Unlocking the Prevention Potential: accelerating action to end domestic, family and sexual violence

A national emergency – and an ongoing national priority

An ongoing, national priority

On 28 April 2024, the Prime Minister declared that Australia faced a ‘national crisis’ of violence against women, with one woman being killed every four days.8 On 1 May 2024, National Cabinet met to discuss this national crisis as a standalone issue, the significance of which should not be underestimated. The Commonwealth agreed to deliver a range of new measures to address it, including establishment of this Rapid Review of Prevention Approaches (the Review).

Trends in homicide

  • A total number of 58 women were victims of domestic homicide in 2023, up from 35 killed in 2022 and 33 killed in 2021.9
  • Recent figures available in NSW show that, of a total of 550 domestic-violence context homicides, 331 were women killed between 1 July 2000 and 30 June 2022.10
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are disproportionately represented as victims of intimate partner homicide. A 2022-23 study found that homicide victimisation rates for Indigenous females was 3.07 per 100,000 compared with 0.45 per 100,000 for non-Indigenous females.11

Since then, more women have died violently. While data sources vary, one widely used source counts the number of violent deaths of women at 54, and of children at 10, as at 15 August 2024.12 These alarming figures are not an aberration. Figures from the Australian Institute of Criminology indicate that, despite a steady (57 per cent) decline in intimate partner homicides since 1989-1990, an alarming uptick has occurred in the past two years.13 To this we must add the deaths of missing and murdered women – in particular Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who have been disappeared.14 This is an acute aspect of the wider national crisis and should be a source of great collective shame.

Communities whose identities make them especially vulnerable to domestic, family and sexual violence (DSFV) must also be highlighted. This includes women with disabilities, who evidence indicates are more likely to have experienced violence in the preceding 12 months than women without disability; refugee and migrant women, who face particular barriers to reporting violence and seeking help; and members of LGBTIQA+ communities, who may experience abuse in intimate or other relationships as well as from families of origin, yet face similar barriers to support, including fear that their disclosures will be weaponised.15

Data relating to the homicides of children and young people, meanwhile, is likely to be underreported but should be brought firmly into the spotlight. In cases of filicide where there was a DFSV context, for example, children are often not reported as a victim of violence to authorities, despite domestic and family violence (DFV) being a significant risk factor for filicide.16 This means that we often need to look to individual data sources or studies, rather than having a consistent national picture.

Trends in filicide

In New South Wales between 1 July 2000 and 30 June 2022, 96 children were killed by a parent in a domestic violence context. The 96 children killed ranged from four weeks to 15 years of age. The average age of child victims was 4.1 years. Almost 40 per cent of children were aged one year or less. Almost 20 per cent of children killed identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.17

The recent ANROWS filicide report showed that, within the 86 cases in the study, 9 in 10 (88 per cent) were associated with a history of intimate partner violence. Men comprised two-thirds (68 per cent) of the parents who killed their children overall. When mothers killed their children, it often followed a history of experiencing violence.18

Nearly half (46 per cent) of the children killed by their parents were aged under two years old. Approximately one quarter (26 per cent) of children killed identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. This is despite First Nations children comprising around 6 per cent of Australia’s child population.19

A recent report released by Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS), however, indicates that 76 per cent of filicides nationwide occur within the context of DFV, involving a history of child abuse, intimate partner violence, or both. This study involved 113 cases of filicide occurring between 2010 and 2018, with 86 cases (76 per cent) having an identifiable history of DFV. 20

If Australia is to achieve the stated goal in the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032 (National Plan) to eliminate gender-based within a generation, it is vital that we acknowledge the true nature scale of the challenge which, as the Review discusses later in this report, may be even bigger than we currently understand.

It is also vital that we understand the imperative at both a national and international level. Put simply, Australia has obligations under multiple conventions to which it is a signatory to prevent violence against women and children. These obligations fall under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the Convention on the Elimination of Race Discrimination (CERD), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT), and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Progressing implementation of these treaties and fulfilling Australia’s international obligations is fundamental to ending gender-based violence, particularly against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children, and must remain at the forefront of our collective work.

Given that we have made these commitments on the international stage, it is therefore fitting that we acknowledge the objective of ending gender-based violence at the highest level of national authority – and do so on a continuous basis. Accordingly, the Review calls on National Cabinet to acknowledge gender-based violence as an ongoing priority – one with an urgency commensurate with climate change and national security – acknowledging that this is not only a national crisis but a genuine state of national emergency. This should remain a priority for the duration of the National Plan, recognising that the Commonwealth and states and territories hold powerful levers which sit across multiple government portfolios and systems.

