essay on domestic violence in australia

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Family and domestic violence in Australia

This BCEC Briefing Note assesses the prevalence, impact of and responses to family and domestic violence (FDV) in Australia.

FDV is pervasive; it occurs among family members, and especially in intimate partner relationships. Around 1 in 6 women (17.3%) and 1 in 16 men (6.1%) men in Australia report having experienced physical or sexual violence from a partner since the age of 15. At these prevalence rates, more than 1.7 million women and 580,000 men in Australia will have experienced partner violence in 2020.

This BCEC Briefing Note on family and domestic violence in Australia:

• compiles the latest data on its prevalence and the impact of COVID-19 on rates of FDV;
• assesses the impact of FDV on survivors and children;
• examines what businesses and governments in Australia are doing to support people exeriencing FDV; and
• brings to light new evidence about heightened risk periods for FDV throughout the year.

This note finds there is compelling evidence that family and domestic violence has a significant economic and social cost for our community – in terms of health and justice system costs, lost productivity, missed opportunities and lost lives. The greatest costs by far are borne by its victims, and the children who grow up in its shadow. Prevalence rates remain unacceptably high, particularly in Western Australia.

The vast majority of intimate partner violence remains unreported and untreated. More needs to be done to address barriers to reporting, to secure better outcomes from reported cases, and to assist women and children fleeing abusive and controlling relationships.

The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre is an independent economic and social research organisation located within the Curtin Business School at Curtin University.

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Australian media is failing to cover domestic violence in the right way: new research

Lecturer, University of Newcastle

PhD Candidate, University of Wollongong

Disclosure statement

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Wollongong and University of Newcastle provide funding as members of The Conversation AU.

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Last year, advocacy groups say 56 women were allegedly killed in violent acts across Australia – the vast majority committed by men in domestic or family violence situations.

Domestic violence against women is a national issue, and the media plays a key role in setting the public agenda on the issue.

Our comparison of newspaper reporting in each state has revealed there are still many problems with the way domestic violence is reported, with noted differences between the states.

Most previous studies have looked at media reporting of domestic violence at an individual state level . By contrast, our study compared and contrasted how domestic violence was covered across all Australian states.

Read more: #MeToo has changed the media landscape, but in Australia there is still much to be done

We analysed 554 newspaper articles describing cases of male-perpetrated domestic violence in one or two newspapers from each capital city and one or two newspapers from smaller cities and towns in each state from 2000–20.

With data from 23 newspapers over 20 years, we then looked at the varying ways that cases of domestic violence, their perpetrators and victims were portrayed. Although a handful of media conglomerates own most Australian newspapers , we observed clear differences in the coverage at the state level.

Problems with coverage in Australia

Since the 1990s, academics have analysed the power of framing by news media — in other words, how a particular perspective on an issue is portrayed — and how this influences the setting of the public agenda.

Australian and international research has applied this concept to the way violence against women is represented in the media. Researchers have found the failure to frame a domestic violence incident as a systemic issue may distort the seriousness of the problem and distract people from the need for solutions.

Our results indicate that media in all Australian states were more likely to frame domestic violence as an individual event rather than a systemic problem. More than three-quarters (78%) of the articles we reviewed described cases as isolated incidents within specific relationships.

This differed by state and territory. Newspapers in the Northern Territory (85.7%) and the Australian Capital Territory (82.5%), for instance, were most likely to portray domestic violence episodes as individual events, compared to just 59.6% of the articles we reviewed from South Australia.

Read more: Naming the 'invisible perpetrator': a big step forward for media coverage of violence against women

Our research also found limitations in the types of domestic violence incidents that received media attention.

Although domestic violence encompasses a range of crimes and behaviours , 90.9% of articles focused on physical violence and homicide. While this may reflect the types of incidents that are reported to police, a lack of attention to other types of violence can obscure how far-reaching the issue is.

In addition, the way the media portrayed victimhood in these cases at times shifted attention away from the woman to the perpetrator (20.4%), a child (9.1%), bystander (1.9%) or pet (0.7%).

Notably, 28.6% of the articles we analysed from the ACT represented the man who perpetrated the violence as a victim of his circumstances, compared to just 13.5% of articles in Tasmania and 10.7% in Western Australia.

Many newspaper reports were also likely to explain the crime in ways that detracted from the specific act of violence .

More than half (52.7%) the articles we reviewed, for example, blamed male domestic violence on relationship difficulties, “jealousy” or infidelity, mental illness, criminality or character flaws, substance abuse issues, or financial difficulties.

This also varied across states. For example, substance abuse issues were identified as a determining factor in 25% of articles from the Northern Territory and 17.5% in Victoria, but only 5.4% of articles in South Australia.

Rather than contextualising the violence as a systemic issue, these explanations often served to rationalise the man’s violence as defensible.

No media getting it exactly right

Our research found that no state or territory has gotten coverage of domestic violence issues exactly right.

South Australian and Victoria media, for instance, were found to be least likely to “explain” the violence of the perpetrator as being caused or influenced by external issues. However, newspapers in these states were also significantly more likely to report on crimes of homicide and physical violence, rather than other forms of domestic violence.

The media in the Northern Territory, meanwhile, were found to be the most likely to individualise domestic violence cases and provided the most external explanations for men’s violence (including linking it to a perpetrator’s cultural background).

However, while the domestic violence itself wasn’t treated as systemic by the media in the NT, the explanations for the violence (such as substance abuse, mental health and well-being issues) were often approached as such.

Read more: Behind media silence on domestic violence are blokey newsrooms

The media can play a key role in the primary prevention of men’s violence against women, but not without keen attention to the way domestic violence, perpetrators and victims are represented.

Our results highlight that all journalists and editors need to be more aware of the way these issues are portrayed — and strive to provide more context on the systemic nature of domestic violence — to improve their coverage of such an important societal issue.

If this article has raised issues for you or you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Correction: this story has been amended to say the 56 women killed last year were victims of violent acts, which included both partner and other family violence situations, the vast majority of which were committed by men.

• Domestic violence
• Violence against women
• Media framing
• New research

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Australia is in a domestic violence 'crisis'. Experts say we need a whole-of-society change

At least six women have been killed in australia, allegedly by people they knew, in the last two weeks. why does this keep happening.

Advocates and politicians say Australia is in a domestic violence crisis, with six women killed in two weeks. Source: SBS News

• Six women have been killed in Australia, allegedly by people they knew, in the last two weeks.
• Advocates, support services and politicians say Australia is in the midst of a domestic violence crisis.
• What is Australia doing to prevent domestic and family violence, and is it enough?

Anthony Albanese condemns 'scourge' of domestic violence, urges Australians to speak out

What are the recent cases?

Family pay tribute to Lilie James as body found in manhunt over school death

In one week, three Australian women were allegedly killed by men they knew

What are the rates of domestic violence in Australia?

What is domestic and family violence, and where can you get help in Australia?

What is being done to address violence against women in Australia?

For the first time, Australia has set targets to end violence against women and children

Maya's marriage turned into a nightmare. Women like her are being left out in the cold

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Domestic, family and sexual violence in Australia: an overview of the issues

• Parliamentary Library Briefing Book

14 October 2014

PDF version [ 466KB ]

For a brief summary of this paper see Domestic violence in Australia: a quick guide to the issues  

Executive summary

• The World Health Organization (WHO) describes the levels of violence experienced by the world’s women as ‘a global public health problem of epidemic proportions, requiring urgent action’.
• In Australia, domestic, family and sexual violence is found across all cultures, ages and socio-economic groups, but the majority of those who experience these forms of violence are women. However, it is not possible to measure the true extent of the problem as most incidents of domestic, family and sexual violence go unreported.
• The information available on the prevalence of domestic, family and sexual violence in Australia is derived from surveys. The 2013 Australia-wide survey on personal safety conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) found that many men and women experience at least one encounter with violence in their lifetimes. The survey showed that men are far more likely to experience physical violence at the hands of a stranger but the majority of women experience physical violence by someone known to them—usually an intimate partner or family member. Both men and women are more likely to experience physical violence than sexual violence but women are much more likely to experience sexual assault in their lifetime than men.
• The social and economic costs of violence against women are considerable. In 2009 the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (NCRVWC) estimated that violence against women and their children, including both domestic and non-domestic violence, cost the Australian economy $13.6 billion.
• The Commonwealth Government is responsible for the over-arching government programs designed to reduce violence against women nationally. However, it is the state and territory governments that have the law enforcement responsibilities in relation to policing and prosecuting instances of domestic, family and sexual violence.
• Reducing violence against women has been a priority for both Coalition and Labor governments for many years. The most recent Government initiative is the National Plan to reduce violence against women and their children (National Plan) endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2009. The National Plan set a framework for social change and proposed the introduction of sweeping changes between 2009 and 2021 to be implemented through a series of four three‐year action plans over 12 years.
• The move towards better integrated, multi-agency responses and coordination across all levels of government through the National Plan has been received favourably by most stakeholders and is viewed as making significant progress in terms of reducing the levels of violence experienced by women in Australia.

Acknowledgement

Introduction

Defining violence against women, risk factors, alcohol and drug use, child abuse, pregnancy and separation, younger women, indigenous women, women living in rural and remote areas, women with disabilities, women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, financial stress, attitudes to domestic, family and sexual violence.

Police responses

Social and economic costs

Homelessness, government responses, national plan to reduce violence against women.

This paper updates a previous Parliamentary Library publication—L Mitchell, Domestic violence in Australia—an overview of the issues (2011). A significant amount of the valuable research provided in the earlier paper has been retained in this update.

Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS)

Family Violence Intervention Program (FVIP)

Gender-based violence (GBV)

International Violence against Women Survey (IVAWS)

Intimate Partner Sexual Violence (IPSV)

Multipurpose Household Survey (MPHS)

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey (NATSISS)

National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (NCRVWC)

National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP)

Partnerships Against Domestic Violence (PADV)

In 2013 the World Health Organization (WHO) published the first systematic international review on the prevalence of violence against women. During the course of the review the authors analysed and collated data from around the world, including Australia, on the prevalence of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. The review found that violence against women is a significant public health problem and a violation of human rights that affects more than one third of all women globally. The review concluded that the prevalence of violence constitutes ‘a global public health problem of epidemic proportions, requiring urgent action’. [1]

In Australia, domestic, family and sexual violence is widespread across all cultures, ages and socio-economic groups and the majority of those who experience these forms of violence are women. The most recent data on personal safety found that many men and women experience at least one encounter with violence in their lifetimes. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) survey estimated that in 2012, 49 per cent of men aged 18 years and over and 41 per cent of women aged 18 years and over had experienced some form of violence since the age of 15. Men were far more likely to experience physical violence at the hands of a stranger. However, the majority of women experienced physical violence by someone known to them—usually an intimate partner. [2]  

While both men and women were more likely to experience physical violence than sexual violence, those who did experience sexual violence were much more likely to be women—around 4 per cent of men and 17 per cent of women had experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. Of those who experienced sexual violence (both men and women), the majority reported that the perpetrator was known to them. [3]

This research paper updates several previous Parliamentary Library publications on the levels of violence experienced by women in Australia. [4] The paper includes an overview of research on the prevalence of domestic, family and sexual violence, at risk groups and the costs of violence against women to communities and to the economy. Limited comparisons of the levels of violence experienced by men and women are included where relevant. [5] The paper also includes an overview of policy approaches designed to prevent violence against women. [6]

The United Nations defines violence against women as ‘any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life’. [7]

For the purposes of its 2012 Personal Safety Survey, the ABS defines violence as ‘any incident involving the occurrence, attempt or threat of either physical or sexual assault experienced by a person since the age of 15’. [8] In this context, physical violence includes physical assault and/or physical threat and may involve the threat or intent to harm or frighten a person. Sexual violence includes sexual assault and/or sexual threat. [9]

Generally, the most pervasive form of violence experienced by women in Australia is violence perpetrated by an intimate partner or family member (commonly referred to as domestic or family violence) and sexual assault (by an intimate partner or someone other than a partner). [10]

Domestic violence may include physical, sexual, financial, emotional or psychological abuse. Emotional or psychological abuse may include a range of controlling behaviours such as the use of verbal threats, enforced isolation from family and friends, restrictions on finances and public or private humiliation. [11]

Family violence is usually a broader term referring to violence between family members as well as intimate partners. It is often the preferred term used in the context of violence experienced in Indigenous communities, involving a variety of kinship and marital arrangements. [12]  

Sexual assault is an act of a sexual nature carried out against a person's will through the use of physical force, intimidation or coercion. It can refer to a broad range of behaviours that may include sexual threats, assault with an object, enforced prostitution or enforced sexual activity with a perpetrator or their acquaintances. [13]

While some groups of women are more at risk of experiencing domestic, family or sexual violence than others, these forms of violence occur in all Australian communities and across all socio-economic groups. The underlying causes are complex and not fully understood, but there is general agreement that gender inequality is a key determinant of violence against women. [14]

When defining domestic, family or sexual violence the ABS distinguishes between ‘prevalence’ and ‘incidence’. ‘Prevalence’ estimates the number of people who have experienced domestic, family or sexual violence in the relevant population within a specified time period, while ‘incidence’ measures the number of reported incidents of domestic, family or sexual violence that have occurred within a specified time period. [15]  

As most incidents of domestic, family and sexual violence go unreported it is not possible to measure the true extent of the problem. However, prevalence estimates show that domestic, family and sexual violence in Australia is widespread and that the majority of those who experience these forms of violence are women. [16] Other available statistics show that a woman is more likely to be assaulted in her home by a male partner than anywhere else or by another party. [17] The majority of female homicide victims are killed by an offender with whom they share a domestic arrangement and women are over-represented in intimate partner homicides. [18] Most women also do not report their experiences of violence to police and they are even less likely to report violent incidents to police when the perpetrator is a current partner. [19]

The information on the prevalence of domestic, family and sexual violence in Australia is derived from surveys that include the ABS Personal Safety Surveys in 2005 and 2012, the Australian component of the International Violence against Women Survey (IVAWS) conducted in 2002–03 and the ABS Women's Safety Survey 1996. [20] Other related statistics are more limited; for example, the ABS releases ‘Recorded crime—victims’ data, derived from administrative systems maintained by state and territory police. While this includes information on sexual assault and the relationship of offenders to victims, it does not include analysis of data related to other forms of domestic violence. [21]

The 2012 Personal Safety Survey provides the most up to date figures on domestic, family and sexual violence. [22] The survey estimates are based on interviews with 13,307 women and 3,743 men (17,050 in total) aged 18 years and over who were living in private dwellings across Australia. The survey contains information about violence experienced by men and women since the age of 15, as well as in the 12 months prior to the survey. It also provides detailed information about men's and women's experience of current and previous partner violence, lifetime experience of stalking, physical and sexual abuse before the age of 15, emotional abuse and general feelings of safety.

In its findings, the survey estimated that:

• 49 per cent of men (4,148,000) and 41 per cent of women (3,560,600) had experienced some form of violence since the age of 15
• women were more likely than men to have experienced physical assault by a male in their home . An estimated 62 per cent of women compared to 8 per cent of men experienced their most recent incident of physical assault by a male in their home
• similar proportions of women and men (67 and 68 per cent) had not been in contact with the police after their most recent incident of physical assault by a male
• women were more likely than men to be subjected to violence by a partner—17 per cent of all women and 5 per cent of men had experienced violence by a partner since the age of 15
• both men and women were more likely to experience physical violence than sexual violence, however, women were much more likely to have experienced sexual assault than men. An estimated 17 per cent of women and 4 per cent of men had experienced sexual assault since the age of 15
• men and women who had experienced sexual assault since the age of 15 were more likely to have been assaulted by someone they knew rather than by a stranger. An estimated 15 per cent of women had been sexually assaulted by a known person compared to 4 per cent who were assaulted by a stranger
• women were more likely than men to have experienced emotional abuse by a partner since the age of 15—25 per cent and 14 per cent respectively, and [23]
• women were more likely to have experienced an episode of stalking during their lifetime—19 per cent of women and 8 per cent of men. [24]

Previous key surveys included the 2005 Personal Safety Survey which provided information on women’s experiences of violence and updates data from the 1996 ABS Women’s Safety Survey . For the first time, the 2005 survey also collected information on men’s experience of violence. Data was collected through personal interviews with approximately 11,800 women and 4,500 men (16,300 in total) in all states and territories. [25] The International Violence against Women Survey (IVAWS) was conducted across Australia from December 2002 to June 2003. A total of 6,677 women aged 18 to 69 years participated in the survey and provided information on their experiences of physical and sexual violence. [26]

As discussed earlier, domestic, family and sexual violence occurs across all ages, cultures and socio-economic groups. [27] However, research shows that some women are at greater risk of experiencing these forms of violence than others. [28] For example, exposure to child abuse or violence as a child, alcohol or drug dependency issues, financial or personal stress and lack of social support are all strong correlates of violence against women. [29] Some women are also more vulnerable to violence, or less able to leave violent relationships, based on factors such as age, Indigenous status, location, disability, ethnicity, and English language ability.

