Library: Community Services: Family violence

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Domestic Violence	362.8262, 616.85822
Child Abuse	362.76, 616.858223
Elder Abuse	362.682
Family Relationships	306.87

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Books in the Library

Blame changer : understanding domestic violence

The definitive guide to domestic violence in Australia, by a woman who has worked with countless victims over many years.

Paints a picture about domestic violence in rural Australia, drawing on research that has been conducted over the last 2 decades.

Alternatives to domestic violence : a homework manual for battering intervention groups

Interactive treatment workbook designed for use with a wide variety of accepted curricula for domestic violence intervention programs.

A deafening silence : hidden violence against women and children

Describes the links between discrimination, violence against women and violence against children and, uncovers the strategies and tactics used for concealing it.

Domestic violence : working with men : research, practice experiences and integrated responses

Contributions from those working with victims of domestic violence, from within the criminal justice system and integrated response programs.

Engaging men's responses to family violence : a book of tools

Effective early intervention is critical in stopping low and moderate-risk cases of family violence escalating into high-risk situations.

Family violence in Australia : the legal response

An invaluable and practical resource for anyone who comes into contact with victims of family violence.

Engaging with perpetrators of domestic violence : practical techniques for early intervention

A useful reference for any child protection worker wanting to make the most of the valuable opportunity they have to engage with domestic violence perpetrators.

eBooks in the Library

Responding to Child to Parent Violence and Abuse : Family Interventions with Non Violent Resistance

Providing an authoritative overview of the growing phenomena of child to parent violence - a feature in the daily life of increasing numbers of families.

Written on the Body : Letters from Trans and Non-Binary Survivors of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence

Offers guidance for trans and non-binary survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, who struggle to find safety at home.

A practical guide for all health care professionals who are looking after abused individuals and who wish to learn more to help their patients.

Domestic Violence and Protecting Children : New Thinking and Approaches

An overview of the innovative work taking place in relation to domestic violence and child protection.

Helping Babies and Children Aged 0-6 to Heal after Family Violence : A Practical Guide to Infant- and Child-Led Work

After family violence, very young children and babies benefit from child-led therapy, but how do you achieve this?

Responding to Domestic Violence : Emerging Challenges for Policy, Practice and Research in Europe

A critical overview of established and emerging manifestations of domestic violence across Europe.

Romantic Terrorism : An Auto-Ethnography of Domestic Violence, Victimization and Survival

Discussion on the damage caused to victims by emotional and psychological abuse, and the insidious use of tactics by abusers.

Royal Commission into Family Violence (Victoria)

Royal Commission into Family Violence

The Commission's multi-volume report canvasses the many views heard by the Commission during its consultation processes and covers a broad range of topics including risk assessment, information sharing, service system pathways, police, courts, offences and sentencing, housing, financial security, recovery, the experience of children and young people and people from diverse communities, system governance and oversight, industry planning, primary prevention, and the role the health system, faith communities and workplaces can play in addressing family violence.

Kanopy video

Below is a selection of videos Kanopy has about family violence.

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Online EBSCOhost journal articles