While the Review recognises that the Women and Women’s Safety Ministerial Council, which reports to National Cabinet, leads the ongoing implementation of the National Plan and should continue to do so, the scale and complexity of this national emergency also requires National Cabinet to drive efforts across all Ministerial Councils in a sustained and multifaceted way. Importantly, National Cabinet should also explicitly connect ending DFSV with other nationally significant work, including the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, disability and health reform, as well as addressing Australia’s housing crisis, to ensure that a whole-of-society, intersectional and genuine partnership approach is applied at the highest level and so that we can link cross-government efforts to the ongoing work of the National Plan.

Recommendation 1
The Commonwealth and state and territory governments to agree that ‘ending gender-based violence, including violence against children and young people’ becomes an ongoing priority of National Cabinet.

Prioritising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

The Review acknowledges with profound sorrow the personal and systemic trauma of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families whose mothers, aunties, sisters, daughters and children have been disappeared, presumed murdered. The Review calls for urgent and ongoing consideration of the advocacy and evidence presented by these courageous families and communities to the recent Senate Inquiry into Missing and Murdered First Nations women and children (the Inquiry) in their ongoing quest for justice.

This Inquiry was a window to the way in which systems continue to fail First Nations communities, including through inadequate and discriminatory law enforcement responses, significant gaps in data collection and a lack of culturally safe services.21 The Review notes that levers for systemic reform are recommended throughout this report which have these systemic considerations firmly in mind. More generally, it is vital that ongoing attention, resources and scrutiny be directed towards this challenge to correct these systemic failures; pay respect to the memories of the disappeared, presumed murdered; and prevent further First Nations families from bearing burdens of unanswered grief.

Senate Inquiry into Missing and Murdered First Nations women and children

The Senate Inquiry into Missing and Murdered First Nations women and children, whilst noting the challenges with determining accurate figures of missing and murdered First Nations women and children due to data inconsistencies and under reporting, made a number of harrowing findings.

In relation to homicide victims, the Inquiry found that: “[the] data shows that First Nations women and children are significantly over-represented as homicide victims. It is extremely disconcerting to note the extended trend data and the fact that this is happening in contemporary Australia.”

The Inquiry noted:

  • “The National Homicide Monitoring Program has data for murdered First Nations women and children from 1989-1990 to 2022-2023. Over this period, 476 women were recorded as victims of homicide (murder and manslaughter) and 158 children were recorded as victims of homicide (murder, manslaughter and infanticide).”
  • “To place this data in context, First Nations women represented 16 per cent of all Australian women homicide victims, despite comprising between two to three per cent of the adult female population. Similarly, First Nations children represented 13 per cent of all child homicide victims.”
  • “The Australian Institute of Criminology noted that, from 2005–2006 to 2022–2023, First Nations women consistently experienced higher rates of murder than their non-Indigenous counterparts (three to 13 times higher). Similarly, the rates of murder were higher for First Nations children, compared with non-Indigenous children (on average three times higher).”

In relation to missing people, the Inquiry found that “data collection inconsistencies across jurisdictions—such as for Indigenous status—mask the true extent of the disappearances, however, the available data shows that there is a high and grossly disproportionate number of disappeared First Nations women and children, compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. Across the whole of Australia, the data is deeply disturbing. In the Northern Territory, the data is horrendous.”22

More broadly, the Review acknowledges the dignity and strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities – the women, children, sistergirls and brotherboys, and the men who stand beside them. First Nations women and girls have long identified that they hold the solutions to what works to keep them and their families safe. The Review also recognises the unique and intersectional challenges faced by First Nations women, families, and communities, which are rooted in colonisation, intergenerational trauma, systemic racism and resulting social and economic disadvantage. This highlights the critical need for a robust, culturally-informed and self-determined approach to addressing DFSV experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women

The Review drew on the advice of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council on family, domestic and sexual violence and First Nations National Plan Steering Committee, including the lessons from the Advisory Council’s own widespread consultation processes. The Review heard about:

  • the need for holistic and whole of community spaces, supports and resources, including case management for people using violence;
  • understanding early intervention as prevention, particularly in Aboriginal medical services;
  • cross-sector partnerships, particularly between the health and justice systems;
  • gaps in interventions for young people;
  • opportunities for better prevention and early intervention through Community Justice Groups;
  • managing people using violence by balancing the needs for recovery and healing;
  • Aboriginal men lacking collective representation and role models across the DFSV conversation;
  • responses to Aboriginal men being punitive, rather than trauma-informed and focusing on healing;
  • an absence of research focus on what works for Aboriginal men;
  • narratives needing to change to depict Aboriginal men in a strengths-based way; and
  • Aboriginal-led activities producing better outcomes for communities through self-determination.