Analysis of the Australian component of the IVAWS found that one of the strongest risk factors for intimate partner physical violence was behavioural, with the involvement of alcohol and drug use often leading to higher levels of aggression by perpetrators. [30] The research noted that ‘abusive males with alcohol or drug problems inflict violence against their partners more frequently, are more apt to inflict serious injuries, are more likely to be sexually assaultive and are more likely to be violent outside the home than abusers without a history of substance abuse’. [31]

Easy access to alcohol is also a significant risk factor for domestic and family violence, particularly in Indigenous communities. A longitudinal analysis of alcohol outlet density found a relationship between alcohol availability and domestic violence. Packaged liquor outlets that sell alcohol for off-premise consumption were particularly strongly associated with domestic violence. [32]

In the 2012 Personal Safety Survey, an estimated 53 per cent of women who had been physically assaulted by a male (in the past twenty years) reported that alcohol or drugs had been involved in their most recent incident. [33] In the 2005 survey, 49 per cent of women who experienced assault by a male in the preceding 12 months stated that alcohol or drugs had contributed to the most recent incident. [34]

Other research has similar findings—for example, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) found that 41 per cent of all incidents of domestic assault reported to the police between 2001 and 2010 were alcohol related. This percentage varied, however, from a low of 35 per cent in Sydney, to a high of 62 per cent in Far Western NSW. [35]

At the most serious end of the spectrum, many intimate-partner homicides include the involvement of alcohol. Between 2000 and 2006, 44 percent of intimate-partner homicides were alcohol related. The majority (87 per cent) of Indigenous intimate-partner homicides were alcohol related. [36] The most recent National Homicide Monitoring Program annual report, Homicide in Australia 2008–09 and 2009–10 , found that alcohol consumption (by either party) occurred in 47 per cent of all homicide incidents. [37]

Estimates from both the IVAWS and Personal Safety Surveys suggest a relationship between the experience of violence as a child and subsequent victimisation as an adult. The IVAWS found that women who experienced abuse during childhood were one and a half times more likely to experience violence in adulthood than those who had not experienced abuse during childhood. [38]

The 2012 Personal Safety Survey also noted this correlation, finding that 32 per cent of women who had experienced abuse before the age of 15 also experienced violence by a partner since the age of 15 compared to 13 per cent of women who had not experienced child abuse. [39] Data from the 2005 survey indicated that both men and women who experienced child abuse before the age of 15 years were at greater risk of partner violence as adults (since the age of 15). People who experienced childhood physical abuse were more than twice as likely to experience partner violence as those who had not experienced physical abuse as a child. [40] Those who experienced childhood sexual abuse were three times more likely to experience partner violence than those who had not been sexually abused as children. [41] An analysis of the 1996 Women’s Safety Survey found that history of violent victimisation, whether as a child or as an adult, predicts future victimisation. [42]

Women may be vulnerable to violence during pregnancy and separation. For women who experienced partner violence since the age of 15, more than half (54 per cent) reported experiencing violence by a previous partner during pregnancy; a quarter (25 per cent) experiencing domestic violence for the first time while they were pregnant. Some 22 per cent reported experiencing violence by a current partner during pregnancy; 13 per cent for the first time. [43] A WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence found the prevalence of physical violence during pregnancy to range from 1 per cent to as high as 49 per cent in some parts of the world (prevalence rates in Australia were estimated at 2 per cent). [44]

Analysis of the 1996 Women’s Safety Survey revealed that women who were separated were more likely to experience violence than married women. [45] These findings reflect the stressful nature of separation itself. It may be the case that violence follows separation, or the decision to separate is due to violence in the relationship. International studies indicate that leaving a violent partner may increase the risk of more severe, or even fatal, violence. [46]

The White Ribbon Foundation points to gender roles and relations as a key factor in young women’s vulnerability to violence in relationships—inexperience, age differences in relationships and lack of access to services compound the problem. [47]

In the 2009 National Survey on Community Attitudes to Violence against Women, young people had a strong understanding of the criminal nature of domestic violence. However, they were less likely than older respondents to understand complex aspects of violence in relationships such as the range and seriousness of behaviour that constitutes domestic violence, if and when it can be excused and who is most likely to have this experience. They were also more likely than older people to agree with some misconceptions about sexual assault, for example that it is usually perpetrated by strangers. [48]

An earlier research project on young people’s attitudes to, and experiences of, domestic violence, surveyed 5,000 Australians aged 12 to 20 years. [49] Researchers found that young men, those with lower socioeconomic status and Indigenous people were more likely to hold pro-violence attitudes. Further, pro-violence attitudes were greatest in the youngest age group (12 to 14 years) and decreased with age. [50]

ABS and IVAWS data indicates that younger women are more likely to have recently experienced violence than older women. The 2012 Personal Safety Survey found that 13 per cent of women aged 18 to 24 years had experienced violence in the 12 months prior to the survey, a rate decreasing with age to less than 2 per cent of women aged 55 years and over. [51] The 2005 survey found a similar proportion of young women (12 per cent) experienced at least one incident of violence in the previous 12 months. [52]

Crime victimisation data from the ABS 2009–10 Multipurpose Household Survey (MPHS) also indicate that the risk of physical assault decreases with age. [53] While IVAWS employed broader definitions of violence, the pattern was the same: younger women were victimised disproportionately. [54] Current intimate partner violence in the previous 12 months was highest for women aged 15 to 24 years (5 per cent), dropping to 1 per cent of women aged 55 to 69 years. [55]

Earlier research found that about one in three young people aged 12 to 20 years who had had a boyfriend or girlfriend, reported physical violence in their personal relationships. Reports of such physical violence increased with age to 42 per cent of women aged 19 to 20 years. While rates for men were similar, women were at least four times as likely to have been frightened by the experience. Young women also reported sexual assault at almost five times the rate of young men—14 per cent compared to 3 per cent—with figures highest amongst women aged 19 to 20 years (20 per cent). [56]

‘Family violence’ is generally the preferred term in Indigenous communities, as it encompasses all forms of violence in intimate, family and other relationships of mutual obligation and support . [57] Indigenous family violence may not only occur behind closed doors, it may often take place in public and can involve a number of people. Indigenous women may be more likely to fight back when confronted with violence than non-Indigenous women. [58]

In 2002, the Council of Australian Governments commissioned the production of a series of ‘Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage’ reports that included a focus on violence in Indigenous communities. The 2011 report noted that Indigenous women and children were more likely to experience violence than any other section of society and that violence was so prevalent in some communities that it was regarded as an inevitable part of life. [59]

However, there are significant deficiencies in the availability of statistics and research on the extent and nature of family violence in Indigenous communities. What data exists suggests that Indigenous people suffer violence, including family violence, at significantly higher rates than other Australians. [60] In addition, a high proportion of violent victimisation is not disclosed to police and rates of non-disclosure are higher in Indigenous than non-Indigenous communities. [61] Many of the reasons for non-disclosure are shared with the wider community, but there are reasons specific to Indigenous communities:

• fear of repercussions and consequences, particularly in small, interconnected and isolated communities where anonymity cannot be maintained
• fear and distrust of police, the justice system and other government agencies. Many Indigenous people experience anxiety when they are compelled to engage with police and welfare agencies
• cultural considerations and coercion—the interconnectedness of Indigenous society and the rules and obligations that are part of it may also operate against disclosure; factors such as shame and responsibility for maintaining families may lead to Indigenous women internalising their suffering, and
• lack of awareness of or access to support services. [62]

Indigenous people experience violence at rates that are typically double or more than those experienced by non-Indigenous people, and this can be much higher in some remote communities. Indigenous women in particular are far more likely to experience violence, and to endure more serious violence than non-Indigenous women. [63] For example, BOCSAR data from 2001 – 2010 indicate that the rate of domestic assault reported to police is more than six times higher for Indigenous women and more than four times higher for Indigenous men when compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. [64]

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS) 2008 provides estimates of physical violence (actual and threatened) in the Indigenous population, information on whether the perpetrator was known or not (for example, partner, sibling, neighbour) and details of any physical injuries sustained. [65] Almost one in five Indigenous Australians aged 18 years or over reported they had experienced violence in the previous 12 months. [66] Both Indigenous men and women were more likely to report physical or threatened violence compared to non-Indigenous people – men were 1.6 times as likely and women 2.5 times as likely. [67] One in four people also reported that family violence was a neighbourhood or community problem, with higher rates in remote areas (37 per cent) compared to non-remote areas (21 per cent). [68] As highlighted above, the actual rate of violence is likely to be much higher than these reported figures suggest.

In summary, while the availability of statistics and research on the extent and nature of family violence in Indigenous communities is patchy, recent statistics summarised by Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) show that Indigenous women face much higher risk factors than other women:

• Indigenous people are two to five times more likely to experience violence than non-Indigenous people
• Indigenous women are five times more likely to be homicide victims than non-Indigenous people, and
• Indigenous women are 35 times more likely to be hospitalised than non-Indigenous people. [69]

While there is some evidence that women living in rural and remote areas are more likely to experience domestic violence, the picture is far from clear. Domestic violence may be less likely to be disclosed in rural and remote areas due to the ideology of self-reliance, and informal sanctions and social control. [70] Researchers also point to narrowly constructed notions of masculinity that emphasise traditional gender roles and the physicality of rural men’s labour, plus patterns of alcohol consumption, as risk factors pertinent to rural and remote areas. [71] A 2000 literature review concluded that where comparable data exists, they indicate that there is a higher reported incidence of domestic violence in rural and remote communities than in metropolitan settings, with remote communities experiencing the highest rates. [72]

In a study of domestic assaults reported to the police in NSW from 2001 to 2010, 19 out of the top 20 NSW Local Government Areas (LGAs) for domestic assault were rural or regional LGAs. The top five LGAs were all remote—Bourke, Walgett, Moree Plains, Coonamble and Wentworth. [73] It should be noted however, that four of these five LGAs have large Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations (20 to 30 per cent, with the fifth at around ten per cent) and as previously discussed, Indigenous people are much more likely to experience violence. [74]

Women in rural and remote areas may also find it harder to seek help or leave a violent relationship. Factors such as access to services, a perceived lack of confidentiality and anonymity, stigma attached to the public disclosure of violence and lack of transport and telecommunications may compound the isolation already experienced as part of domestic violence abuse. [75] There is overlap between the rural and remote and Indigenous populations; many of the same issues apply and support services face unique challenges in meeting diverse needs. [76]

The ABS 2010 General Social Survey also provides some information on people’s experience of physical or threatened violence in the previous 12 months. It suggests that people (aged 18 years and over) who usually lived in regional or remote areas were slightly more likely to experience violence than those living in major cities—12.2 per cent compared to 9.5 per cent. [77]

The full extent of violence against people with disabilities is unknown, but it is estimated that women and girls with disabilities may be twice as likely to experience violence as those without disabilities. [78] Women with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to physical, sexual and psychological violence due to their situation of social and cultural disadvantage, and increased dependence. [79] There are particular forms of abuse that are unique to people with disabilities, such as removal of an accessibility device, withholding medication and threatening institutionalisation. [80] Adults with intellectual or psychiatric disabilities are particularly at risk of sexual assault and exploitation. [81] When the abuser is the main carer, individuals suffer neglect, isolation and intense vulnerability to abuse; it may be impossible for them to get help. [82]

The 2012 Personal Safety Survey found the rates of women with a disability experiencing violence in the 12 months prior to the survey were similar to those of other women (6 and 5 per cent respectively). However, the nature of the survey, and the likelihood that people with more severe types of disabilities could not participate without assistance, means that this rate is likely to be an underestimate. Additionally, the survey excluded people living in non-private dwellings, such as institutions. [83]

When analysing violence by disability type, the 2012 survey found those with a psychological disability were twice as likely to have experienced some type of physical and/or sexual violence in the 12 months prior to the survey (12 per cent compared to 6 per cent). [84] The 2010 General Social Survey also found that experience of physical or threatened violence in the previous 12 months was more likely among people with a core activity restriction (17 per cent), compared to those with no disability or long-term health condition (10 per cent). [85]

More detailed data on domestic violence against people with disabilities in Australia is lacking. [86] A 2003 study examined the nature and extent of violence against women with disabilities who accessed services for family and domestic violence in Western Australia. By far the most common perpetrators of violence against these women were male partners, accounting for 43 per cent; with a further 11 per cent experiencing violence by a female partner. [87]

Migration is currently the key driver of Australia’s population growth—approximately one third of the Australian population are overseas-born (32 per cent as at November 2013) and at the time of the 2011 Census, 20 per cent of the population had at least one overseas-born parent. [88]

Drawing conclusions regarding the nature and extent of domestic violence or sexual assault in selected culturally and linguistically diverse communities is difficult as studies and surveys have produced mixed findings. [89] However, when such violence does occur, research findings indicate that culturally appropriate service provision gaps lead to access issues and lower rates of reporting. [90] Migrant and refugee populations are diverse, and cultural values and immigration status increase the complexities normally involved in domestic violence. [91] Immigration can also cause social and cultural dislocation and intensify domestic violence. [92]

In the 2012 Personal Safety Survey, Australian-born women were more likely to report experiencing violence since the age of 15 than those born overseas (44 and 33 per cent respectively). [93] Similarly, the IVAWS indicated that women from English-speaking backgrounds reported higher levels of physical, sexual and any violence compared to non-English speaking background (NESB) women over their lifetime. However, it is possible that personal, cultural, religious and language factors may have resulted in NESB women who had experienced violence not participating in the survey, or those who did participate being less likely to report incidents of physical and sexual violence or openly discuss such information with survey interviewers. [94] This would be consistent with findings that women from culturally and linguistically diverse community backgrounds are less likely to report domestic violence to police or access mainstream services. [95]

Domestic violence cuts across social and economic boundaries but the data on the effect of education, employment status and income are mixed. The IVAWS found that experience of current intimate partner violence during the previous 12 months varied little according to education, status or household income. [96] However, ABS data suggests that women reliant on government pensions and allowances as their main source of household income were at increased risk of violence by a previous partner over their lifetime. [97] A more recent longitudinal study explored the relationship between personal or financial stress and women’s experiences of violence. The 2013 study found a correlation between higher levels of financial stress (together with lower levels of social support) and a higher risk of physical violence or victimisation. While suggesting these measures may be more useful in predicting a women’s potential to experience physical violence, the study made it clear that further research was needed to adequately analyse this relationship. [98]

In terms of identifying violence as a crime, there is differentiation between strangers and partners. The IVAWS found that stranger-perpetrated incidents were perceived as ‘crimes’ (42 per cent) more often than incidents by intimate partners (26 per cent). Only one in ten women (11 per cent) who experienced violence by a current husband or partner considered the most recent incident to be a crime compared to almost four in ten women who experienced violence by a former husband or partner (38 per cent). For women who experienced violence by a current boyfriend, 18 per cent considered the most recent incident to be a crime compared with 22 per cent who experienced violence by a former boyfriend. [99]  

Using ABS data, the BOCSAR found that less than half of all respondents who had experienced a domestic assault in the previous 12 months reported the incident to the police. Older people and those who were married were less likely to contact the police, as were people who experienced assault that did not involve weapons or serious injury. [100]

Women appear to be particularly reluctant to report violence by current partners. Researchers have noted that women seem better able to identify Intimate Partner Sexual Violence (IPSV) by a previous, rather than a current partner. They may feel confused, loyal and forgiving about a current partner. A more accurate assessment of the violence might emerge on leaving the relationship, with the passage of time and the benefits of safety and hindsight. [101] The 2012 Personal Safety Survey found 80 per cent of women who experienced some type of violence by their current partner (for example, physical or sexual assault) had never reported this to the police, compared to 58 per cent of women who experienced violence by a previous partner. [102] In terms of sexual assault, 83 per cent of women did not report the most recent incident by a male perpetrator (known or unknown) to police. [103]

Few women who experienced violence sought help from a specialised agency. In one study only 16 per cent of women who experienced intimate partner violence contacted an agency such as a shelter, crisis centre or hotline, counsellor or women’s centre. [104] However, those who had experienced violence from some other male (not their partner or previous partner) were even less likely to seek assistance from one of these agencies, with only 9 per cent making contact with any kind of specialised agency.

