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Birlinka
Men's Behaviour Change - Domestic and Family Violence 
An exploration of self, identity, cultural and learned behaviour for a different way of being. 
Lets Talk About This
" I never heard anyone tell me before that I wasn't the problem, that the problems is the problem and that I am me. That picture we did really helped me think about things different" Birlinka client |
Birlinka
(delivered weekly, across two - sixteen to twenty weeks programmes) An Indigenous Australian initiative co-designed between Natjul, men in prison, and their families as the men transitioned from prison back into their community. The co-design continues as Birlinka modifies delivery to changing environments and differing community contexts. Since 2022, Birlinka continues to deliver Men's Behaviour Change around domestic and family violence intervention among four regional and remote communities as part of an MOU with an international development agency. Natjul's Birlinka programme has a three-pronged approach to working with men around change behaviour and domestic violence that includes:
Our twenty-year history working among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and communities has informed our method and practice for engagement around some of the difficult things to talk about. For example, when it comes to domestic and family violence, our engagement is informed by an Indigenous research and engagement methodology, by evaluated behaviour change practices, and by credited social work and anti-domestic violence practice that upholds an acknowledgment that domestic violence does not stand alone in a community, that domestic violence is influenced and upheld by multiple factors of individual, social-collective, and historical contexts that can work together to create the conditions where this destructive practice has been introduced and sustained. Our purpose is to challenge behaviour and response histories, and introduce the use of practical contextually relevant tools that can assist a migration of identity from one way of being a man, to an acknowledgement that change is possible to become the man you want to be. Our work across regional, remote and urban settings consistently demonstrates that the vast majority of men want something 'different better' for themselves, their family and community, yet struggle with questions, practice and support around how to achieve this. Facilitative Engagement At Natjul and in Birlinka we use a facilitative engagement that invites the problem story into the room, talks about personal and collective aspiration, self and collective responsibility, empathy, challenging power and control, acknowledging personal and inter-generational histories, introduces new knowledge - words and ideas relevant to our lives, that negotiates 'different better'. 
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