Australian Social Work. Mar2017, Vol. 70 Issue 2 : Record Title:Special Issue on Child Protection and Domestic Violence: Exploring the Collaborative Interface for Policy and Practice
de Jonge, A. (2018). Corporate Social Responsibility Through a Feminist Lens: Domestic Violence and the Workplace in the 21st Century. Journal of Business Ethics, 148(3), 471–487 Domestic violence is a serious issue, and the costs for business of failing to address the impacts of domestic violence in the workplace are high. New technologies and economic shifts towards services sector industries are fast dissolving the boundaries between the workplace and the home in many national labor markets. Moreover, companies are now expected to meet higher standards of behavior in fulfilling their responsibilities to employees and wider society. These developments present challenges for ethical reasoning about the limits of employer responsibility in relation to domestic violence. While a number of possible approaches have something to contribute, this paper argues that feminist theories provide the most useful framework for ethical reasoning about the issues domestic violence raises for business organizations. The practical value of such reasoning is then illustrated by applying the organizing framework developed by Yuan et al. (J Bus Ethics 101:75—92, 2011) to examine how recurring domestic violence-related initiatives can be integrated as routine practices in firm operations. The paper thus provides a structured qualitative study of theory and practice for dealing with the impacts of domestic violence in the workplace.
Fletcher, P., & Star, C. (2018). The Influence of Feminist Organisations on Public Policy Responses to Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women: A systematic literature review. Social Alternatives, 37(2), 53–61 Violence against women remains a critical threat to women's safety around the world. This paper examines the existing literature on feminist organisations' influence in producing policy outcomes to determine whether feminist activism has an influence over public policy. Forty-nine relevant studies were identified, reviewed and analysed. Feminist organisations were found to have significant influence over public policies across governmental levels and political systems. The research findings conflicted on whether internal or external advocacy by feminist organisations is most beneficial to achieve desired policy outcomes. Collaboration was found to be the most commonly used activist technique of feminist organisations to achieve change. The use of collaboration encompassed collaborating with the state, other feminist organisations, and other social movement organisations. Significant gaps were identified within the literature. Future research should provide an Australian context to the influence of feminist organisations on public policies, as well as comparative studies on the types of feminist activism to determine which is most effective in securing policy outcomes. Future research should aim to provide conclusive evidence on how feminist activism influences policy.
McLindon, E., Humphreys, C., & Hegarty, K. (2018). “It happens to clinicians too”: an Australian prevalence study of intimate partner and family violence against health professionals. BMC Women’s Health, 18(1), 1-8 pages Background: The purpose of this study was to measure the prevalence of intimate partner and family violence amongst a population of Australian female nurses, doctors and allied health professionals. Methods: We conducted a descriptive, cross-sectional survey in a large Australian tertiary maternity hospital with 471 participating female health professionals (45.0% response rate). The primary outcome measures were 12 month and lifetime prevalence of intimate partner violence (Composite Abuse Scale) and family violence. Results: In the last 12 months, one in ten (43, 11.5%) participants reported intimate partner violence: 4.2% (16) combined physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse; 6.7% (25) emotional abuse and/or harassment; 5.1% (22) were afraid of their partner; and 1.7% (7) had been raped by their partner. Since the age of sixteen, one third (125, 29.7%) of participants reported intimate partner violence: 18.3% (77) had experienced combined physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse; 8.1% (34) emotional abuse and/or harassment; 25.6% (111) had been afraid of their partner; and 12.1% (51) had been raped by their partner. Overall, 45.2% (212) of participants reported violence by a partner and/or family member during their lifetime, with 12.8% (60) reporting both.Conclusion: Intimate partner and family violence may be common traumas in the lives of female health professionals, and this should be considered in health workplace policies and protocols, as health professionals are increasingly urged to work with patients who have experienced intimate partner and family violence. Implications include the need for workplace manager training, special leave provision, counselling services and other resources for staff.