Women are more likely to talk to someone they know about their experience of partner violence than they are to tell police or staff at a specialised agency. The 2012 Personal Safety Survey found 74 per cent of women had told someone about a violent current partner and 93 per cent had told someone about a previous partner. For around two thirds of these women, the first person they told about their experience was a friend or family member. [105] Of women who had contacted police about their most recently violent (previous) partner, about half (50 per cent) had a restraining order issued. However, 58 per cent of those women experienced further violence. [106]

Attitudes towards domestic, family and sexual violence can strongly influence reporting behaviours. [107] Misconceptions and assumptions on masculinity, sexuality, violence and sexual assault can present barriers for both men and women in terms of gaining recognition and understanding, disclosing information and accessing the justice system after experiencing physical or sexual assault. [108]

Since the 1990s, there has been a profound transformation in public awareness about this problem in many countries. [109] In Australia, one of the most extensive national studies on attitudes to violence against women was the National Survey on Community Attitudes to Violence against Women 2009. [110] Comparison of the findings from this survey with data from an earlier study conducted for the Office of the Status of Women in 1995 also revealed some positive changes in attitudes: [111]

• there was greater recognition of the range of behaviours which constituted domestic violence
• almost all people agreed that domestic violence was a crime (98 per cent in 2009, up from 93 per cent in 1995) and
• most people (81 per cent) reported that they were willing to intervene in domestic violence situations. [112]

However, the survey found that a lack of understanding on why women stay in violent relationships was common and a significant number believed that domestic violence was excusable in certain circumstances—18 per cent of the general community sample and 45 per cent of the respondents from selected culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds sample. Further, 22 per cent of the general community sample and 59 per cent of the culturally and linguistically diverse sample believed that domestic violence was excusable if the perpetrator ‘truly regrets’ what they have done. [113] Findings from the survey suggested that length of residence in Australia has an impact on reducing tolerance levels for violence-supportive attitudes. [114] Survey researchers also found that being male and having low levels of support for gender equity or equality were the strongest predictors for holding violence-supporting attitudes. [115]

In 2013 the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, the Social Research Centre and the University of Melbourne embarked on an update of the National Community Attitudes Survey. [116] On 17 September 2014, the findings of the third survey were released. [117] The report found that understanding of, and attitudes towards, violence against women had remained fairly stable since the last survey. Many still believe violence can sometimes be excused; there has been an increase in the number of Australians believing that rape results from men not being able to control their need for sex; nearly 8 in 10 have no understanding of why a women might not feel able to leave a violent relationship; and more than half agree that women often fabricate cases of domestic violence. Also of concern was a decrease in knowledge of where to turn to for help. [118]

Importantly, survey researchers again found that people with low levels of support for gender equity or equality were more likely to hold violence-supportive attitudes. While there were high levels of support for gender equity in the workplace, almost 30 per cent of those surveyed were supportive of male dominance in relationships. In contrast, demographic factors such as age, country of birth and socio-economic status had only a limited influence on attitudes. [119]

Police response s

Since the mid-1980s increased attention has been focused on the role of police in intervening and preventing domestic violence. [120] The police and criminal justice systems in Australia are commonly criticised for not treating domestic violence matters seriously enough. [121] The police response is not only vital for the immediate safety of the parties involved but also conveys an important social message about the way in which violence against women and children is regarded by society. [122]  

The NSW Ombudsman’s 2006 report, Domestic violence — improving police practice , highlighted significant improvements since an earlier review of policing domestic violence in 1999 but also focused on the need for further reforms in three critical areas: enhanced support for people experiencing domestic violence, better cooperation between police and other agencies with key responsibilities and more effective frontline policing responses. [123] In 2011, the NSW Auditor General echoed these concerns about the lack of coordination between agencies in order to provide a lasting solution for all involved. [124]

The Australasian Policing Strategy for Preventing and Reducing Family Violence was launched by police commissioners across Australia in November 2008 in order to prioritise policing strategies on this issue. The strategy aims to ensure that responses by Australasian jurisdictions are based on more consistent policies and practices—it outlines priorities for action to improve information and intelligence sharing between police, as well as between partner agencies. [125]  

While legal reforms of the late 1980s and 1990s strengthened police powers to deal with domestic violence, the trend towards pro-arrest policies has only relatively recently begun to influence operational policing in Australia. In general, Australian police agencies have adopted policies that promote arrest as the primary intervention where there is a belief on reasonable grounds that an offence has been committed. [126]

At the same time there has been a shift towards collaboration with a broader range of partner agencies to provide referral and support. [127] For example, the Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission found that police officers believe that the complex social and health issues involved in domestic violence mean that police can only be effective when working in conjunction with other community agencies. [128]

A good example of these changes, which draws heavily on programs developed overseas, is the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Family Violence Intervention Program (FVIP) which is a proactive, multi-agency approach to family violence in the ACT. [129] The ACT has a pro-arrest, pro-charge policy on domestic and family violence and such cases are fast tracked through the courts. The FVIP integrates the activities of the police, prosecution, courts and corrections, and coordinates with other key agencies, such as domestic violence advocacy services. [130] The FVIP showed substantial increases in the arrest rate for domestic violence, from 6 per cent in 1993 to 30 per cent in 2003–04. There was a 464 per cent increase in the number of family violence matters handled by the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) over the eight years from 1998–99 to 2005–06. [131] In addition, the percentage of successful convictions increased from 76 per cent in 2003–04 to 85 per cent in 2007–08. [132] While a review published in 2012 recommended some refinements to the program, it reaffirmed that the coordinated approach of this program constituted ‘key good practice’. [133]

Safe at Home, the Tasmanian Government’s response to family violence, is another example of an integrated criminal justice response to family violence where safety is considered paramount and the first point of contact is through the police. [134] This program represented ground-breaking reform when it was initiated in 2004. An independent review of Safe At Home found four key strengths of the program:

• increased public awareness of family violence
• improved legal recognition for family violence—both in the seriousness and the criminal nature of this type of violence
• police take responsibility for pressing charges, giving some prospect of respite from the offender, and
• greater clarity of police procedures has led to increasing confidence of their role and their responsibilities in family violence situations, as well as overall improvement in police response. [135]

During the first three years of Safe at Home the total incidents attended by police increased, before declining marginally. Between 2004–05 and 2006–07 the average number of family violence incidents per month increased from 279 to 310 (11 per cent), decreasing to 284 in 2007–08. [136] There was an approximate four-fold increase in the total number of new applications for family violence related orders from 2003–04 to 2004–05 (69 orders to 294 orders). The number of new applications then declined in 2005–06 (to 222 orders) and was relatively steady across the following two financial years. [137]

In Victoria, the Code of Practice for the Investigation of Family Violence was introduced in August 2004 to improve police responses to family violence incidents and encourage community confidence to report these offences to police. [138] In 2004–05, approximately 18 per cent of reported offences were family violence related. Since then this figure has risen steadily and in 2013–14, offences arising from family incidents accounted for approximately 42 per cent of all crime against the person offences. [139] Support agencies argue that the figures are starting to reflect the true extent of the problem in the community due to increased reporting of traditionally under-reported crimes. [140]

At present, comparisons across jurisdictions are very difficult. [141] There are differences in how domestic violence is defined and categorised both between, and within jurisdictions, and police data is also limited in their descriptions of the outcomes of incidents reported. To know whether there are changes in practice and in outcomes over time, there is a need to develop indicators of police performance that are both practical and useful. [142] Researchers have identified a number of performance indicators that could be used by police to measure their effectiveness in responding to and reducing family violence. [143] Several of these are included in the Australasian policing strategy for preventing and reducing family violence , for example:

• a recorded increase in the number of family violence incidents reported
• a recorded increase in the amount of successful family violence prosecutions processed by the courts, and
• the development of better working relationships between the police and family violence support services. [144]

Despite recent reforms in Australia and other comparable countries, many argue there has been relatively little progress in the handling of violence against women, particularly in terms of sexual assault. [145] Certainly the results of the 2012 Personal Safety Survey seem to indicate a continuing reluctance by women to report incidences of intimate partner violence to police.

The most comprehensive data collection on homicide in Australia which provides details of victims, offenders and the circumstances of incidents, comes through the National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP) at the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC). Of the 185 domestic homicides recorded between July 2008 and July 2010, 66 per cent were classified as intimate partner homicides. [146]  

Three in every five Australian homicides during this period occurred in a residential location (61 per cent)—the majority in the victim’s home. Domestic homicides accounted for just over half (53 per cent) of these incidents. [147] This suggests the most likely scenario for the homicide of an Australian woman is at home at the hands of an intimate partner.

Domestic violence has severe and persistent effects on physical and mental health. Using burden of disease methodology, VicHealth determined that domestic violence was the leading risk factor contributing to death, disability and illness in Victorian women aged 15 to 44 years. [148]

Physical injury is common as a result of domestic violence. Two in every five women in the IVAWS who experienced intimate partner violence reported that they were injured in the most recent incident of violence. [149] The most common types of injuries were bruises and swelling, cuts, scratches and burns. However, 10 per cent suffered broken bones or noses, 6 per cent sustained head or brain injuries and 6 per cent internal injuries. Some 29 per cent of those who sustained injuries were injured badly enough to require medical attention and 30 per cent of women felt that their life was in danger in the most recent incident. This was more likely for incidents involving previous partners (35 per cent) than for current partners (15 per cent). [150]

The health consequences of domestic violence can endure long after the violence ceases. [151] The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health found that women who have experienced domestic violence rate their health as poorer and use health services more frequently than other women, even after they are no longer exposed to the violence. [152]

The effects of domestic violence also have a cumulative impact on a person’s mental health. [153] One analysis of ABS data examined associations between mental health and gender-based violence (GBV), including intimate partner physical violence. [154] Lifetime prevalence of intimate partner physical violence, measured by the question: ‘Were you ever badly beaten up by a spouse or romantic partner?’ was 8 per cent. Women who experienced GBV reported a higher level of severity and co-morbidity of mental disorders, increased rates of physical disorders, greater mental-health related dysfunction, general disability and impaired quality of life. Women who had experienced GBV also reported higher rates of past suicide attempts.

Domestic violence also has a detrimental impact on the mental health of men who experience it. Some suggest that the stigma associated with experiences of domestic violence may be particularly marked for men and that they experience significant psychological symptoms. Domestic violence is also associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression and suicidal ideation. [155]  

Children and adolescents living with domestic and family violence are at increased risk of experiencing emotional, physical and sexual abuse. [156] Researchers also identify domestic and family violence, parental substance abuse and parental mental health problems as the factors most commonly associated with child abuse and neglect. [157] Families in which parents present with these problems often live with multiple disadvantages and it is difficult to isolate the impact of any single factor.

Nevertheless, there is no doubt that domestic violence has an impact not only on adults, but also on children who may witness the violence. Children witnessing, or being exposed to domestic violence has been increasingly recognised as a form of child abuse, both in Australia and internationally. [158] Forcing a child to live with sustained violence against a primary caregiver constitutes both emotional and psychological abuse. [159]

Research on children exposed to domestic and family violence indicates that there are a range of impacts that such children are likely to experience, among them:

• mood problems including depression
• trauma symptoms
• increased aggression
• antisocial behaviour
• lower social competence
• temperament problems
• low self-esteem
• the presence of pervasive fear
• school difficulties
• peer conflict
• impaired cognitive functioning, and
• increased likelihood of substance abuse. [160]

Researchers note that such social, behavioural, cognitive and emotional effects may also have a lasting impact on education and employment outcomes. [161]

There are a number of difficulties associated with assessing the extent of children’s exposure to domestic and family violence. Prevalence rates vary and under-reporting is likely due to fear surrounding potential loss of custody and other complex issues. The 2012 Personal Safety Survey found that 54 per cent of women who had experienced violence by a current partner had children in their care at the time and 31 per cent said that children had witnessed the violence. [162] From the IVAWS, excluding the women who indicated that they had no children living with them, over a third of women who experienced intimate partner violence reported that their children had witnessed a violent incident (36 per cent). [163] An earlier study found that 23 per cent of young people aged 12 to 20 years had witnessed violence against their mother or step-mother; this increased to 42 per cent for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) young people. [164]

Domestic violence remains one of the leading causes of homelessness, accounting for 32 per cent of all clients receiving assistance from specialist homelessness services in 2011–12. [165]

Some researchers consider that domestic violence-related homelessness differs from other forms of homelessness, as the women affected are more likely to cycle in and out of homelessness compared to those in the broader homeless population. [166] Many women in abusive relationships return to the perpetrator of the violence and try to reconcile. The 2012 Personal Safety Survey found that more than one third (37 per cent) of women who had experienced current partner violence had temporarily separated during the relationship and of these, 52 per cent had moved away from home. [167]

Housing is critical for survivors of domestic violence. In a study of women’s economic wellbeing during and following domestic violence, women nominated finding safe, affordable, appropriate accommodation post separation as their single biggest concern. [168] Costs associated with leaving the family home were substantial, including relocation and storage costs. Women’s housing difficulties also had flow on effects for other aspects of their financial situation. Trying to find accommodation is time consuming and stressful and must necessarily take priority over other needs, such as education and employment. [169]

Domestic violence is also a factor in youth homelessness. The National Youth Commission Inquiry into Youth Homelessness found that family breakdown and conflict, including domestic violence, were common factors precipitating homelessness. [170] In a longitudinal study of Melbourne homeless young people, aged 12 to 20 years, researchers found one third of young people left home because of family violence, which in most cases had occurred over a long period of time. [171]

At a national level, the costs of domestic violence are substantial. In 2009 the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (NCRVWC) estimated that violence against women and their children, including both domestic and non-domestic violence, cost the Australian economy $13.6 billion. [172] The report argued that without action, an estimated three-quarters of a million Australian women will have experienced violence by 2021–2022. Based on this level of reporting, the estimated cost to the Australian economy would be around $15.6 billion, with domestic violence accounting for $9.9 billion of this figure (including $3.9 billion attributable to pain, suffering and premature death). [173] In an earlier report, Access Economics estimated the cost of domestic violence in Australia during 2002–03 at $8.1 billion, including $3.5 billion in costs attributable to pain, suffering and premature mortality. [174]

On an individual level, domestic violence creates complex economic issues for women and their children and disrupts their lives over the short and long term. Regardless of their prior economic circumstances, many women experience financial risk or poverty as a result of domestic violence. These difficulties hamper their recovery and capacity to regain control over their lives. [175] Domestic violence directly affects women’s financial security in key areas of life: debts, bills and banking, accommodation, legal issues, health, transport, migration, employment, social security and child support. [176]

Gaining and maintaining paid work is pivotal in creating a secure financial future for both those who have experienced domestic violence and their families. However, participation in employment can be seriously undermined by ongoing abuse and its subsequent effects. For example, Australian researchers found that some women had not been allowed to work while in a violent relationship and found it difficult to enter or re-enter the workforce post separation. [177] These findings are echoed in overseas studies, which highlight how domestic violence not only acts as a barrier to education, training and employment but can also escalate when survivors seek or participate in such activities. In order to maintain control over their partners, abusers may interfere with women’s efforts to become self-sufficient. [178]  

Women affected by domestic violence are also more likely to have a disrupted work history and to work casually or part-time than women with no experience of violence. In short, women escaping and experiencing domestic violence are often the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in the labour market. [179] Some researchers argue that the dominant approaches to domestic violence in Australia have been crisis oriented and focused on providing accommodation, welfare assistance, and emergency support services to women and children without looking towards job search and training to facilitate financial security independent of social service agencies. [180]

The Commonwealth Government is responsible for the over-arching government programs designed to reduce violence against women nationally and it also provides the funding for several statistical surveys that include estimates on the levels of violence experienced by women across the country. Through its national initiatives, the Commonwealth sponsors state and territory government cooperation in the development and implementation of best practice models for addressing and preventing this form of violence. However, it is the state and territory governments, not the Commonwealth Government, that have the law enforcement responsibilities in relation to policing and prosecuting instances of domestic violence and each has its own laws and policies for responding to violence against women.

Government responses to domestic violence take different forms including preventive programs, support for victims/survivors and their families and law enforcement. Each jurisdiction in Australia has in place a variety of laws, programs and policies responding to, and attempting to prevent domestic violence. Each jurisdiction funds its own programs and systems, but there are also some Commonwealth Government funded programs operating in the states and territories, for example supported accommodation. However, most programs and services aimed at preventing domestic violence and supporting the victims/survivors are administered by states and territories through their community service/human services and health departments along with police, attorney-general and other agencies.

