Month: October 2021

The KODY research project (Kids First (Caring Dads) and Odyssey House Victoria (Kids in Focus) surrounds the innovative KODY intervention which aims to address the combined impact of harmful behaviours, drugs and alcohol on family relationships. The KODY program takes an all-of-family approach incorporating a group program for men, AOD counselling and family support within a collaboration between Kids First Australia and Odyssey House. The research project, led by academic researchers and practice leaders, investigates how we address the families living at the intersection of violence and substance misuse; the combined impacts of DFV and AOD for families; how AOD is used as a tactic of power and control in men’s perpetration of DFV and in their parenting; and the implications for service responses and policy development. The research project involves the following components:

1. Trial of the KODY program including process and developmental evaluation.
2. Outcomes evaluation of the KODY program including refinement of outcomes measures.
3. An all-of-family approach to multisectoral AOD and DFV responses.
4. Safe integration of children’s perspectives into practice.
5. Cross-sectoral collaboration strategies and implications for policy.

KODY includes the following PhD project:

• Van Callaly – A systemic approach to advancing cross-sector collaboration between domestic and family violence (DFV), and alcohol or other drugs (AOD) services.

Publications:

• Kertesz, M., Fogden, L. and Humphreys, C. (2021) The KODY Project: Report on the development of an all-of-family intervention at the intersections of DFV and AOD. Melbourne: University of Melbourne.
• Kertesz, M., Humphreys, C., Fogden, L., Scott., Laslett, A-M. & Tsantefski, M. (2022) KODY, an all-of-family response to co-occurring substance use and domestic violence: protocol for a quasi-experimental intervention trial. BMC Open, 291 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-12529-x
• Humphreys, C. (2023, 30 January). Domestic Violence Linked to Alcohol Use is A National Emergency. Pursuit.
• Callaly, V. Kertesz, M. & Humphreys, C. (2023). KODY Policy Stakeholder Group: Leverage Points for policy development across sectors: a systems approach. Report of Workshop 1, November 2022.
• Guillou, M., Nguyen, H. T. D., Kertesz, M., & Humphreys, C. (2023). KODY Practitioner Workshop: Practitioner-led Knowledge Building. Report of Practitioner Workshop, 16 March 2023. University of Melbourne.
• KODY Research Team. (2023). Substance Use Coercion: The Intersection of Domestic and Family Violence and Alcohol and Other Drugs. Policy Briefing Paper, November 2023. University of Melbourne.
• Kertesz, M., Nguyen, H. T. D., Guillou, M., Tsantefski, M., & Humphreys, C. (2024). KODY Practitioner Workshop: A KODY Model for Change. Report of Practitioner Workshop with Kids First and Odyssey House Victoria, 25 March 2024. University of Melbourne and Southern Cross University.

Researchers:

• Prof. Cathy Humphreys (University of Melbourne)
• Dr Margaret Kertesz (University of Melbourne)
• Van Callaly (University of Melbourne)
• Mael Guillou (University of Melbourne)
• Hanh Nguyen (University of Melbourne)
• Prof. Katreena Scott (Western University)
• Dr Anne-Marie Laslett (Latrobe University)
• Dr Menka Tsantefski (Griffith University)

Funders: Australian Research Council (Project ID: LP200200847)

Partner Organisations:

• Kids First Australia
• Odyssey House Victoria
• Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing

Project Dates: 2021–2024

Contact:
Dr Margaret Kertesz
Email: mkertesz@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: +61 3 9035 8508