Respect Ballarat will challenge the social dynamics that lead to drivers of gendered violence in Ballarat through implementing and supporting a diverse program of prevention and early intervention activities. We will track changes to these dynamics, or local examples of gendered drivers of violence, by evaluating progress against indicators set out in the Respect Ballarat Theory of Change. These indicators include short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes; mechanisms of change; foundations for change; and assumptions that apply for the duration of the project.
What outcomes is Respect Ballarat seeking?
Outcomes have been outlined in the Respect Ballarat Theory of Change. This theory of change draws on twelve months of stakeholder consultations, co-design workshop inputs, exploration of academic and practice literature, and professional and practitioner expertise. It will be reviewed annually in collaboration with local partners. Language in the Theory of Change is still to be finalised, however the core concepts informing outcomes have been agreed. These include outcomes related to:
- model design, delivery, and governance (for example, the operation of partnerships, collaborations and diversity in decision making)
- individual and relationship behaviours (for example, shared decision-making, labour and carer responsibilities in intimate partnerships or people initiating and respecting consent)
- attitudes (for example, valuing equality in relationships and rejecting harmful ideas of masculinity)
- skills and capabilities (for example, individual ability to challenge backlash or enhanced prevention skills in the workforce)
- understanding of prevention (for example, how rigid gender roles influence parenting and may perpetuate inequality)
- mobilisation and engagement (for example, the ways community members are engaged and active in supporting prevention work)
- structural and organisational variables (for example, how regulation and policy support or impede violence prevention)
- project implementation (for example, appropriateness and efficiency of approaches)
- mechanisms for change (for example, whether activities are mutually reinforcing and changing norms).
How are organisations supported to monitor and evaluate work funded through Respect Ballarat?
Respect Victoria will support organisations to undertake monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) of their Respect Ballarat work. Whether organisations are already undertaking prevention MEL, or are new to the journey, they will be supported to build their own frameworks and plans to align with and contribute to Respect Ballarat’s objectives and outcomes.
Support for organisations includes:
- provision of tools and templates to support organisations with data collection
- alignment of project outcomes to those of Respect Ballarat
- workshops for local organisations to support knowledge and MEL capacity- and capability-building
- a community of practice to share, learn, ask questions, and collaborate to improve practice.
How does Respect Victoria measure and evaluate Respect Ballarat?
We will undertake and support a range of monitoring, measurement and learning approaches throughout the life of Respect Ballarat, including:
- ongoing monitoring of outcomes and indicators in the Theory of Change to support evaluation and learning purposes
- an outcomes evaluation, to capture what is changing over time, why change is happening and to what degree, including enablers and barriers to change
- a process evaluation to assess efficiency, implementation approaches, and the ways that different partnerships, programs and systems working across Respect Ballarat interact
- developmental evaluation of monitoring data and stakeholder expertise to build continuous improvements into the model and share learnings with the community
- research to explore key questions and mechanisms for prevention, including a focus on social norms to influence attitude and behaviours.
What other research is being undertaken to support and learn from the model?
Research to address gaps in prevention knowledge will continue to inform design and decision-making for Respect Ballarat. This work is building the evidence to support universal approaches to prevention, tailored to place. Respect Ballarat is the first approach of its kind in the country; research will help us to understand what is universal about the process of change in a place-based prevention model, so that it may be replicated in other communities.
This work draws on academic literature, practice evidence, community and co-design inputs, and includes:
- a Theory of The Problem in Place, or understanding why intimate partner violence occurs in Ballarat, and local expressions of drivers
- a situational analysis to inform pathways to changing harmful behaviours in Ballarat, identifying local and universal levers for change, and opportunities to challenge the drivers of gendered violence in Ballarat
- understanding the specific norms driving violence at different stages of the lifecourse, how they can be measured, and how they might be changed.