Building on the women’s refuge movement of the 1970s, Australian Commonwealth, state and territory governments have pursued policies on violence against women since the 1980s. [181] In 1988, the Hawke Labor Government’s National Agenda for Women aimed for an ‘Australia which is free from violence in the home.’ [182] The Hawke/Keating Government’s National Committee on Violence Against Women ran for three years from March 1990 and delivered the National Strategy on Violence Against Women. The Hawke/Keating Government also made contributions internationally, recognising violence against women as a human rights violation. [183] In 1993, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women. [184] Within a year of taking office in 1996, the Howard Coalition Government convened the National Domestic Violence Summit, which resulted in the Partnerships Against Domestic Violence (PADV) initiative. [185] PADV was the Coalition Government’s response to domestic violence, until it was replaced by the Women’s Safety Agenda in July 2005. [186]

In May 2008, the Rudd Government established the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (NCRVWC) to advise on measures to reduce the incidence and impact of violence against women and their children. In a background paper the National Council concluded that there was considerable scope for greater cooperation and collaboration between the Commonwealth Government and the states and territories in developing a unified, national approach to one of Australia’s most pressing social issues. [187] The main challenges it identified were:

• existing systems to deal with domestic violence were fragmented
• gaps between policy intent and implementation
• failure to invest in primary prevention
• inadequate funding of services
• responses not tailored and accessible
• lack of evidence regarding what works in prevention, services, legal responses and early intervention and
• inadequate monitoring and reporting. [188]

The NCRVWC’s Plan of Action set a framework for social change and proposed the introduction of sweeping changes between 2009 and 2021. [189]

The Commonwealth Government released its response to the NCRVWC report in April 2009 and announced that it would invest $42 million immediately to address urgent recommendations. [190] These included the establishment of a new national telephone and online counselling service ‘1800 RESPECT’ for Australians who have experienced or are at risk of physical or sexual violence; the implementation of ‘Respectful Relationships’ programs in schools and other youth settings; the development of ‘The Line’ social marketing campaign targeted at young people and parents; research on perpetrator treatment and the greater harmonisation of national and state and territory laws. [191]

Later in 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) endorsed the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children . [192] The National Plan was to be implemented through a series of four three‐year Action Plans over 12 years.

The First Action Plan, ‘ Building a Strong Foundation 2010–2013 ’, was to include a range of Commonwealth Government, state and territory initiatives and six national outcomes:

• communities are safe and free from violence
• relationships are respectful
• Indigenous communities are strengthened
• services meet the needs of women and their children experiencing violence
• justice responses are effective, and
• perpetrators stop their violence and are held to account.

The Commonwealth Government committed a further $44 million in August 2010, including:

• $3.75 million over three years for Community Action Grants
• $8.8 million over three years to provide support for frontline workers, such as allied health, child care and paramedics, to better assist clients who have experienced violence
• $4.8 million over three years for projects to improve services for women with children who are experiencing domestic and family violence
• $6.9 million over four years to establish a National Centre of Excellence for the Prevention of Violence against Women; and
• $14.5 million over four years to conduct the Personal Safety Survey and a National Community Attitudes Survey to ensure that there is accurate and up-to-date information about the prevalence of violence against women in the Australian community and to track the impact of the National Plan on a four-year cycle. [193]

In 2011 the Commonwealth Government committed to an expansion of primary care projects, a national register for domestic and family violence orders, funding for fighting alcohol and drug abuse in Indigenous communities and an anti-family violence project through the Child Support Program in the Human Services portfolio. [194]

In September 2012, COAG’s Select Council on Women’s Issues released the National Implementation Plan for The First Action Plan: Building a Strong Foundation 2010–2013 which outlined how the Commonwealth and state and territory governments would lay the groundwork for the delivery of the key priorities of the plan. [195]

On 27 June 2014, the Second Action Plan, ‘ Moving ahead 2013–2016 ’, was released by the Abbott Government. [196] This Plan acknowledges the latest statistics from the 2012 Personal Safety Survey and expresses concern at the continuing levels of violence experienced by women in Australia. It reports on progress to date—such as the establishment of the Australian National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS), the Foundation to Prevent Violence against Women and Children and The Line social marketing campaign. However, the Second Plan expressly aims to build on progress by increasing community involvement, intensifying the focus on diverse communities and improving perpetrator-based responses and programs. Accordingly, it includes five national priorities:

• driving whole of community action to prevent violence
• understanding diverse experiences of violence
• supporting innovative services and integrated systems
• improving perpetrator interventions, and
• continuing to build the evidence base. [197]

Some of these priorities eventuated from community feedback gathered during the consultation process conducted in early 2014. [198] Most of the submissions received during this process were very positive about the First Plan but many argued that there had not been enough involvement of community groups, particularly those from Indigenous and culturally diverse backgrounds, and that progress had been too slow. [199] These concerns appear to have been acknowledged in the Second Plan.

Additional concerns that an independent body should be established to monitor and evaluate the plan also have been acknowledged. The National Plan includes a commitment to a series of three year evaluations over its 12 year lifespan. On 3 June 2014, Health Outcomes International (engaged by the Government to develop an evaluation plan) released its report, National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–2022: Evaluation Plan . [200] The report recommends that an independent expert be engaged at each evaluation phase to collate evaluation reporting, conduct consultations with key stakeholders and evaluate ‘flagship activities’. [201]

Reducing violence against women has been a priority for both Coalition and Labor governments for many years. However, funding for women’s safety initiatives is not usually specifically identified in the federal Budget—historically only a total figure for women’s programs and initiatives is provided.

In the 1984–85 Budget, the Commonwealth Government instigated the practice of publishing a women’s budget document assessing the impact the Budget was likely to have on Australia’s women, often including some additional detail on women’s safety initiatives and funding.

The previous Government’s Women’s Budget Highlights (2013–14) noted that since April 2009 the Labor Government had committed over $86.0 million specifically to initiatives under the National Plan. [202] This funding was comprised of commitments of $42.0 million made by the Prime Minister in April 2009 and $44.5 million over four years made during the 2010 election campaign. [203] A detailed breakdown of some, but not all, of this funding has been identified in recent women’s budget statements. Funding identified in the 2013–14 Budget included:

• $5.2 million to be provided over five years for the establishment and operation of the Foundation to Prevent Violence against Women and their Children
• $7.6 million previously committed over three years to continue and extend the DV-alert training program for health and allied health workers to improve skills (recognise, respond and refer)
• $28.5 million to June 2017 previously committed to continue and expand 1800RESPECT telephone and counselling service, and
• $3.0 million over three years previously committed to create a dedicated research stream on perpetrator interventions through the National Centre of Excellence to reduce Violence against Women and their Children.

In the 2014–15 Budget, the current Government did not produce a women’s budget statement for the first time since 1984, therefore no detailed violence against women funding breakdowns are available. [204] Prior to the September 2013 election, the only Coalition funding commitment specifically identified for violence against women initiatives was the provision of $1 million over four years to the White Ribbon Foundation. [205]

Historically, the Commonwealth Government’s primary agency funded to advance the status of women through its programs, services and funding of women’s organisations is the Office for Women—established originally as the Office for the Status of Women (OSW) within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) by the Whitlam Government. Under the previous two governments it was located within the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) but the office returned to PM&C after the September 2013 election. [206]

Under the Abbott Government, the Office for Women continues to provide leadership on three priority areas for women, including safety for women. However, it is the Department of Social Services (DSS) which now administers all of the programs and services relating to reducing violence against women and their children, including the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children , women's safety programs, and support for people involved in human trafficking. As a result, the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children is now administered under the ‘National Initiatives’ component of Program 2.1 Family and Communities, which was allocated $28.7 million in the 2014–15 Budget. [207]

The drivers behind the levels of violence experienced by women are complex, posing huge challenges to all governments and all societies. For many years the research has indicated a need to improve data collection; to conduct further research on the direct and indirect social and economic costs of violence against women; to provide effective early intervention and education programs; to improve on the evaluation of these programs; and to develop long-term integrated government and community responses. [208] The move towards better integrated, multi-agency responses and coordination across all levels of government through the National Action Plan is viewed by most stakeholders as very positive step. A greater evidence base, in terms of what works in violence prevention, is necessary for further progress.

[1] .          World Health Organization (WHO), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and South African Medical Research Council, Global and regional estimates of violence against women: prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence and Executive summary , WHO, Geneva, 2013, accessed 29 April 2014.

[2] .          Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Personal safety survey Australia 2012 , cat. no. 4906.0, ABS, Canberra, 2013, accessed 29 April 2014

[3] .          Ibid.

[4] .          L Mitchell, Domestic violence in Australia—an overview of the issues , Background note, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2011; K Carrington and J Phillips, Domestic violence in Australia , E-brief, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2006; and J Phillips and M Park, Measuring domestic violence and sexual assault against women: a review of the literature and statistics , E-brief, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2006, accessed 29 April 2014.

[5] .          For more detail on the levels of violence experienced specifically by men see ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2012, op. cit.

[6] .          For further information on support services (or emergency contacts) see Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety Ltd. (ANROWS), Get support , ANROWS website, accessed 28 July 2014.

[7] .          United Nations (UN), Declaration on the elimination of violence against women , UN website, 20 December 1993, accessed 7 July 2014.

[8] .          ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2012, op. cit. For further detail on definitions see the introduction of the survey and the glossary .

[9] .          Ibid.

[10] .        Australian Government, National plan to reduce violence against women and their children 2010–2022 , Department of Social Services (DSS), website, accessed 29 April 2014.

[11] .        Ibid.

[12] .        Ibid.

[13] .        Ibid.

[14] .        L Wall, Gender equality and violence against women: What’s the connection? , Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault (ACSSA), ACSSA research summary, June 2014; A Powell, ‘ Rape culture: why our community attitudes to sexual violence matter ’, The Conversation , 17 September 2014, accessed 18 September 2014.

[15] .        ABS, Defining the data challenge for family, domestic and sexual violence, 2013 , cat. no. 4529.0, ABS, Canberra, 2013, accessed 28 July 2014.

[16] .        For a summary of key statistics of violence against women see ANROWS, Key statistics on violence against women , Fast facts, ANROWS website, May 2014, accessed 3 July 2014.

[17] .        Ibid. and R Alexander, ‘ Women and domestic violence ’, in P Easteal, ed, Women and the law in Australia , Butterworths, Chatswood, NSW, 2010, p. 152, accessed 29 April 2014.

[18] .        A Chan and J Payne, Homicide in Australia 2008–09 to 2009–10: National homicide monitoring program annual report , Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), Canberra, 2013, p. 18, accessed 2 May 2014.

[19] .        J Mouzos and T Makkai, Women’s experiences of male violence: findings from the Australian component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS) , Research and Public Policy Series, 56, AIC, Canberra, 2004, p. 98; ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2005 , cat. no. 4906.0, ABS, Canberra, 2006, p. 21, accessed 29 April 2014; ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2012, op. cit.

[20] .        Ibid. and ABS, Women's safety Australia , 1996, cat. no. 4128.0, ABS, Canberra, 1996, accessed 30 April 2014. Other relevant data includes the Women’s Health Australia, Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, the AIC’s National Homicide Monitoring Program and the ABS National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social survey 2008.

[21] .        ABS, Recorded crimes—victims, Australia , cat. no. 4510.0, ABS, Canberra, 2011, accessed 30 April 2014.

[22] .        During the 2010 election campaign, the Gillard Government committed $14.9 million to update the Personal Safety Survey 2005 and repeat the National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey. See Australian Labor Party (ALP), National plan to reduce violence against women and their children , ALP policy document, Election 2010. This figure was later revised down to $14.5 million, see Women’s budget statement 2011–12 , FaHCSIA, Canberra, 2011, pp. 28–29, accessed 30 April 2014.

[23] .        For statistics and analysis on emotional abuse see ABS, ‘ Emotional abuse ’, Australian Social trends 2014 , cat. no. 4102.0, ABS, Canberra, 2014, accessed 27 June 2014.

[24] .         ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2012, op. cit. For more detail on the nature of sexual assault see C Tarczon and A Quadara, The nature and extent of sexual assault and abuse in Australia , ACSSA resource sheet, December 2012, accessed 2 July 2014.

[25] .        ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2005, op. cit.

[26] .        Mouzos and Makkai, op. cit., p. 2.

[27] .        Australian Government, National plan to reduce violence against women and their children 2010–2022 , op. cit.

[28] .        Ibid.

[29] .        For an example of research on the relationship between violence and financial or personal stress, see N Smith and D Weatherburn, ‘ Personal stress, financial stress, social support and women’s experiences of physical violence: a longitudinal analysis ’ Crime and Justice Bulletin , 168, March 2013, accessed 26 June 2014.

[30] .        Mouzos and Makkai, op. cit., pp. 58–62.

[31] .        Ibid., and L Wall and A Quadara, ‘ Under the influence? Considering the role of alcohol and sexual assault in social contexts ’ , ACSSA Issues , 18, 2014, accessed 2 July 2014.

[32] .        M Livingston, ‘ The ecology of domestic violence: the role of alcohol outlet density ’, Geospatial Health, 5(1), 2010, pp. 139-149, accessed 26 June 2014.

[33] .        ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2012, op. cit., Selected characteristics of the different types of violence .

[34] .        ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2005 (reissue), op. cit., p. 29.

[35] .        K Gretch and M Burgess, ‘ Trends and patterns in domestic violence assaults: 2001 to 2010 ’ , BOCSAR Issue Paper , 61, 2011, p. 4, accessed 26 June 2014.

[36] .        J Dearden and J Payne, ‘ Alcohol and homicide in Australia ’ , Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice , 372, 2009, accessed 26 June 2014.

[37] .        Chan and Payne, op. cit., p. 30.

[38] .        Mouzos and Makkai, op. cit., p. 87; 78 per cent of women who experienced abuse during childhood also experienced violence in adulthood. By comparison, of women who did not experience childhood abuse 49 per cent experienced violence in adulthood.

[39] .        ABS, Personal safety survey 2012 , op. cit., Experience of partner violence and physical or sexual abuse before the age of 15 . For more research on the link between intimate partner violence and women with a history of childhood abuse, see C Tarczon, Mothers with a history of childhood sexual abuse , ACSSA research summary, May 2012, accessed 2 July 2014.

[40] .        ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2005 , op. cit., p. 38; 24 per cent of those who experienced child physical abuse also experienced violence by a partner. By comparison, of those who did not experience child physical abuse 10 per cent experienced violence by a partner.

[41] .        Ibid; 30 per cent of those who had experienced child sexual abuse also experienced violence by a partner. By comparison, of those who had not experienced child sexual abuse, 10 per cent experienced violence by a partner.

[42] .        C Coumarelos and J Allen, ‘ Predicting violence against women: the 1996 Women’s Safety Survey ’ , Crime and Justice Bulletin , 42, December 1998, accessed 27 June 2014.

[43] .        ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2012, op. cit.

[44] .        WHO, Intimate partner violence during pregnancy , Information sheet, 2011, WHO website, accessed 26 June 2014.

[45] .        Coumarelos and Allen, op. cit.

[46] .        J Campbell, D Webster, J Koziol-McLain et al. ‘ Risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships: results from a multisite case control study ’, American Journal of Public Health, 93(7), 2003, pp. 1089–1097; T Hotton, ‘ Spousal violence after marital separation ’, Juristat, 21(7), 2001, pp. 1–19, accessed 27 June 2014. 

[47] .        M Flood and L Fergus, An assault on our future: the impact of violence on young people and their relationships , White Ribbon Foundation, Broadway, 2008, pp. 24–28, accessed 30 June 2014.

[48] .        AIC, The Social Research Centre and VicHealth, National survey on community violence against women 2009: changing cultures, changing attitudes-preventing violence against women: a summary of findings , Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Melbourne, 2010, p.56, accessed 24 June 2014.

[49] .        Attorney-General's Department (AGD), Crime Prevention Branch, Young people and domestic violence: national research on young people's attitudes to and experiences of domestic violence—full report, AGD, Canberra, 2001.

[50] .        D Indermaur, ‘ Young Australians and domestic violence ’ , Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice , 195, 2001, accessed 4 July 2014. 

[51] .        ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2012, op. cit.

[52] .         ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2005 (reissue), op. cit., p. 6.  

[53] .        ABS, Crime victimisation, Australia, 2009–10 , cat. no. 4530.0, ABS, Canberra, 2011, accessed 2 October 2014.

[54] .        Mouzos and Makkai, op. cit., pp. 28–29.

[55] .        Ibid., pp. 57.

[56] .        Indermaur, op. cit.

[57] .        Aboriginal family health strategy 2011–2016: responding to family violence in Aboriginal communities , NSW Department of Health, Sydney, 2011, p. 7, accessed 30 June 2014.

[58] .        H Blagg, ‘Restorative justice and Aboriginal family violence: opening a space for healing,’ in H Strang and J Braithwaite, eds, Restorative justice and family violence, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002, pp. 191–205.

[59] .        Productivity Commission, Overcoming Indigenous disadvantage key indicators 2011 , Canberra, 2011, pp. 4119–4129, accessed 19 September 2014.

[60] .        Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), Ending family violence and abuse in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, key issues: an overview paper of research and findings by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission 2001–2006 , Canberra, 2006, p. 6, accessed 30 June 2014.