O’Reilly, R., & Peters, K. (2018). Opportunistic domestic violence screening for pregnant and post-partum women by community based health care providers. BMC Women’s Health, 18(1), 1-9 pages Background: Domestic violence against women is a global endemic that can commence or escalate during pregnancy and continue postpartum. Pregnant and postpartum women generally access health care providers more at this time than at any other time in their lives. Despite this, little is known about primary health care providers' screening practices for domestic violence. The purpose of this paper is to present survey findings that identified domestic violence screening practices of community based health care providers in pregnant and postpartum women.Methods: This paper reports on the survey results of a larger sequential mixed methods study that involved a survey and semi-structured interviews, and used a pragmatic approach to the data collection and analysis. The survey sought information via both fixed choice and open responses. Quantitative data from the surveys were entered into the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS™ Version 22) and analysed using descriptive statistics. Open responses were collated and then integrated and presented with the quantitative data.Results: Results revealed that some health care providers did not screen for domestic violence. Factors contributing to this lack of screening included: a lack of recognition that this was part of their role; and a lack of domestic violence screening policies and/or reminder systems. Further barriers to domestic violence screening were identified as a lack of time, resources and confidence in undertaking the screening and referral of women when domestic violence was detected.Conclusions: The findings reported in this paper confirm that further insights into the domestic violence screening practices of community based health care providers is required. Findings also have the potential to inform interventions that can be implemented to increase domestic violence screening and promote appropriate referral practices..
Sohal, A. H., Feder, G., Barbosa, E., Et al (2018). Improving the healthcare response to domestic violence and abuse in primary care: protocol for a mixed method evaluation of the implementation of a complex intervention. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 1-8 pag Background: Domestic violence and abuse remains a major health concern. It is unknown whether the improved healthcare response to domestic violence and abuse demonstrated in a cluster randomised controlled trial of IRIS (Identification and Referral to Improve Safety), a complex intervention, including general practice based training, support and referral programme, can be achieved outside a trial setting. Aim: To evaluate the impact over four years of a system wide implementation of IRIS, sequentially into multiple areas, outside the setting of a trial. Methods: An interrupted time series analysis of referrals received by domestic violence and abuse workers from 201 general practices, in five northeast London boroughs; alongside a mixed methods process evaluation and qualitative analysis. Segmented regression interrupted time series analysis to estimate impact of the IRIS intervention over a 53-month period. A secondary analysis compares the segmented regression analysis in each of the four implementation boroughs, with a fifth comparator borough. Discussion: This is the first interrupted time series analysis of an intervention to improve the health care response to domestic violence. The findings will characterise the impact of IRIS implementation outside a trial setting and its suitability for national implementation in the United Kingdom.
Diemer, K., Humphreys, C., & Crinall, K. (2017). Safe at home? Housing decisions for women leaving family violence. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 52(1), 32–47 Internationally, domestic violence policy has shifted towards supporting women to stay at home with the perpetrator of violence excluded. However, the practical realities indicate that this is a complex arena in which the rhetoric of rights for 'women and children to stay in their own home' needs to be underpinned by additional support to provide safety and protection for those choosing this option. The current study examines decision making about accommodation options and the role of civil protection orders among 138 women accessing domestic violence support services in Victoria Australia. It shines a light on the intersection between justice responses and the housing needs of women and their children leaving a violent relationship. Our findings reveal that for this sample of women, staying in their own home left them more open to breaches of intervention orders than those who re-located. In spite of the frequency of breaching, a majority of women believed that they were safer with the protective order in place. We conclude that supporting women to 'stay at home' with the perpetrator removed may be a pathway to safety for only a minority of women particularly if support from police and courts is not proactive and reliable.
Little, J. (2017). Understanding domestic violence in rural spaces. Progress in Human Geography, 41(4), 472–488 This paper responds to calls for geographers to engage critically with the claim that ‘violence sits in places’ in the analysis of domestic violence in rural areas. It argues the need to develop conceptual understandings of the spatialized and embodied experience of domestic violence in the countryside. Drawing on debates about what counts as violence and on feminist work on domestic violence as intimate terrorism, the paper explores ways in which experiences of violence (and associated fear) are shaped by particular constructions and performances of rural masculinity and by the social and cultural relations that continue to characterize rural communities.