Consultation in the Torres Strait Islands

The Review also drew on its specific consultation on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait, in which community members told us clearly what they have been highlighting for years. The Review heard that:

  • the Torres Strait needs to be seen by government as diverse, with many communities, rather than as one homogenous region, noting that “the realities of the Torres Strait need to be heard”;
  • the funding model for the region needs to be reconsidered, with funding currently going through complex administrative structures rather than straight to community;
  • a profound lack of access to services across the islands leaving people at risk – with only one crisis shelter across all the islands, no substance abuse services, no crisis housing for men and very few outreach workers who are stretched trying to service multiple distinct communities;
  • that crucial responses such as High Risk Teams and Community Justice Groups are currently run on a volunteer basis rather than being appropriately funded; and
  • that challenges are compounded by lack of transport and investment in emergency infrastructure to address this – with the associated isolation and prohibitive cost that this brings.

As such, the significant work already underway to develop a standalone First Nations National Plan is taking the lead by tailoring responses to the specific needs and strengths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. This Plan, being co-designed with First Nations leaders, communities and organisations, seeks to embed culturally informed practices at every level of the DFSV framework. Embedding and expanding these efforts is crucial in ensuring that the initiatives within the Plan are not only sustained but also scaled to meet broader and evolving community needs. The Review also acknowledges that it is essential that culturally-informed and self-determined practices are not merely add-ons but are deeply embedded within the broader DFSV prevention framework.

In addition to tailoring services to be culturally safe and responsive, this also involves drawing on the wisdom and knowledge of communities, including Elders, and ensuring that First Nations communities, are at the forefront of designing, implementing, and evaluating these services. It also requires a commitment to Indigenous data sovereignty, as noted again later in the report; recognising the importance of community-controlled and led organisations; and ensuring that First Nations voices are central to decision-making processes.

Implementation will also necessitate strong cross-sector collaboration. Given the intersectional nature of the issues faced by First Nations women and communities, responses must be holistic and integrated across health, justice, housing and social services (including child protection). This should draw on the strengths of existing programs, such as Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs), while addressing gaps identified by the Inquiry.

Alongside the standalone First Nations National Plan, it is essential that all actions from this recommendation align with the reform areas of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan 2023-2025 which call for: voice, self-determination and agency; strength, resilience and therapeutic healing; reform of institutions and systems; adequate evidence and data eco-systems; and inclusion and intersectionality. Actions and responses to this recommendation should also consider commitments under Target 13 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, which calls for, by 2031, the rate of all forms of family violence and abuse against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children to be reduced by at least 50 per cent, as progress towards zero.23

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan

“Truth-telling is a foundational stone within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ healing practices. Establishing an honest account of events and processes, both historical and contemporary, is essential to forming mutual understanding between non-Indigenous people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”

– Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan 2023 – 2025

Action Plan Reform Areas:

  1. Voice, self-determination and agency

Shared decision-making in genuine partnership with government. Community-led solutions including primary prevention, early intervention, response and recovery services. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are front and centre of the design and delivery.

  1. Strength, resilience and therapeutic healing

Primary prevention, early intervention, response and recovery services are trauma-informed, healing-focused, culturally safe, place-based and kinship centred. Cultural knowledge and practices are developed by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to address the impacts of intergenerational trauma. Health and wellbeing are prioritised.

  1. Reform institutions and systems

Whole-of-government responses to eliminate systemic biases and structural racism are embedded across the family, domestic and sexual violence service system. Build capacity in the workforce.

  1. Evidence and data eco-systems – understanding our stories

A local, culturally informed data and evidence eco-system is created and managed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

  1. Inclusion and intersectionality

Diverse experiences are acknowledged including women, girls, men, boys, Elders, Stolen Generations, people living remotely, people with disability, and LGBTIQA+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy communities.

Finally, success hinges on effective monitoring and accountability. This includes ensuring that the progress of culturally-informed and self-determined approaches to DFSV are regularly reviewed and that there is transparent reporting on the outcomes of initiatives under the First Nations National Plan. It is also critical that these efforts are adequately resourced, with clear commitment from all levels of government to sustain and expand these initiatives over time. This represents a vital step towards ensuring that the unique needs of First Nations women, families, and communities are met within the national DFSV response framework.