[61] .        M Willis, ‘ Non-disclosure of violence in Indigenous communities ’ , Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice , 405, 2011, accessed 30 June 2014.

[62] .        Ibid., pp. 4–8.

[63] .        Ibid., p. 1.

[64] .        Gretch and Burgess, op. cit., p. 8.

[65] .        ABS, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social survey 2008 , cat. no. 4714.0, ABS, Canberra, 2010, accessed 30 June 2014.

[66] .        Ibid.

[67] .        Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (AHMAC), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health performance framework report 2010 , Canberra, 2011, p. 100, accessed 30 June 2014.

[68] .        ABS, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social survey, 2008, op. cit.

[69] .        ANROWS, Indigenous family violence , Fast facts, ANROWS website, May 2014, accessed 3 July 2014.

[70] .        R Hogg and K Carrington, Policing the rural crisis, Federation Press, Annandale, 2006, pp. 149–159.

[71] .        K Carrington, ‘Violence and the architecture of rural life’, in E Barclay, J Donnermeyer, J Scott and R Hogg, eds, Crime in rural Australia, Federation Press, Annandale, 2007, pp. 86–99.

[72] .        Women’s Services Network (WESNET), Domestic violence in rural Australia: a literature review , Department of Transport and Regional Services, Canberra, 2000, accessed 30 June 2014.

[73] .        Gretch and Burgess, op. cit., pp. 4–5.

[74]          Ibid., p. 8; and ABS, 2011 Census QuickStats , Census of population and housing , ABS, Canberra, 2014, accessed 26 August 2014.

[75] .        A Morgan and H Chadwick, ‘ Key issues in domestic violence ’, Research in Practice , 7, December 2009, pp. 4–5, accessed 25 September 2014.

[76] .        L Wall and M Stathopoulos, ‘ A snapshot of how local context affects sexual assault service provision in regional, rural and remote Australia ’ , ACSSA Wrap , 13, 2012, accessed 2 July 2014.

[77] .         ABS, General social survey summary results Australia , cat. no. 4159.0, ABS, Canberra, 2010, Data cubes, accessed 19 September 2014.

[78] .        Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA), Stop the violence: addressing violence against women and girls with disabilities in Australia , Background paper, October 2013, pp. 17, 28–9; L Healy, K Howe, C Humphreys, C Jennings and F Julian, Building the evidence: a report on the status of policy and practice in responding to violence against women with disabilities in Victoria , Victorian Women with Disabilities Network Advocacy Information Service, Melbourne, 2008, pp. 33–34; L Bartels, ‘ Emerging issues in domestic/family violence research ’ , Research in Practice , 10, April 2010, p. 5, accessed 1 July 2014; D Brownridge, ‘Partner violence against women with disabilities: prevalence, risk, and explanations,’ Violence Against Women, 12(9), 2006, pp. 805–822.

[79] .        K Howe, A framework for influencing change: responding to violence against women with disabilities 2007–2009 , Victorian Women with Disabilities Network Advocacy Information Service, Melbourne, n.d., pp. 7–9; International Network of Women with Disabilities (INWWD), Document on violence against women with disabilities , INWWD, n.p., 2010, accessed 1 July 2014.

[80] .        Healy et al., op. cit., p. 34; Howe, op. cit. p. 7.

[81] .        S Murray and A Powell, ‘ Sexual assault and adults with a disability: enabling recognition, disclosure and a just response ’ , ACSSA Issues , 9, 2008, accessed 2 July 2014.

[82] .        G Hague, R Thiara, P Magowan and A Mullender, Making the links: disabled women and domestic violence , Women's Aid (UK), 2008, pp. 35‑42, accessed 2 July 2014.

[83] .         ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2012, op. cit., Table 11.1.

[84] .         Ibid., Table 11.2.

[85] .        ABS , General social survey summary results Australia , op. cit., Table 13.1; and ‘ Cultural diversity in Australia ’, Reflecting a nation: stories from the 2011 Census, 2012–2013 , June 2012, accessed 2 July 2014.

[86] .         WWDA, op. cit.

[87] .        J Cockram, Silent voices: women with disabilities and family and domestic violence, joint project of People with Disabilities (WA) Inc., the Ethnic Disability Advocacy Centre and the Centre for Social Research, Edith Cowan University, People with Disabilities (WA), Nedlands, 2003, p. 25.

[88] .        ABS, Characteristics of recent migrants, Australia, Nov 2013 , cat. no. 6250.0, ABS, Canberra, June 2014, accessed 2 July 2014.

[89] .        Morgan and Chadwick, op. cit., p. 5.

[90] .        Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (EECV), Women surviving violence: cultural competence in critical services , ECCV policy research paper, 2013; A Allimant and B Ostapiej-Piatkowski, ‘ Supporting women from CALD backgrounds who are victims/survivors of sexual violence: challenges and opportunities for practitioners ’ , ACSSA Wrap , 9, 2011, accessed 2 July 2014.

[91] .        B Pease and S Rees, ‘ Theorising men's violence towards women in refugee families: towards an intersectional feminist framework ’, Just Policy , 47, 2008, pp. 39–45, accessed 2 July 2014.

[92] .        N Ghafournia, ‘Battered at home, played down in policy: migrant women and domestic violence in Australia’, Aggression and Violent Behavior , 16, 2011, pp. 207–213.

[93] .        ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2005 (reissue), op. cit.; and ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2012, op. cit., Tables 10 and 15.

[94] .        Mouzos and Makkai, op. cit., pp. 31–32.

[95] .        M Bonar and D Roberts, A review of literature relating to family and domestic violence in culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia, Western Australia Department for Communities, Perth, 2006; Morgan and Chadwick, op. cit., p. 5.

[96] .        Mouzos and Makkai, op. cit., p. 57.

[97] .        ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2005 (reissue), op. cit., pp. 34–35.

[98] .        N Smith and D Weatherburn, op. cit.; D Weatherburn, ‘ Personal stress, financial stress and violence against women ’, Crime and Justice Bulletin , 151, August 2011, accessed 30 June 2014.

[99] .        Mouzos and Makkai, op. cit., p. 96.

[100] .      Gretch and Burgess, op. cit.

[101] .      J Duncan and D Western, ‘ Addressing ‘the ultimate insult’: responding to women experiencing intimate partner sexual violence ’ , Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse Stakeholder Paper , 10, February 2011, p. 4, accessed 2 July 2014.

[102] .      ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2012 , op. cit., Tables 25 and 26 .

[103] .      Ibid., Table 17.

[104] .      Mouzos and Makkai, op. cit, p. 100.  

[105] .      ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2012, op. cit., Table 23.

[106] .      Ibid., Table 26.

[107] .      I Barrett Meyering, What factors shape community attitudes to domestic violence? , Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse Thematic Review, 1, 2011, accessed 27 June 2014.

[108] .      K Duncanson, Community beliefs and misconceptions about male sexual assault , ACSSA resource sheet, December 2013, accessed 2 July 2014.

[109] .      WHO Multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence against women, Summary report: initial results on prevalence, health outcomes and women's responses , WHO, Geneva, 2005, p. 1, accessed 9 July 2014.

[110] .      AIC, The Social Research Centre and VicHealth, op. cit.

[111] .      Office of the Status of Women, C ommunity attitudes to violence against women, Australian Government Publishing Service (AGPS), Canberra 1995.

[112] .      AIC, The Social Research Centre and VicHealth, op. cit., pp. 7, 50.

[113] .      Ibid., pp. 37, 46; The selected culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds sample was drawn from first and second generation members of the Italian, Greek, Chinese, Vietnamese and Indian communities.

[114] .      Ibid., p. 57.

[115] .      Ibid., p. 54.

[116] .      Department of Social Services (DSS), National community attitudes survey , DSS, website. Note: White Ribbon Australia and Youth Action NSW have also launched a survey of young people’s attitudes to domestic and family violence to be conducted in 2014, see White Ribbon Australia, Have young people’s attitudes towards violence changed since 1999? , White Ribbon Australia, website, accessed 30 June 2014.

[117] .      VicHealth, Australian’s attitudes to violence against women: findings from the 2013 National community attitudes towards violence against women survey , 2014, VicHealth website, accessed 17 September 2014.

[118] .      Ibid.; and the Research summary , accessed 17 September 2014.

[119] .      Ibid.; Powell, op. cit.

[120] .      Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC), Policing domestic violence in Queensland: meeting the challenges , Brisbane, 2005, pp. 10–13, accessed 2 July 2012.

[121] .      R Holder and J Caruana, Criminal justice intervention in family violence in the ACT: the Family Violence Intervention Program 1998–2006, Canberra, 2006, pp. 5-6, 13; NSW Ombudsman, Domestic violence: improving police practice , Sydney, 2006, p. 1, accessed 3 July 2014.

[122] .      E Garcia, F, García, and L Marisol, ‘Police involvement in cases of intimate partner violence against women the influence of perceived severity and personal responsibility’, Violence Against Women, 14(6), 2008, pp. 697–714 quoted in G Marcus, ‘ Better policing, better outcomes: changing police culture to prevent domestic violence and homicide ’ , Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearing House Issues Paper , 18, April 2009, p. 1, accessed 3 July 2014.

[123] .      NSW Ombudsman, op.cit.

[124] .      Responding to domestic and family violence: NSW Auditor-General’s report performance audit , Audit Office of NSW, Sydney, 2011, accessed 3 July 2014.

[125] .      Australasian policing strategy on the prevention and reduction of family violence , Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand, Sydney, 2008, p. 2.

[126] .      CMC, op. cit., p. 13. 

[127] .      Marcus, op. cit., p. 2.

[128] .      CMC , op. cit., p. 67.

[129] .      ABS, Bridging the data gaps for family, domestic and sexual violence , cat. no. 4529.0.00.002, ABS, Canberra, 2013, ‘ Integrated approaches ’, Appendix 4, accessed 3 July 2014.

[130] .      Holder and Caruana , op. cit.

[131] .      Ibid., pp. 2–3.

[132] .      ACT DPP annual reports, quoted in K Rollings and N Taylor, ‘ Measuring police performance in domestic and family violence ’ , Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice , 367, 2008, p. 2, accessed 3 July 2014.

[133] .      T Cussen and M Lyneham,’ ACT Family Violence Intervention Program review ’ , Technical and Background Paper (AIC) , 52, 2012, accessed 3 July 2014.

[134] .      Safe at Home , website, accessed 3 July 2014.

[135] .      Review of the integrated response to family violence: final report , Department of Justice, Hobart, 2009, pp. 31–32, accessed 24 September 2014.

[136] .      Ibid, p. 77.

[137] .      Ibid, p. 79. In 2003–04, the only order available to the courts was a Restraining Order. Police Family Violence Orders and Family Violence Orders (issued by the court and sought in cases which police assess as high risk) became available in 2005 under the Family Violence Act 2004 (Tas).

[138] .      Code of practice for the investigation of family violence: supporting an integrated response to family violence in Victoria , Victoria Police, Melbourne, 2004, accessed 3 July 2014.

[139] .      Crime statistics 2013–14 , Victoria Police, Melbourne, 2014, p. 24, accessed 11 September 2014.

[140] .      ‘ Vic crime stats show big jump in reports of family violence ,’ Radio National , transcript, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), 30 August 2011, accessed 3 July 2014.

[141] .      R Holder, ‘ Police and domestic violence: an analysis of domestic violence incidents attended by police in the ACT and subsequent actions ’, Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse Research Paper , 4, August 2007, accessed 25 September 2014.

[142] .      Rollings and Taylor, op. cit., p. 5.

[143] .      Ibid.

[144] .      Australasian policing strategy on the prevention and reduction of family violence, op. cit., p. 4.

[145] .      K Daly and B Bouhours, ‘ Rape and attrition in the legal process: a comparative analysis of five countries ’ , Crime and Justice , 39(1), 2010, pp. 565–650, accessed 3 July 2014.

[146] .      A Chan and J Payne, op. cit., pp. vii and 18.

[147] .      Ibid., p. 11.

[148] .      The health costs of violence: measuring the burden of disease caused by intimate partner violence , Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Melbourne, 2004, p. 8, accessed 3 July 2014. 

[149] .      Mouzos and Makkai, op. cit., p. 53.

[150] .      Ibid., pp. 54–55.

[151] .      I Evans, Battle-scars: long-term effects of prior domestic violence , Centre for Women’s Studies and Gender Research, Monash University, Melbourne, 2007, pp. 5–6, viewed 3 July 2014.

[152] .      Women’s Health Australia, Partner violence and the health of Australian women , March 2005, accessed 26 September 2014.

[153] .      NCRVWC, Background paper to Time for Action , n.d., p. 38, accessed 25 September 2014.

[154] .      S Rees, D Silove, Tien Chey, L Ivancic, Z Steel, and M Creamer et al., ‘ Lifetime prevalence of gender-based violence in women and the relationship with mental disorder and psychosocial function ’, Journal of the American Medical Association, 306(5), 2011, pp. 513–521, accessed 3 July 2014.

[155] .      A Randle and C Graham, ‘ A review of the evidence on the effects of intimate partner violence on men ’, Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 12(2), 2011, pp. 97–111, accessed 3 July 2014.

[156] .      S Holt, H Buckley, and S Whelan, ‘ The impact of exposure to domestic violence on children and young people: a review of the literature ’, Child Abuse and Neglect , 32(8) 2008, pp. 797–810, accessed 3 July 2014.

[157] .      L Bromfield, A Lamont, R Parker and B Horsfall, ‘ Issues for the safety and wellbeing of children in families with multiple and complex problems: the co-occurrence of domestic violence, parental substance misuse, and mental health problems ’ , NCPC Issues , 33, 2010, accessed 3 July 2014.

[158] .      K Richards, ‘ Children’s exposure to domestic violence in Australia ’ , Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice , 419 . June 2011, accessed 3 July 2014.

[159] .      C Goddard and G Bedi, ‘ Intimate partner violence and child abuse : a child-centred perspective ’, Child Abuse Review, 19(1), 2010, pp. 5–20. accessed 3 July 2014.

[160] .      Richards, op. cit.

[161] .      Flood and Fergus, op. cit., pp. 12–15.

[162] .      ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2012 , op. cit., Consequences of partner violence .

[163] .      Mouzos and Makkai, op. cit., p. 90.

[164] .      Indermaur , op. cit. pp. 2–3.

[165] .      AIHW, Specialist homelessness services 2012–13 , Canberra, 2013, p. vii, accessed 3 July 2014

[166] .      S Tually, D Faulkner, C Cutler and M Slatter, Women, domestic and family violence and homelessness: a synthesis report , prepared for the Office for Women, Canberra, August 2008, p. 16, accessed 4 July 2014.

[167] .      ABS, Personal safety survey Australia 2012, op. cit., Table 29.

[168] .      R Braaf and I Barrett Meyering, Seeking security: women’s economic wellbeing during and following domestic violence , Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse, Sydney, 2011, pp. 7–8, 43–45, accessed 3 July 2014. 

[169] .      For more research on the links between domestic violence and homelessness see J Oberin and T Mitra-Kahn, ‘ Stopping violence before it occurs: responding to the pathways into gendered homelessness ’, Parity , 26(7), 2013; A Spinney, Home and safe? Policy and practice innovations to prevent women and children who have experienced domestic and family violence from becoming homeless: final report , AHURI, 2012; A Spinney and A Harper, ‘ Domestic violence and preventing homelessness: legislative development and policy change ’, Parity , 26(2), 2013; S Murray, ‘ Violence against homeless women: safety and social policy ’, Australian Social Work , 64(3), 2011, accessed 4 July 2014.

[170] .      National Youth Commission, Australia’s homeless youth: a report of the National Youth Commission Inquiry into Youth Homelessness , Brunswick, 2008, pp. 7, 89, 92, accessed 3 July 2014.

[171] .      S Mallett, D Rosenthal, D Keys, and P Myers, Moving out, moving on: key findings, Key Centre for Women's Health in Society in partnership with the Office of Housing, Department of Human Services, Melbourne, 2004, quoted in National Youth Commission, op. cit. p. 80.

[172] .      NCRVWC and KPMG management consulting, The cost of violence against women and their children , Canberra, 2009, accessed 3 July 2014. The cost estimate methodology in this report broadly adopts the same approach as that taken by Access Economics in 2004. However, Access Economics assessed only the cost of domestic violence and included violence against men.

[173] .      Ibid., p. 66. The NCRVWC estimates included six other cost categories: health, production, consumption, administrative and other, second generation and transfer costs.

[174] .      Access Economics, The cost of domestic violence to the Australian economy , Canberra, 2004, accessed 3 July 2014.

[175] .      Braaf and Barrett Meyering, op. cit.

[176] .      Ibid.

[177] .      Ibid., p. 10.