Lorenzetti, L., Wells, L., Logie, C. H., & Callaghan, T. (2017). Understanding and preventing domestic violence in the lives of gender and sexually diverse persons. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 26(3), 175–185 A climate of structural violence, built on heteronormativity, heterosexism and sexual stigma shapes the lives of gender and sexually diverse (GSD) persons. This reality creates the social conditions within which interpersonal and intimate partner relationships are established, and within which domestic violence can occur. This article argues that a climate of structural violence against GSD persons creates specific risk factors for domestic violence victimization and unique barriers to receiving safe, appropriate and accessible services and supports act as obstacles to healthy intimate relationships. We purport that GSD persons experience additional risk factors such as heteronormativity, heterosexism, sexual stigma; traditional gender and sexuality norms; early stigma and homophobic harassment; social exclusion and isolation; and lack of appropriate domestic violence prevention services and supports which enhance the risk for domestic violence within GSD intimate relationships and limits the potential of prevention efforts. They emphasize that domestic violence will not be eradicated using a solely heteronormative interventionist approach and that the inclusion of a primary prevention approach that takes account of these additional risk factors is necessary to stop the violence before it starts.
Mayer, A. G. K. (2017). Intervening with Couples Experiencing Domestic Violence: Development of a Systemic Framework. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 38(2), 244–255 Current gendered interventions for couples experiencing intimate partner violence often do not address the complex systemic issues, nor allow for couple therapy. Experience of working in men's behaviour change group programs (or batterer programs) and with heterosexual couples, indicates this is not enough. Change options for men perpetrating domestic violence and support for partners are generally provided by individual services or gendered groups, located in separate agencies. This article initially poses some of the inadequacies of this gendered, 'one size fits all' ideology, which may compromise safety when couples stay together or there is shared parenting. It then explores further questions and possibilities raised by utilising a systemic lens in working with partners and families. It is possible to work systemically with a couple without compromising safety and accountability, where there is flexibility at intake, a both/and approach, ongoing assessment of risk, collaboration between professionals, and good transitions between individual and conjoint work. This article describes a systemic practice framework for working with partners, utilising individual, group, and conjoint sessions in a recursive four phase approach.
McCarthy, M., Hunt, S., & Milne, S. K. (2017). ’I Know it was Every Week, but I Can’t be Sure if it was Every Day: Domestic Violence and Women with Learning Disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 30(2), 269–282 Background Domestic violence against women is well researched in the general population, but much less so in relation to women with learning disabilities. This qualitative research study interviewed 15 women with learning disabilities who had experienced domestic violence about their experiences, the impact of the violence on them and their children, their coping strategies and help seeking behaviour. Materials and methods Semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted. Data were analysed using Inter-pretive Phenomenological Analysis. A service user advisory group helped at particular stages, notably at the formative stage and with dissemination, especially the production of accessible materials, including a DVD. Results The violence experienced by many of the women was severe and frequent. It impacted negatively on their physical and psychological well-being. The women's awareness of refuges and others sources of help was generally low. Conclusions Healthcare and social care professionals have a clear remit to help women with learning disabilities to avoid and escape violent relationships.
Prentice, K., Blair, B., & O’Mullan, C. (2017). Sexual and Family Violence: Overcoming Barriers to Service Access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Clients. Australian Social Work, 70(2), 241–252 Despite the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities typically experience a high prevalence of sexual and family violence, service responses have mostly been culturally inappropriate and ineffective. This article reports on a collaborative, participatory research project aimed at exploring barriers to service access by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients when they have been affected by sexual and family violence. The findings reveal multiple barriers to service access, including justice system deterrents, social taboo, shame, and a lack of culturally appropriate services. The article highlights the importance of recognising and addressing the complex interplay of historic, social, and cultural factors influencing service access.
Carson, R., Kaspiew, R., Dunstan, J. Et al (2016). Identifying and responding to family violence and child safety concerns. Family Matters, (98), 7–15 The article presents amendments introduced by the Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Act 2011 to the Family Law Act 1975 in Australia. The legislative amendments sought to better support the concerns' disclosure about child abuse, family violence and child safety on the part of parents who interact with the family law system and to urge professionals to distinguish and respond to concerns with parenting arrangements which prioritised protection from harm..
Dragiewicz, M., & Burgess, J. (2016). Domestic Violence on pass : Q&A : The “Man” Question in Live Twitter Discussion on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Q&A. Canadian Journal of Women & the Law, 28(1), 211–229 Domestic violence is currently undergoing a period of heightened visibility in Australia. This article uses social media to analyze public discussions about this violence with respect to a specific theoretical frame, which Adrian Howe has called the ''Man'' question: where and how are men visible or invisible in narratives about their violence against women? The article presents a qualitative study of the Twitter conversation surrounding a special episode of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television program Q&A, themed around family violence, which aired in February 2015. We found that the place of men in this conversation was contested. Some tweets privileged men's voices and concerns, as did the organization and production of the program. However, feminist voices were also highly visible via presenting facts, legitimating survivor voices, and recuperating antifeminist memes to challenge hegemonic patriarchal discourses on men's violence against women.
