide experience in leading multidisciplinary teams in completing both research and evaluation projects. She has extensive experience in working with children, young people, families and their communities in areas related to Health, Education, Justice and Welfare. In addition Robyn is currently Director of Post Graduate Studies at the School of Nursing.

Downloads

Family Violence Clearinghouse in new hands. Media release, 21 March 2011 (PDF, 122 KB)