[178] .      L McKean, Addressing domestic violence as a barrier to work , Centre for Impact Research, Chicago, 2004; J Swanberg and T Logan, ‘ Domestic violence and employment: a qualitative study ’, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology , 10(1), 2005, pp. 3–17, accessed 3 July 2014.

[179] .      S Franzway, C Zufferey and D Chung, Domestic violence and women's employment , presented to ‘Our Work, Our Lives 2007: National Conference on Women and Industrial Relations’, 20–21 September 2007, p. 5, accessed 3 July 2014.

[180] .      M Costello, D Chung and E Carson, ‘ Exploring alternative pathways out of poverty: making connections between domestic violence and employment practices ’, Australian Journal of Social Issues, 40(2), 2005,  pp. 253–267, accessed 3 July 2014.

[181] .      J Theobald, ‘ A long history: the National Plan in context ,’ Parity, 24(8), 2011, accessed 3 July 2014; S Murray and A Powell, Domestic violence: Australian public policy, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, 2011.

[182] .      Office of the Status of Women, A say, a choice, a fair go: the Government’s agenda for women, AGPS, Canberra, 1988, p. 67 cited in S Murray, ‘ An impossibly ambitious plan? Australian policy and the elimination of domestic violence ’, Just Policy , 38, 2005, pp 28–33, accessed 3 July 2014.

[183] .      S Murray, More than refuge: changing responses to domestic violence, University of Western Australia Press, Perth, 2002, pp. 154–155.

[184] .      UN ‘ Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women ’, op. cit.

[185] .      Murray, More than refuge: changing responses to domestic violence, op. cit., pp. 156–157.

[186] .      Carrington and Phillips, op. cit.

[187] .      NCRVWC, Background paper to Time for action op. cit.

[188] .      NCRVWC, Time for Action: the National Council's plan for Australia to reduce violence against women and their children, 2009–2021: a snapshot , Canberra, 2009, pp. 4–5, accessed 3 July 2014.  

[189] .      Ibid.

[190] .      FaHCSIA, The National Plan to reduce violence against women-immediate Government actions , Canberra, April 2009, accessed 3 July 2014.

[191] .      See 1800RESPECT website , accessed 4 July 2014.

[192] .      Council of Australian Governments (COAG), National Plan to reduce violence against women and their children including the first three-year action plan , Canberra, 2011, accessed 4 July 2014.

[193] .      Women’s budget statement 2011–12 , op. cit., pp. 28–29.

[194] .      Ibid., pp. 30–31.

[195] .      COAG, National implementation plan for the first action plan 2010–2013: building a strong foundation , Canberra, 2012, accessed 4 July 2014.

[196] .      DSS, Second action plan 2013–2016—moving ahead– — of the National Plan to reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–2022 , Canberra, June 2014, accessed 4 July 2014.

[197] .      Ibid.

[198] .      DSS, Development of second action plan under the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–2022: background paper , Canberra, February 2014, accessed 7 July 2014.

[199] .      For example; Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA), Submission to inform the development of the Second Action Plan under the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–22 , March 2014; Australian Women against Violence Alliance, Submission to Second Action Plan: National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–22 , 2014; and Women’s Legal Services Australia, Submission to Second Action Plan , March 2014, accessed 7 July 2014.

[200] .      Health Outcomes International, National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–2022: Evaluation Plan , South Australia, June 2014, accessed 7 July 2014.

[201] .      Ibid.

[202] .      FaHCSIA, Women’s Budget highlights 2013–14 , Canberra, 2013, p. 23, accessed 7 July 2014.

[203] .      K Rudd (Prime Minister), Address to the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and Children , media release, 29 April 2009; J Gillard, National plan to reduce violence against women and their children , Australian Labor Party policy document, Election 2010, accessed 26 September 2014.

[204] .      National Foundation for Australian Women, Budget 2014–15—a gender lens , May 2014, p. 3, accessed 7 July 2014.

[205] .      Liberal Party of Australia and the Nationals, The Coalition’s policy for women , Coalition policy document, Election 2013, accessed 7 July 2014.

[206] .      OSW was moved from PM&C to FaHCSIA in November 2004 by the Howard Government.

[207] .      Australian Government, Portfolio budget statements 2014–15: budget related paper no. 1.15.A: Social Services Portfolio , p. 98, accessed 7 July 2014.

[208] .      Carrington and Phillips, op. cit.; and Phillips and Park, op. cit.

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This content contains information some readers may find distressing as it refers to information about family, domestic and sexual violence. If the information presented raises any issues for you, or someone you know, contact  1800RESPECT  on  1800 737 732 . See also  Find support  for a list of support services.

Family, domestic and sexual violence Home

FDSV summary

• Social determinants of health 02 Jul 2024
• Determinants of health for First Nations people 02 Jul 2024
• Stress and trauma 14 Feb 2024

On this page

• Introduction

How common is family, domestic and sexual violence?

What influences family, domestic and sexual violence, who is at risk of family, domestic and sexual violence, what services or support do those who have experienced family, domestic and sexual violence use, what are the consequences of family, domestic and sexual violence, where do i go for more information.

Family, domestic and sexual violence is a major health and welfare issue in Australia, occurring across all socioeconomic and demographic groups, but predominantly affecting women and children. These types of violence can have a serious impact on individuals, families and communities and can inflict physical injury, psychological trauma and emotional suffering. These effects can be long-lasting and can affect future generations. 

For information, support and counselling contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit the 1800RESPECT website . See also Find support for a list of support services.

What is family, domestic and sexual violence?

Family violence is a term used for violence that occurs within family relationships, such as between parents and children, siblings, intimate partners or kinship relationships. Family relationships can include carers, foster carers and co-residents (for example in group homes or boarding residences).

Domestic violence is a type of family violence that occurs between current or former intimate partners (sometimes referred to as intimate partner violence). 

Both family violence and domestic violence include a range of behaviour types such as:

• physical violence (for example, hitting, choking, or burning)
• sexual violence (for example, rape, penetration by objects, unwanted touching)
• emotional abuse, also known as psychological abuse (for example, intimidating, humiliating).

For more information, see Glossary .

Coercive control is often a significant part of a person’s experience of family and domestic violence. It is commonly used to describe a pattern of controlling behaviour, used by a perpetrator to establish and maintain control over another person. 

Sexual violence can take many forms, including sexual assault, sexual threat, sexual harassment, child sexual abuse, and image-based abuse (NASASV 2021). However, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Personal Safety Survey (PSS) uses a narrower definition of sexual violence, including only sexual assault and sexual threat, with sexual harassment and experiences of abuse in childhood reported separately (ABS 2023b). 

Other forms of violence that can occur within the context of family and domestic violence include: stalking and elder abuse, with the latter occurring where there is an expectation of trust and/or where there is a power imbalance (Kaspiew et al. 2019). 

The ABS PSS provides an estimate of the number of Australians who have been victims of family, domestic and sexual violence. While every experience of family, domestic or sexual violence is very personal and different, it is most common for this type of violence to be perpetrated against women, by men. There is currently no national data on the proportion of Australians who have perpetrated family, domestic and sexual violence.

The most recent PSS was conducted between March 2021 and May 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic (ABS 2023b). Because of some changes to the survey methodology in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, some 2021–22 data are only available for women, including some time series.

According to the 2021–22 PSS: 

1 in 6 women

1 in 18 men.

in 2021–22 had experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15

1 in 4 women

in 2021–22 had experienced emotional abuse by a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15

1 in 13 men

in 2021–22 had experienced economic abuse by a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15

1 in 5 women

1 in 16 men.

2021–22 had experienced sexual violence since the age of 15

Physical and/or sexual family and domestic violence

Results from the 2021–22 PSS show that an estimated 3.8 million Australian adults (20% of the population) reported experiencing physical and/or sexual family and domestic violence since the age of 15. It is estimated that of all Australian adults:

• 11.3% (2.2 million) had experienced violence from a partner (current or previous cohabiting)
• 5.9% (1.1 million) had experienced violence from a boyfriend, girlfriend or date
• 7.0% (1.4 million) had experienced violence from another family member (ABS 2023c).

Experiences of partner violence in the 12 months before the survey (last 12 months) remained relatively stable for both men and women between 2005 and 2016. However, between 2016 and 2021–22 the proportion of women who experienced partner violence decreased from 1.7% in 2016 to 0.9% in 2021–22. There was also a decrease in the proportion of women who had experienced violence by any intimate partner (also includes current or previous boyfriend, girlfriend and date) between 2016 and 2021–22, from 2.3% in 2016 to 1.5% in 2021–22 (ABS 2023c).

For more information, see Family and domestic violence .

Partner emotional abuse and economic abuse

According to the 2021–22 PSS, an estimated 3.6 million Australian adults (19% of population) had experienced emotional abuse at least once by a partner since the age of 15. The proportion of women (23% or 2.3 million) who had experienced emotional abuse was higher than men (14% or 1.3 million). Estimates of partner emotional abuse in the 12 months before the survey have changed over time:

• the proportion of women who experienced partner emotional abuse was stable between 2012 and 2016, but decreased from 4.8% in 2016 to 3.9% in 2021–22
• the proportion of men who experienced partner emotional abuse increased from 2.8% in 2012 to 4.2% in 2016 before decreasing to 2.5% in 2021–22 (ABS 2023c).

It was also estimated that 2.4 million Australian adults (12% of the population) had experienced economic abuse by a partner since the age of 15, with the proportion of women (16%) who had experienced this type of abuse around double the proportion of men (7.8%) (ABS 2023c).

For more information, see Intimate partner violence . 

Sexual violence

The 2021–22 PSS estimated 2.8 million Australians (14% of the population) experienced sexual violence (occurrence, attempt and/or threat of sexual assault) since the age of 15. It is estimated that of all Australian adults:

• 13% (2.5 million) had experienced sexual violence by a male
• 1.8% (353,000) had experienced sexual violence by a female (ABS 2023c).

Of all women:

• 11% (1.1 million) experienced at least one incident of sexual violence by a male intimate partner since the age of 15
• 2.1% (203,000) experienced at least one incident of sexual violence by a male family member since the age of 15
• 11% (1.1 million) experienced at least one incident of sexual violence by another known male since the age of 15
• 6.1% (605,000) experienced at least one incident of sexual violence by a male stranger since the age of 15 (ABS 2023c).

In the 12 months before the 2021–22 PSS, it is estimated that 1.9% of women experienced sexual violence. This does not represent a change from 2016 (ABS 2023c). 

Based on the 2021–22 PSS, around 1 in 8 (13% or 1.3 million) women and 1 in 22 (4.5% or 427,000) men had experienced sexual harassment (see Glossary ) in the last 12 months. This represents a decrease from 2016 for both women (previously 17%) and men (previously 9.3%) (ABS 2023c).

For more information, see Sexual violence .

Other forms of violence and abuse

Violence exists on a spectrum of behaviours. The same social and cultural attitudes underpinning family, domestic and sexual violence are at the root of other behaviours such as stalking. Technology can facilitate abuse and has become an important consideration in these types of violence.

Stalking is classified as unwanted behaviours (such as following or watching in person or electronically) that occur more than once and cause fear or distress and is considered a crime in every state and territory of Australia (ABS 2023b). Based on the 2021–22 PSS, 1 in 5 (20% or 2.0 million) women and around 1 in 15 (6.8% or 653,000) men had experienced stalking since the age of 15 (ABS 2023c).

Preliminary findings from the 2022 Australian eSafety Commissioner’s adult online safety survey of around 4,700 Australians aged 18–65 years, indicate that:

• 75% of those surveyed had a negative online experience in the 12 months prior to the survey, an increase from 58% in 2019
• 18% of those surveyed said their location had been tracked electronically without consent, an increase from 11% in 2019
• 16% of those surveyed said they received online threats of real-life harm or abuse, an increase from 9% (Office of the eSafety Commissioner 2023).

Due to the opt-in nature of the survey, these results may not be generalisable to the broader Australian adult population. 

For more information, see Stalking and surveillance .

Family, domestic and sexual violence during the COVID-19 pandemic

The impacts of a pandemic can be wide-ranging with people experiencing different circumstances depending on their situation. Situational stressors, such as victims and perpetrators spending more time together, or increased financial or economic hardship, can be associated with increased severity or frequency of violence (Payne et al. 2020). It is also possible that increased protective factors, such as access to income support, time away from a perpetrator, or increased social cohesion, could suppress violence (Diemer 2023). Pandemics can also affect help-seeking and individual responses to violence, meaning support services have to adapt their delivery to new circumstances.

We continue to learn about the impact of the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic on family, domestic and sexual violence, with some different patterns observed between research, drawing on a variety of data sources and methods, and national population prevalence data (Diemer 2023).

Results from the PSS showed that between 2016 and 2021–22 there was a decrease in the number of women experiencing physical and/or sexual partner violence in the 12 months before the survey, and a decrease in women and men experiencing partner emotional abuse. The rate of sexual violence for women remained stable. See How common is family, domestic and sexual violence?

The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) conducted an online survey of women’s experiences of violence during the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. While not comparable with the PSS, the survey of more than 10,000 women found that the pandemic coincided with first-time and escalating intimate partner violence for some women (Table 1). However, given this is a cross-sectional survey, a causal relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and women’s experiences of intimate partner violence cannot be established (Boxall and Morgan 2021).

• Violence from a person the respondent had a relationship with during the previous 12 months. This includes current and former partners, cohabiting, or non-cohabiting.
• Of women aged 18 years and older who had been in a relationship longer than 12 months.
• Of women who had a history of violence from their current or most recent partner.

Source: Boxall and Morgan 2021.

For more information, see FDSV and COVID-19 . See also ‘Chapter 2 - Changes in the health of Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic’ in Australia’s health 2022: data insights .

Social attitudes and norms shape the context in which violence occurs. The National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS) shows that in Australia, between 2009 and 2021, there was a positive shift in attitudes that reject gender inequality and violence against women. There was also an improvement in understanding of violence against women. 

The NCAS indicated that in 2021 Australians, on average, had:

• higher understanding of violence against women compared to previous survey years (2009, 2013 and 2017)
• higher rejection of attitudes supportive of gender inequality compared to previous survey years
• improved attitudes towards sexual violence compared to 2017
• improved attitudes towards domestic violence compared to 2009 and 2013 (Coumarelos et al 2023).

While results were generally encouraging, some findings were concerning and highlight areas for improvement, select findings are summarised below.

Attitudes towards violence against women and gender inequality

Of all NCAS respondents in 2021: 

• 25% believed that women who do not leave their abusive partners are partly responsible for violence continuing
• 34% agreed it was common for sexual assault accusations to be used as a way of getting back at men
• 23% believed domestic violence is a normal reaction to day-to-day stress
• 19% agreed that sometimes a woman can make a man so angry he hits her without meaning to
• 15% agreed that there is no harm in sexist jokes
• 41% agreed that many women misinterpret innocent remarks as sexist (Coumarelos et al. 2023).

For more information, see Community attitudes .

Understanding of violence against women

• 31% did not know that women are more likely to raped by a known person than a stranger
• 41% did not know where to access help for a domestic violence issue
• 43% did not recognise that men are the most common perpetrators of domestic violence
• 24% did not recognise that women are more likely than men to suffer physical harm from domestic violence (Coumarelos et al. 2023).

For more information, see Community understanding of FDSV .

Family, domestic and sexual violence occurs across all ages and demographics. However, some groups are at greater risk than others and/or may experience impacts and outcomes of violence that are more serious or long-lasting. 

Children are at greater risk of family, domestic and sexual violence.

According to the 2021–22 PSS, about 1 in 8 (13% or 2.6 million) people, aged 18 years and over, witnessed violence towards a parent by a partner before the age of 15. A higher proportion of people had witnessed partner violence against their mothers (12%, or 2.2 million) than their fathers (4.3%, or 837,000) (ABS 2023a).

The PSS also collects some information from adults about the nature and extent of violence experienced before and since the age of 15, for more information see Personal Safety, Australia .

The 2021 Australian Child Maltreatment Study surveyed people aged 16 years and over about experiences of maltreatment as a child. Of people surveyed, around:

• 3 in 10 (29%) had experienced sexual abuse by any person
• 3 in 10 (31%) had experienced emotional abuse by a parent or caregiver
• 1 in 11 (8.9%) had experienced neglect by a parent or caregiver
• 2 in 5 (40%) had experienced exposure to domestic violence (Haslam et al. 2023).

For more information, see Children and young people .