Heward-Belle, S. (2016). The Diverse Fathering Practices of Men Who Perpetrate Domestic Violence. Australian Social Work, 69(3), 323–337 The article presents a study which examined the various fathering practices of men who perpetrate domestic violence in Australia. The subject of the study are fathers participating in a men's behaviour change program (MBCP). Also cited are the other aspects of men's identities collected in the study like class, culture and health, as well as the effects of men's domestic violence on all aspects of family life..
Hou, J., Yu, L., Fang, X., & Epstein, N. B. (2016). The intergenerational transmission of domestic violence: the role that gender plays in attribution and consequent intimate partner violence. Journal of Family Studies, 22(2), 121–139 The intergenerational transmission of domestic violence has received significant research attention. In this study, a sample of 194 couples in Beijing was tested on the transmission mechanism. Thus, we asked: does marital attribution play a mediated role in the transmission from family-of-origin violence to subsequent intimate partner violence? We used three questionnaires: family-of-origin violence, Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2), and Marital Attitude Survey (MAS). Results showed that: (1) in family-of-origin violence, incidence of parent-to-child violence is much higher than inter-parental violence, in which incidence of father-to-mother violence is much higher than mother-to-father violence. (2) Family-of-origin violence has an impact on intimate partner violence (IPV); however, mothers’ perpetration of violence is more likely to have stronger effects. (3) Husbands’ attributions of malicious intent to spouse, and wives’ attributions of causality to spouse’s behavior can mediate parent-to-self violence and IPV. However, other types of dysfunctional marital attributions are not mediators in the relations between family-of-origin violence and IPV.
Riggs, D. W., Fraser, H., Taylor, N., Signal, T., & Donovan, C. (2016). Domestic Violence Service Providers’ Capacity for Supporting Transgender Women: Findings from an Australian Workshop. British Journal of Social Work, 46(8), 2374–2392 Previous research has consistently found that transgender women experience high levels of domestic violence and abuse (DVA). Yet, to date, no studies have explored the efficacy of training workshops aimed at increasing the capacity of service providers to meet the needs of transgender women. This paper reports on findings from one such workshop developed and run in South Australia. Workshop participants (n = 25) from three domestic violence services completed both pre- and post-workshop measures of attitudes towards working with transgender women, comfort in working with transgender women and confidence in providing services to transgender women. In addition, participants responded to open-ended questions regarding terminology, and awareness of referrals related to the link between DVA and animal abuse. Statistically significant changes were identified on all measures, with workshop attendees reporting more positive attitudes, greater comfort and greater confidence after completing the workshop. Analysis of open-ended responses found that attendees developed a better understanding of both appropriate terminology, and referrals for women who present to services with animal companions. We conclude with suggestions for how programmes and services may become more welcoming and inclusive of transgender women experiencing DVA
Ross, S., Healey, L., Diemer, K., & Humphreys, C. (2016). Providing an Integrated Response to Family Violence: Governance Attributes of Local Networks in Victoria. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 75(2), 127–136 The establishment of integrated responses to family violence represents a significant implementation challenge for locally-based networks. This research reports on the experiences of integrated family violence committees in Victoria, and the features of their governance associated with perceived effectiveness in committee functioning. There were consistent regional differences in the perceived effectiveness of committees. The main challenge for effective service integration was establishing and maintaining effective partnerships. There were substantial differences in the capacities of the committees to meet the challenges of integration, and the research points to the need for a stronger guidance and support role by central agencies.
