Whittlesea CALD Communities Family Violence Research Report 2012 | Page 41

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Whether as a result of these factors or not it was noted that a marked difference in the way that
CALD as opposed to non-CALD clients accessed services was that non-CALD clients were more likely
to access services at the point at which they had made the decision to leave the relationship
whereas CALD clients were more likely to access services with some hope that they could save the
relationship.
Another fear for CALD women is what would happen to their children if they separated from their
partner. Service providers found that this often weighs very heavily on women’s minds, particularly if
they come from a cultural background where the father traditionally takes sole custody of the
children if the couple separate. It was highlighted that women often hold fears that their children
will be removed from Australia by their ex-partner post-separation. Service providers pointed out
that these fears are not necessarily unjustified with a partner or ex-partner with family, friends or
connections overseas often having greater means and motive to take children from Australia back to
their country of origin. For Australian born women this scenario is a much more remote possibility.

Engaging with CALD communities
Service providers were asked whether they encountered difficulties engaging with people from CALD
backgrounds and whether there were any particular measures or practices their agencies adopted to
facilitate access by people from CALD backgrounds.
The majority of workers said that they did not generally find it more difficult to engage with clients
from CALD backgrounds although there was a general perception CALD women may be less
forthcoming about their experiences of family violence and it may be harder for service providers to
build trust with these women and convince them to open up and discuss family violence. As has
been discussed previously, given the limited statistical data available, there is no way of verifying
whether this perception amongst service providers is reflected in the number of CALD clients
accessing their service.
Service providers who delivered group work for CALD women or men said that engaging people from
CALD backgrounds in group work presents specific challenges arising from language barriers. Some
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