Child protection services

In Australia, state and territory governments are responsible for providing child protection services to anyone aged under 18 who has been, or is at risk of being, abused, neglected or otherwise harmed, or whose parents are unable to provide adequate care and protection. In 2022–23:

• More than 180,000 Australian children (32 per 1,000) came into contact with the child protection system.
• Infants aged under one were most likely (36 per 1,000) to come into contact with the child protection system and adolescents aged 15–17 were the least likely (27 per 1,000).
• Emotional abuse, including exposure to family violence, was the most common primary type of abuse identified for children with substantiated cases (substantiations) (57% or 25,800 children). Neglect (21% or 9,300 children) was the next most common primary type of abuse substantiated, followed by physical abuse (13% or 5,900 children) and sexual abuse (9.1% or 4,100 children).
• Similar proportions of girls and boys were the subjects of substantiations for physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. However, a higher proportion of girls (13%) were the subjects of substantiations for sexual abuse than boys (5.5%) (AIHW 2024). 

The rate of children who were the subject of notifications has increased from 48 per 1,000 in 2018–19 to 51 per 1,000 in 2022–23. However, the rate of children who were the subject of substantiations remained fairly stable in the 5 years to 30 June 2023 (AIHW 2024). 

For more information, see Child protection .

More women than men experience family, domestic and sexual violence. Table 2 shows the proportion of people aged 18 and over who experienced violence from a partner since the age of 15.

n.p. not published

Note: Where a person has experienced both physical and sexual violence by a cohabiting partner, they are counted separately for each type of violence they experienced but are counted only once in the aggregated total.

Source: ABS 2023c.

Women’s exposure to violence differs across the age groups. The 2021–22 PSS found that the prevalence of physical and/or sexual violence by a cohabiting partner (partner violence) among women declined with age. One in 39 (2.6%) women aged 18–34 experienced partner violence in the 2 years before the survey, compared with 2.2% for those aged 35–54 and 0.6% for those aged 55 and over (ABS 2023a). 

The prevalence of sexual violence by any perpetrator among women also decreased with age. One in 8 (12%) women aged 18–24 experienced sexual violence in the 2 years before the survey, compared with 4.5% of those aged 25–34, 2.5% of those aged 35–44, 1.9%* for those aged 45–54 and 0.5%* of those aged 55 and over (ABS 2023e). 

Note that estimates marked with an asterisk (*) should be used with caution as they have a relative standard error between 25% and 50%.

For more information, see Young women .

Other at-risk groups

Other social and cultural factors can also increase the risk of experiencing family, domestic and sexual violence. In some cases, these factors may overlap or combine to create an even greater risk. Additional factors that can increase the risk of violence include remoteness and socioeconomic area of residence, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and cultural influences. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) women are particularly at risk and have much higher rates of hospitalisation because of family violence. 

For more information, see Population groups.

Responses to family, domestic and sexual violence are provided informally in the community and formally through justice systems, and treatment and support services.

2 in 5 women

in 2021–22 who had experienced previous partner violence since the age of 15 did not seek advice or support

The 2021–22 PSS found that there were differences in propensity to seek help, advice or support following partner violence depending on partner status and victim sex:

• 1 in 2 (45%, or 78,100) women who had experienced physical and/or sexual violence from a current partner did not seek advice or support about the violence.
• 2 in 5 women (37% or 574,000) and 2 in 5 men (39% or 166,000) who had experienced physical and/or sexual violence from a previous partner did not seek advice or support about the violence (ABS 2023a).

Data for men about seeking advice or support about current partner violence are not available (ABS 2023a).

The 2021–22 PSS collected detailed data from women about the most recent incident of sexual assault by a male that occurred in the last 10 years. Of the estimated 737,000 women who had experienced sexual assault by a male in the last 10 years:

• more than 2 in 5 (44% or 324,000) did not seek advice or support after the most recent incident 
• 92% (680,000) said the police were not contacted (ABS 2023e). 

For more information, see FDSV reported to police .

Police responses

When an incident of violence is reported to police by a victim, witness or other person, it can be recorded as a crime. The ABS collects data on selected family, domestic and sexual violence crimes recorded by police. In 2022:

• More than 1 in 2 (53% or 76,900) recorded assaults were related to family and domestic violence (excluding Victoria and Queensland), a 6.1% increase from 72,500 in 2021.
• One in 3 (33% or 71) recorded murders were related to family and domestic violence (ABS 2023d).

Since 2011, the number of sexual assault victims recorded by police has increased each year. It is unclear whether this change reflects an increased incidence of sexual assault, an increased propensity to report sexual assault to police, increased reporting of historical crimes, or a combination of these factors. Of all 2022 police-recorded sexual assaults, 69% were reported to police within one year (ABS 2023d).

Homelessness services

People accessing specialist homelessness services (SHS) may need support due to family and domestic violence. Data cannot currently distinguish between victims and perpetrators of violence. 

In 2022–23, SHS agencies assisted around 104,000 clients (38% of all SHS clients) who had experienced domestic and family violence. Of these clients:

• 3 in 4 (75% or 78,200) were female; and of the 20,500 clients aged 25–34, more than 9 in 10 (91% or 18,700) were female (AIHW 2023a)
• about 1 in 13 (7.7% or 8,100 clients) were living with disability (AIHW 2023b).

Of clients aged 10 and over who had experienced domestic and family violence:

• about 4 in 10 (42% or 34,200) also had a current mental health issue
• over 1 in 8 (12% or 9,400) had problematic drug and/or alcohol use (AIHW 2023a).

For more information, see Housing and Homelessness and homelessness services .

Hospitalisations

Hospitals provide health services for individuals who have experienced family, domestic and sexual violence. The family and domestic violence assault hospitalisations presented here are those where the perpetrator is coded as a family member (Spouse or domestic partner, Parent, or Other family member) in the hospital record. As information on cause of injury (such as assault) is not available in national emergency department data, family and domestic violence assault hospitalisations do not include presentations to emergency departments and underestimate overall hospital activity related to family and domestic violence. These hospitalisations also relate to more severe (and mostly physical) experiences of family and domestic violence.

In 2021–22, 3 in 10 (32% or 6,500) assault hospitalisations were due to family and domestic violence

Of all family and domestic assault hospitalisations in 2021–22:

• 73% (4,700) were for females and 27% (1,700) were for males
• 63% (4,100) had the perpetrator reported as a spouse or domestic partner
• 37% (2,400) had the perpetrator reported as a parent or other family member.

For more information, see Health services . See also Injury in Australia , Australia's Hospitals at a glance , and Examination of hospital stays due to family and domestic violence 2010–11 to 2018–19 .

1800RESPECT

1800RESPECT is Australia’s national counselling, information and support service for people affected by family, domestic and sexual violence, their family and friends and frontline workers. In 2022–23, almost 269,000 telephone and online contacts were answered by 1800RESPECT.

For more information, see Helplines and related support services .

Burden of disease

Burden of disease refers to the quantified impact of living with and dying prematurely from a disease or injury. 

The Australian Burden of Disease Study 2018 estimated the impact of various diseases, injuries and risk factors on total burden of disease for the Australian population. For females aged 15–44, intimate partner violence was ranked as the fourth leading risk factor for total disease burden, and child abuse and neglect was the leading risk factor. Child abuse and neglect was ranked third for males in the same age group (AIHW 2021a).

In 2018, intimate partner violence contributed to:

• 228 deaths (0.3% of all deaths among females) in Australia
• 1.4% of the total burden of disease and injury among Australian females.

Figure 1 shows the estimated total burden attributable to intimate partner violence for females in 2018 by disease/health problem/injury. For example, it shows that almost half (46%) of all homicide and violence burden amongst females was attributable to intimate partner violence. 

Figure 1: Total burden attributable to intimate partner violence, 2018

Note: Burden estimated in females only.

Source: AIHW 2021a.

In 2018, child abuse and neglect contributed to:

• 813 deaths (0.5% of all deaths) in Australia
• 2.2% of the total burden of disease and injury.

Figure 2 shows the estimated total burden attributable to child abuse and neglect in 2018 by disease/health problem/injury.

Figure 2: Total burden attributable to child abuse and neglect, 2018

For more information, see Health outcomes and Burden of disease .

Long-term health impacts

Findings from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health demonstrated that women who had experienced childhood sexual abuse were more likely to have poor general health and to experience depression and bodily pain, compared with those who had not experienced sexual abuse during childhood (Coles et al. 2018). Women who had experienced childhood sexual or emotional or physical abuse had higher long-term primary, allied, and specialist health care costs in adulthood, compared with women who had not had these experiences during childhood (Loxton et al. 2018).

For more information, see Health outcomes . 

Between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023, the AIC’s National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP) recorded 84 domestic homicide victims from 79 domestic homicide incidents (see Glossary ). Data from the NHMP are from police and coronial records (Miles and Bricknell 2024).

Of all domestic homicide victims, 55% (46) were female. Of all female victims of domestic homicide, 74% (34) were killed by an intimate partner. For male victims of domestic homicide, 11% (4) were killed by an intimate partner (Miles and Bricknell 2024). 

In 2022–23, the domestic homicide victimisation rate was 0.32 per 100,000. Since 1989–90, the domestic homicide victimisation rate has more than halved, with the female victimisation rate falling from 0.90 to 0.34 per 100,000 females, and the male victimisation rate falling from 0.59 to 0.29 per 100,000 males (AIC 2024). 

A report, Examination of hospital stays due to family and domestic violence 2010–11 to 2018–19 , found that people who had had a family and domestic violence hospitalisation were 10 times as likely to die due to assault, 3 times as likely to die due to accidental poisoning or liver disease, and 2 times as likely to die due to suicide, as a comparison group (AIHW 2021b).

For more information, see Domestic homicide and Deaths in Australia . 

For more information on health impacts of family, domestic and sexual violence, see:

• Family, domestic and sexual violence
• National Plan to End Violence against Women and their Children 2022–2032 .

For information, support and counselling contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit the 1800RESPECT website .

ABS (2023a) Partner violence, 2021-22 financial year , ABS, Australian Government, accessed 2 February 2024.

ABS (2023b) Personal Safety, Australia methodology,  2021–22 financial year , ABS, Australian Government, accessed 17 April 2023.

ABS (2023c) Personal Safety, Australia, 2021–22 financial year , ABS, Australian Government, accessed 17 April 2023.

ABS (2023d) Recorded Crime - Victims , ABS, Australian Government, accessed 7 August 2023.

ABS (2023e) Sexual violence, 2021-22 financial year , ABS, Australian Government, accessed 30 October 2023. 

AIC (Australian Institute of Criminology) (2024) National Homicide Monitoring Program 1989–90 to 2022–23 , customised request, AIC.

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2021a) Australian Burden of Disease Study 2018: Interactive data on risk factor burden , AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 31 May 2023.

AIHW (2021b) Examination of hospital stays due to family and domestic violence 2010–11 to 2018–19 , AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 20 April 2022.

AIHW (2023a) Specialist homelessness services annual report 2022–23 , AIHW website, accessed 13 February 2024.

AIHW (2023b) Specialist Homelessness services collection , customised request, AIHW.

AIHW (2024) Child protection Australia 2022–23 , AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 18 July 2024.

Boxall H and Morgan A (2021) Intimate partner violence during the COVID-19 pandemic: A survey of women in Australia , Australian Institute of Criminology, Australian Government, accessed 20 April 2022.

Coles J, Lee A, Taft A, Mazza D and Loxton D (2018) ‘ Childhood sexual abuse and its association with adult physical and mental health: results from a national cohort of young Australian women ’, Journal of Interpersonal Violence , 30(11):1929–1944, doi.org/10.1177/0886260514555270.

Coumarelos C, Weeks N, Bernstein S, Roberts N, Honey N, Minter K and Carlisle E (2023) Attitudes matter: The 2021 National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS), Findings for Australia , Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, accessed 23 April 2023.

Diemer K (2023) The unexpected drop in intimate partner violence , Pursuit, The University of Melbourne, accessed 31 October 2023.

Haslam D, Mathews B, Pacella R, Scott JG, Finkelhor D, Higgins DJ, Meinck F, Erskine HE, Thomas HJ, Lawrence D and Malacova E (2023) The prevalence and impact of child maltreatment in Australia: Findings from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study: Brief Report , Queensland University of Technology, accessed 2 May 2023.

Kaspiew R, Carson R, Dow B, Qu L, Hand K, Roopani D, Gahan L and O'Keeffe D (2019) Elder Abuse National Research – Strengthening the Evidence Base: research definition background paper , Australian Institute of Family Studies, Australian Government, accessed 20 April 2022.

Loxton D, Townsend N, Dolja-Gore X, Forder P and Coles J (2018) ‘ Adverse childhood experiences and health-care costs in adult life ’, Journal of Child Sexual Abuse , 4:1–15, doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2018.1523814.

Miles H and Bricknell S (2024) Homicide in Australia 2022–23 , AIC, accessed 2 May 2024.

Office of the eSafety Commissioner (2023) Adults’ negative online experiences 2022 , Office of the eSafety Commissioner, Australian Government, accessed 17 April 2023.

Payne J, Morgan A and Piquero A (2020) ‘ COVID-19 and social distancing measures in Queensland Australia are associated with short-term decreases in recorded violent crime ’, Journal of Experimental Criminology , 18: 89–113, doi.org/10.1007/s11292-020-09441-y.

This page was last updated 19 July 2024 .

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August 31 – September 6, 2024  |  No. 515

A review of Australia’s strategy to prevent violence against women and children found that it has long downplayed drivers such as substance abuse and gambling. By Kristine Ziwica .

Fixing australia’s plan to end gendered violence.

Asked about the findings of the review she helped conduct into the prevention of violence against women and children, Dr Anne Summers says the report investigates what “some in the sector have been unwilling to confront for a long time”.

The long-time advocate for women’s rights says the report, which last week delivered a scathing assessment of Australia’s so-called “primary” prevention framework, “speaks for itself”.

One passage speaks particularly forcefully: “We have a responsibility, particularly to current and future generations, to be mature and curious in our approach to prevention, and constantly reassess whether our strategies are having the desired effect.”

The review focuses particularly on the “Change the story” framework, which was developed by the national prevention foundation Our Watch nearly a decade ago and underpins the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children – now in its second year. The review calls for an independent reassessment of this primary prevention strategy, criticising it for “privileging one approach or lens over another”, and designating “known risk factors for violence, such as child maltreatment, trauma, and substance abuse – as ‘reinforcing factors’, secondary to the gendered drivers of violence”.

“We have looked at these ‘other (reinforcing) factors’,” says Summers, “and we have said that we can no longer ignore the role they play – either in the perpetuation of violence or the intensity of the violence.”

The rapid review was a 12-week assessment of Australia’s current approach to prevention. The Albanese government commissioned the review following an emergency national cabinet meeting in May in recognition of the fact the objective of the national plan – to end gendered violence in a generation – was wildly off-course in a year that had seen a 28 per cent increase in murders of women by current or former intimate partners.

The review panel released its final report, “Unlocking the Prevention Potential”, last week with 21 recommendations seeking a “profound change in our approach”, Summers says. “It’s a very strategic set of recommendations.”

Summers was a member of the six-person rapid review panel, co-convened by Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin, Office for Women executive director Padma Raman and Department of Social Services secretary Ray Griggs. Other members of the panel included journalist and advocate Jess Hill and Dr Zac Seidler, the global director of men’s health at Movember.

Summers was highly critical of Australia’s approach to primary prevention, when The Saturday Paper spoke to her on the fringes of Commissioner Cronin’s “crisis talks” in Canberra in May.

“It’s time that we really started to work on prevention and not this primary prevention,” Summers said. “I won’t use the word I’d like to use, but I would say that it’s a totally inadequate approach that’s just not cutting the mustard. Teaching seven-year-old boys to ‘respect’ women is not stopping women from being murdered now .”

The rapid review also challenged the Albanese government to show sustained, national leadership by calling on national cabinet to “acknowledge gender-based violence as an ongoing priority” that has “an urgency commensurate with climate change and national security”. The review demanded this leadership be backed by long-overdue funding for a frontline that is buckling under the weight of the crisis – and costing lives.

“This now comes down to, how much is a woman’s life worth,” says Katherine Berney, executive director of the National Women’s Safety Alliance.

In shocking, sobering language, the review highlighted the cost of inaction: “evidence from Safe Steps [a Victorian-based response service] shows that when governments underfund crisis response, the results can be fatal. Reports from Safe Steps indicate that, three women suicided in Victorian motels in 2023, while they were awaiting a space in a refuge.”

Summers was particularly galvanised by these findings in relation to suicide, an issue she says “has never been raised before”.

“There’s one view, that for every femicide there are three suicides. If that is the case, if last year there were 58 femicides, that means there were something like over 150 suicides, which is just unbelievable,” she says.

“What we’ve done is we’ve put it on the table.”

The review recommends an urgent inquiry into the relationship between suicide and experiences of gendered violence victimisation: “Capturing this data will enable the true scale of what the Review contends is actually a state of national emergency to finally be understood.”