Recommendation 2
The Commonwealth and state and territory governments to strongly embed and build on culturally-informed and place-based domestic, family and sexual violence responses for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, families and communities, noting the significant work under way to develop a First Nations National Plan. This should include genuine and ongoing consideration of the evidence provided to the Senate Inquiry into Missing and Murdered First Nations women and children, and the commitments under Target 13 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

Recognising intersecting identities and experiences

The Review recognises with deep respect the work being led by diverse and marginalised communities across Australia to end gender-based violence. People and organisations are standing up to ensure that their specific experiences of violence are understood as gender-based violence and become an integral part of Australia’s DFSV response. The Review acknowledges that this work has often gone unheard and that more focus is urgently needed to prevent violence against people with intersecting identities.

The Review acknowledges the way in which users of violence may prey on points of diversity and difference to further their abuse. This Review heard that this includes, but is not limited to:

  • isolation of First Nations women from their communities, particularly in remote areas such as the Torres Strait, as well as threats to report to statutory authorities, such as child protection;
  • withholding of medication (including hormones and gender-affirming medication); income support payments; and mobility and accessibility devices;
  • sexual control through restrictive practices (chemical, physical and mechanical restraints);
  • gender-based violence that is legally permitted against women and girls with disability and older women, such as third-party consent by guardians (including family members) or tribunals for sterilisation procedures, menstrual suppression, contraception and abortion;
  • substituted decision-making (perpetrators taking out guardianship orders or power of attorney); and threatening to report, or actual reports to child protection based on disability;
  • threats to ‘out’ a partner or family member or to reveal their HIV status to others;
  • threats to ‘out’ a victim-survivor who is engaged in the sex work industry;
  • isolation of victim-survivors in regional and remote communities, including through removing means of transport, as well as in the context of the availability of guns; and
  • isolation of victim-survivors in migrant and refugee communities, including through weaponisation of insecure visa status.

The Review also recognises the way in which homophobia, transphobia, racism, xenophobia, ableism and ageism intersect with sexism to compound and influence the violence perpetrated against women, children and gender-diverse people, including trans women and men and sister-girls and brother-boys. This is compounded by intersecting experiences of systemic marginalisation and oppression, including colonisation, resulting in certain groups of people being at greater risk of experiencing violence.

Despite this, responses to these diverse experiences through law, policy and practice continue to be uncoordinated, piecemeal and ad hoc and often fail to involve the voices of lived experience from the communities for which they are designed. The lack of an intersectional analysis and multi-sectoral collaboration means that specific concerns for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, long term and recently arrived migrant and refugee communities, women and children with disabilities, LGBTIQA+ communities, older women and people in regional and remote communities remain inadequately identified and addressed.

The ASPIRE Project

The Review heard about a range of initiatives that work with and are led by diverse communities to better understand and more appropriately tailor responses to their experiences of violence. For example, the Analysing Safety and Place in Immigrant and Refugee Experience (ASPIRE) Project worked with several communities across metropolitan and regional Tasmania and Victoria to generate rich evidence about immigrant and refugee women’s experiences of violence. The participatory research project encouraged culturally-appropriate prevention and support interventions and supported building local communities’ awareness and capacity to respond to violence against immigrant and refugee women.24

As such, the Review acknowledges that generalist or ‘mainstream’ services cannot adequately or appropriately meet the needs of diverse communities. Instead, the Review recognises the value of developing intersectional and tailored DSFV responses. The Review therefore recommends that governments give priority to the experiences and needs of diverse communities and those experiencing marginalisation in implementing every recommendation in this report. This is because a focus on what works for those experiencing marginalisation or with intersecting needs can lay the foundation for population-wide success.

Community-led, sustained genuine co-design is also crucial for creating lasting and meaningful change. The Review acknowledges that it is vital that communities are supported to identify the priorities that are of greatest urgency and value to them, as well as enabled through real-time and dynamic feedback processes to keep responses relevant and responsive to changing needs. Equally, it is vital that this occur through appropriately resourced and long-term approaches to ensure that those priorities are actioned and reviewed, with a view to ultimately embedding them through relevant structural mechanisms.

Recommendation 3
The Commonwealth and state and territory governments to prioritise the experiences of communities that are marginalised especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, migrant and refugee communities, women and children with disabilities, LGBTIQA+ people, older women and regional and remote communities in implementing all of the recommendations in this report. Addressing gender-based violence for communities experiencing intersecting forms of marginalisation lays the foundation for population-wide success. Where applicable, implementation should involve a genuine and sustained co-design approach to ensure that affected communities are identifying priorities of greatest urgency and value to them.