The panel’s final report comes after an exclusive investigation by The Saturday Paper revealed Our Watch’s framework – which for more than a decade has guided Australia’s efforts in the primary prevention of violence against women, to stop violence before it starts – was based on evidence that was incomplete and modified for political purposes.

Last month, Michael Salter, a UNSW Sydney criminologist commissioned to review the evidence on the drivers of violence against women, told The Saturday Paper he was asked by a representative from Our Watch’s partner in the development of the “Change the story” framework, VicHealth, to delete evidence about the role of alcohol and socioeconomic factors in gendered violence. He also alleged his subsequent requests to Our Watch for a more comprehensive approach to those issues in the framework were ignored.

Critics of the framework told The Saturday Paper it was not based on best-practice public health or behaviour-change theory. A key criticism: when “Change the story” was launched in 2015, it conceptualised the drivers of violence against women and their children as entirely “gendered”, and owing to “gender inequality”.

Gender inequality or “disrespect” was the driver of violence against women, and gender equality, or “respect”, the solution. Everything else was deemed a second-order consideration and characterised as a “reinforcing factor”. This included alcohol consumption, childhood experiences of trauma, socioeconomic inequality and all other forms of discrimination, including race.

The day before the publication of The Saturday Paper ’s article about the alleged suppression of research and other concerns related to the framework, Our Watch published a “primary prevention report card” that was widely criticised for cherrypicking statistics. It showed a downward trendline in femicides from 1989 to demonstrate Australia was making “good progress”, and linked this to the impact of primary prevention work in the community.

ABC RN Breakfast ’s Patricia Karvelas challenged these claims in an interview with Patty Kinnersly, Our Watch’s chief executive, noting that the long-term decline in femicides may be attributable more to John Howard’s gun law reform than to primary prevention.

Asked about criticism of the Our Watch “report card”, Kinnersly said, “we are asking the community at all levels to be coming with us to prevent violence … and so it’s important that along the way we share the glimmers of where this work that we’re all doing as a community is driving some change”. While Kinnersly acknowledged the role of gun law reform, she added, “but we also know now that the sexist joke in the tearoom is unacceptable”.

Kinnersly acknowledged the review’s recommendations in a statement. “We all believe in a future free from violence against women, and Our Watch supports and encourages all evidence-based initiatives that will help get us there.” The chief executive added that any independent review of “Change the story” would require “specialist expertise in primary prevention”.

The rapid review specifically recommends the regulation of industries that contribute to harm, including alcohol, pornography and gambling, with a clear endorsement of the late Labor MP Peta Murphy’s call for a total ban on gambling advertising.

Among its other recommendations are reforms to strengthen women’s economic equality, in recognition of the connection between economic insecurity and gendered violence, and a strategic and coordinated approach to embed the distinct experiences of children and young people as victims in their own right to address trauma and the intergenerational impacts of violence.

Anne Hollonds, the National Children’s Commissioner, tells The Saturday Paper that she is “really glad to see a specific focus on children and young people that is long overdue and based on the evidence”.

Overall, the review gives voice to an intense frustration with the status quo. In a section that highlights the urgent need for more effective approaches to working with men, statistics show the scale of an at times extremely violent backlash. The review says that Australia “lacks a coherent strategy for responding to this backlash”.

Nearly one in five Australian men believe it is legitimate to violently resist feminism, and nearly 10 per cent find it understandable that young men who are rejected by women resort to violent vengeance.

“We have to take a long hard look at how we are engaging men,” says Zac Seidler. In describing the problem, he notes the tendency towards the more palatable language of “disrespect”, rather than calling out “misogyny”. Seidler points to Micaela Cronin’s description of this as “clouding language”. He says the issue must be recognised for what it is, and appropriately targeted.

The rapid review also recommends better management of risk and high-risk perpetrators, including through trialling and evaluating “threat assessment centres”.

The United Kingdom has recently announced a review looking at whether misogyny should be treated as extremism, and there are calls to adopt a similar approach in Australia.

Ultimately, the goal of the rapid review was to ensure that the next time Australia experiences a shocking escalation in gendered violence – and we hope there will be no next time – the inevitable question “what more can be done?” will have 21 corresponding recommendations. And the response from our political leaders – and some prevention organisations – won’t be, as we have heard too often in recent years, to “have better conversations with our boys about respect”. 

National Domestic Family and Sexual Violence Counselling Service 1800 737 732

This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on August 31, 2024 as "Fixing the plan to end violence".

For almost a decade, The Saturday Paper has published Australia’s leading writers and thinkers. We have pursued stories that are ignored elsewhere, covering them with sensitivity and depth. We have done this on refugee policy, on government integrity, on robo-debt, on aged care, on climate change, on the pandemic.

All our journalism is fiercely independent. It relies on the support of readers. By subscribing to The Saturday Paper , you are ensuring that we can continue to produce essential, issue-defining coverage, to dig out stories that take time, to doggedly hold to account politicians and the political class.

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Kristine Ziwica is a Melbourne-based journalist.

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August 31 – September 6, 2024 Edition No. 515

‘Very colourful terms’: Is this the end of the Jacqui Lambie Network? Rick Morton

Pezzullo: Labor has ‘picked a side’ in war with China Jason Koutsoukis

Kim Williams on the ABC’s great divide Martin McKenzie-Murray

Labor and merit-based appointments Karen Barlow

Fixing Australia’s plan to end gendered violence Kristine Ziwica

Reef bleaching outpaces Outlook report Mike Seccombe

The contested science of head injuries in sport Wendy Carlisle

Hostility between Hezbollah and Israel appears to abate Jonathan Pearlman

Children don’t belong in prison Lidia Thorpe

The Canberra disconnect Chris Wallace

The real power of independents John Hewson

Jon Kudelka cartoon, August 31, 2024 Jon Kudelka

The statistical closet

The power of folk singer Grace Petrie Jane Cornwell

Sydney Metro City line on track for greatness Naomi Stead

Apple TV+’s Sunny Sarah Krasnostein

Pinchgut Opera’s Eternal Light Chantal Nguyen

Deaf in dance: feeling the beat Fiona Murphy

Two stories Mark O’Flynn

Brothers and Ghosts Rhoda Kwan

Beam of Light Carmel Bird

Jilya Monique Grbec

Asparagus Andrew McConnell

The unbearable awkwardness of Father’s Day Anita Punton

‘You say I can’t, so I’m going to do it’: blind surfer Matt Formston Martin McKenzie-Murray

No. 515 Liam Runnalls

True or false: a seahorse is a fish. Cindy MacDonald

More from Author

health   July 27, 2024

Exclusive: Health authority suppressed gendered violence research

Kristine Ziwica A decade after the establishment of Our Watch, sources say the framework to end gendered violence was based on research that was incomplete and modified for political reasons.

life   May 11, 2024

A seat at the domestic violence roundtable

Kristine Ziwica A crisis meeting convened by the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner shows frontline workers and advocates seizing a rare opportunity to push for meaningful change, learning from mistakes – and triumphs – of the past.

economy   March 9, 2024

The fight for pay gap transparency

Kristine Ziwica Last week’s public disclosure of gender pay gaps at 5000 Australian companies was a first, and comes almost a decade after an attempt by the Coalition government to dismantle the reporting regime.

law & crime   July 22, 2023

Exclusive: Universities axe consent program

Kristine Ziwica The unease of a minority of vice-chancellors has stopped a campaign aimed at tackling sexual violence on university campuses.

health   June 25, 2022

Labor’s urgent work to tackle domestic violence

Kristine Ziwica New Labor minister Amanda Rishworth is under pressure to fix a flawed draft plan to end gendered violence, with the existing framework to expire this week. Experts say real progress is possible but could take years and cost billions.

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A safer NSW: Stronger protections for victim-survivors of domestic and family violence

Published: 2 September 2024

Released by: The Premier, Attorney General, Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

The Minns Labor Government is continuing work to create a safer New South Wales and increase protections for victim-survivors of domestic and family violence, with a suite of significant reforms announced today. 

To be introduced to Parliament in September, these reforms include new offences to respond to the danger posed by repeated and intentional breaches of Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders (ADVOs), an entirely new scheme to help prevent domestic and family violence and other reforms to address gaps in existing legislation.

These reforms include:

Strengthening the penalties for repeated and serious breaches of an ADVO

The NSW Government will move to amend the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 , to create two new aggravated offences for certain breaches of an ADVO. This will include a new offence for knowingly contravening an ADVO with intent to cause harm or fear and a new offence for repeated breaches of an ADVO.

The current offence of breaching an ADVO carries a maximum of 2 years’ imprisonment and/or a $5,500 fine.

The new offence for knowingly contravening an ADVO will be directed at serious or harmful breaches of ADVOs due to an offender’s intention to cause harm or fear to the protected person. It will carry a maximum of 3 years imprisonment and/or an $11,000 fine.

The new persistent breach offence will be directed at repeated breaches of an ADVO. Where a person knowingly contravenes an ADVO three or more times within a 28-day period, it will be punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment and/or a $16,500 fine.

The addition of this offence reflects and responds to the fact that persistent breaches within a short timeframe indicate an escalation of behaviour and therefore a greater risk.

Introducing Serious Domestic Abuse Prevention Orders

Reflecting the gravity of Domestic and Family Violence, the NSW Government will introduce Serious Domestic Abuse Prevention Orders (SDAPO), adapted from the Serious Crime Prevention Orders scheme, which responds to organised crime.

Serious Domestic Abuse Prevention Orders will allow the court to impose any conditions considered appropriate to prevent the person’s involvement in domestic abuse. This includes positive obligations such as a requirement to inform police of any dating profiles they create or use.

The orders will be able to be sought by the Commissioner of Police or the Director of Public Prosecutions in instances where:

• The person has been convicted of two or more domestic violence offences that carry a maximum penalty of 7 years imprisonment or higher; or
• The person has been charged with a ‘serious domestic violence’ offence against a relative or current/former intimate partner, regardless of whether the person has been tried, acquitted, or had their conviction quashed or set aside.

The court will have to be satisfied there are reasonable grounds to believe the SDAPO will protect the person’s relatives, their past, current or potential intimate partner.

The orders will have a maximum duration of five years with breaches being a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and/or a $33,000 fine.

Modernising the definition of ‘stalking’

In response to the increased role of technology in modern society, the definition of stalking will be amended to more clearly cover technology facilitated tracking or monitoring conduct.

Under the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007, the use of technology in the offence of stalking has a narrow scope, defined as, ‘contacting or otherwise approaching a person using the internet or any other technologically assisted means.’

Under the amended definition it will explicitly state conduct which involves monitoring or tracking a person’s activities, communications or movements whether through technology or another way, and regardless of whether the victim is contacted or approached, constitutes stalking.

This means the use of GPS trackers or monitoring a person online will be captured under the Act, in the same way ‘in person’ conduct currently is.

Making it easier and safer to change a child’s name

Bringing New South Wales into line with other jurisdictions, the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995, will be amended to allow a sole parent to change their child’s name, if they have a Family Court order authorising them to do so.

Currently under the Act, both parents must apply to change a child’s name, unless there is no other surviving parent, or only one parent is named in the registration of the child’s birth, or a court has approved the proposed new name of the child.

A parent with a parenting order granting them sole responsibility for the child’s name cannot apply to change the child’s name without a further court order approving the new name, or the other parent’s consent.

These requirements may pose a safety risk to victim-survivors of domestic violence who are seeking to change their child’s name as they are unable to do so without reengaging with the perpetrator.

The requirement for a further court application may increase risk by making the applicants’ contact details accessible to the perpetrator or revealing the child’s new name – undermining the desire to change a child’s name for protective reasons. This amendment will resolve this issue.

Premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns said:

“The safety of victim-survivors of domestic and family violence is paramount and these laws reflect the risk posed by intentional and ongoing breaches of ADVOs.

“Everyone should be able to feel safe in their own home, but all too often for many that is not the case. When that right has been taken away from someone, these laws aim to support victim-survivors in feeling and being safe again.

“We know that legislative reform alone will not end the scourge of domestic and family violence, but these laws send an important message that the safety of victim-survivors is the priority of the NSW justice system.”

Attorney General, Michael Daley said:

“These new laws are tough, they’re very tough, but unfortunately, they’re necessary to keep women safe from domestic and family violence.

“There are simply too many instances of domestic abuse and violence against women.

“It must stop; and these new laws are the next step that the Minns Government is taking to ensure that police and prosecutors are empowered to protect victim-survivors of domestic abuse.”

Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Jodie Harrison said:

“Too many lives have been lost to domestic and family violence.

“These proposed reforms strengthen existing protections to keep victim-survivors safe, while the new Serious Domestic Abuse Protection Orders help reduce the future risk of violence.

“We have listened to the domestic violence sector and advocates about what is needed to ensure the safety of victim-survivors – and acted.”

Women’s Safety Commissioner, Dr. Hannah Tonkin said: 

“The community has called for wide-ranging action to address the shocking rates of domestic and family violence, including measures to prevent violence as well as stronger accountability for perpetrators.

“These reforms prioritise the safety of women and children and send a clear message that domestic and family violence will not be tolerated.”

Related ministerial media releases

See all ministerial media release.

Alcohol-fuelled violence rates drop in WA towns with liquor restrictions

ABC Kimberley

Topic: Alcohol

Floyd Churnside says he has noticed a considerable shift in Derby since liquor restrictions began in mid-July. ( ABC Kimberley: Dunja Karagic )

Community groups are welcoming a reduction in the rate of alcohol-fuelled family and domestic violence offences in the Kimberley.

The drop has been recorded since liquor restrictions were introduced mid-July.

What's next?

Community stakeholders say they will continue to monitor the impact of the restrictions, looking for long-term trends.

Six weeks after alcohol restrictions were introduced in three regional towns in Western Australia's far north, the state government says it has seen an "almost immediate" drop in rates of alcohol-fuelled family and domestic violence (FDV). 

According to figures provided to the government by WA Police, there has been a 42 per cent decrease in the number of alcohol-related FDV offences across Broome, Derby and Fitzroy Crossing since the restrictions were introduced on July 15.

The figures were a snapshot of the first four weeks and compared to the same period in 2023.

In May, the ABC reported that the Kimberley had recorded the highest number of FDV offences out of any other policing district in the state , with an average of 19 offences a day.

Further restrictions on the sale of alcohol in Derby and Broome came into effect July 15, 2024. ( ABC Kimberley: Dunja Karagic )

The latest alcohol restrictions include changes to purchase limits and trading hours for takeaway liquor stores in Broome and Derby, in a bid to curb escalating rates of alcohol-related harm in the region.

Takeaway alcohol retailers in Derby, about 2,200 kilometres north of Perth, were also ordered to close on Sundays and Mondays .

Positive impact

Men's health worker Floyd Churnside helps rehabilitate family and domestic violence perpetrators at Derby's Emama Nguda Aboriginal Corporation.

He said while it was still early days, the feedback he had received from men who participated in voluntary workshops, their families and the community had been positive.

"We're already seeing a change in the behaviour of alcohol consumption," Mr Churnside said.

He also noted a change in the town, particularly on days when the sale of takeaway alcohol was banned.

"A slow but sure to immediate effect, as far as you know, the peacefulness, the harmony, the quietness," Mr Churnside said.

"It was a pretty nice feeling to see all of that."

Mr Churnside says he has received fewer referrals for FDV since the restrictions came into effect. ( ABC Kimberley: Dunja Karagic )

'What we hoped for'

WA Police and Racing and Gaming Minister Paul Papalia said the reduction in offending showed liquor restrictions were working.

Paul Papalia says the restrictions are one way to tackle FDV in the Kimberley. ( ABC Kimberley: Esse Deves )

"[It's] what we hoped for, that these restrictions, two days a week, no takeaway in Derby and the restricted hours in Broome, coupled with carriage limits and some really excellent policing right across the West Kimberley has resulted in some positive signs," he said.

"Derby had an appalling reputation with respect to family and domestic violence."

WA Police's Steve Thompson, Police Minister Paul Papalia and Member for Kimberley Divina D'Anna. ( ABC Kimberley: Esse Deves )

Member for Kimberley Divina D'Anna said she believed alcohol-related hospital admissions had also decreased.

"I spoke to some of the frontline workers in the health sector and they were quite impressed," she said.

"I think it was the first week of the restrictions and they [health workers] had drastically seen the change within the first week in regards to presentations at the hospital for alcohol-related harm incidents."

Early days 

Kimberley Police Superintendent Steve Thompson said officers in Derby had already reported a change in the nature of call-outs.

"We're an agency that always addresses community harm. We see the harm that alcohol causes so this has been very positive, we will keep watching it," he said.

"Our first priority is to look after the safety of the survivor of family violence and that includes the children that we find in the house as well.

"Then we turn our focus to the perpetrators of violence and we want to hold them to account."

ABC Kimberley — local news in your inbox