Tarzia, L., May, C., & Hegarty, K. (2016). Assessing the feasibility of a web-based domestic violence intervention using chronic disease frameworks: reducing the burden of “treatment” and promoting capacity for action in women abused by a partner. BMC Wom Tarzia, L., May, C., & Hegarty, K. (2016). Assessing the feasibility of a web-based domestic violence intervention using chronic disease frameworks: reducing the burden of “treatment” and promoting capacity for action in women abused by a partner. BMC Women’s Health, 16, 1–9. Background: Domestic violence shares many features with chronic disease, including ongoing physical and mental health problems and eroded self-efficacy. Given the challenges around help-seeking for women experiencing domestic violence, it is essential that they be given support to ‘self-manage’ their condition. The growing popularity of web-based applications for chronic disease self-management suggests that there may be opportunities to use them as an intervention strategy for women experiencing domestic violence, however, as yet, little is known about whether this might work in practice. Discussion: It is critical that interventions for domestic violence—whether web-based or otherwise—promote agency and capacity for action rather than adding to the ‘workload’ of already stressed and vulnerable women. Although randomised controlled trials are vital to determine the effectiveness of interventions, robust theoretical frameworks can complement them as a way of examining the feasibility of implementing an intervention in practice. To date, no such frameworks have been developed for the domestic violence context. Consequently, in this paper we propose that it may be useful to appraise interventions for domestic violence using frameworks developed to help understand the barriers and facilitators around self-management of chronic conditions. Using a case study of an online healthy relationship tool and safety decision aid developed in Australia (I-DECIDE), this paper adapts and applies two theories: Burden of Treatment Theory and Normalisation Process Theory, to assess whether the intervention might increase women’s agency and capacity for action. In doing this, it proposes a new theoretical model with which the practical application of domestic violence interventions could be appraised in conjunction with other evaluation frameworks. Summary: This paper argues that theoretical frameworks for chronic disease are appropriate to assess the feasibility of implementing interventions for domestic violence in practice. The use of the modified Burden of Treatment / Normalisation Process Theory framework developed in this paper strengthens the case for I-DECIDE and other web-based applications as a way of supporting women experiencing domestic violence. Keywords: Domestic violence, Web-based intervention, Theoretical frameworks, Burden of treatment, Women
Lewis, M. L. (2018). A Tool to Support Childbirth Educators to Help Women Cope with Loss of a Pregnancy due to Domestic Violence. International Journal of Childbirth Education, 33(3), 36–41. Domestic violence during pregnancy is associated with poor health outcomes for both the woman and her unborn baby including maternal injury or death. The developing fetus is impacted by the violence to the pregnant woman's body. This article reviewed the predictable cycles of domestic violence (Walker, 1978) as well as risk factors and the implications for childbirth educators working with women who may be in domestic violence situations. A simple model of compassionate listening is described that both supports and affirms pregnant women who experience the death of their fetuses due to domestic violence but maintains their safety.
Weisberg, D. K. (2018). Children’s Perspectives of Mothering in the Context of Domestic Violence: Recent Research Findings. Family & Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly, 10(3), 43. In this short but impactful piece, author D. Kelly Weisberg documents what survivors and their advocates already know: that both before and after separation from an abusive partner, a battered women's relationship with her children has great significance for her own well-being and, even more, for that of her children. Ms. Weisberg reiterates the often-stated observation that battered mothers' parenting skills improve after separation, assuming that she becomes finally free to live without the abusive manipulations imposed upon her and her children by the batterer.
Szilassy, E., Drinkwater, J., Hester, M., Et al (2017). Making the links between domestic violence and child safeguarding: an evidence-based pilot training for general practice. Health & Social Care in the Community, 25(6), 1722–1732. We describe the development of an evidence-based training intervention on domestic violence and child safeguarding for general practice teams. We aimed - in the context of a pilot study - to improve knowledge, skills, attitudes and self-efficacy of general practice clinicians caring for families affected by domestic violence. Our evidence sources included: a systematic review of training interventions aiming to improve professional responses to children affected by domestic violence; content mapping of relevant current training in England; qualitative assessment of general practice professionals' responses to domestic violence in families; and a two-stage consensus process with a multi-professional stakeholder group. Data were collected between January and December 2013. This paper reports key research findings and their implications for practice and policy; describes how the research findings informed the training development and outlines the principal features of the training intervention. We found lack of cohesion and co-ordination in the approach to domestic violence and child safeguarding. General practice clinicians have insufficient understanding of multi-agency work, a limited competence in gauging thresholds for child protection referral to children's services and little understanding of outcomes for children. While prioritising children's safety, they are more inclined to engage directly with abusive parents than with affected children. Our research reveals uncertainty and confusion surrounding the recording of domestic violence cases in families' medical records. These findings informed the design of the RESPONDS training, which was developed in 2014 to encourage general practice clinicians to overcome barriers and engage more extensively with adults experiencing abuse, as well as responding directly to the needs of children. We conclude that general practice clinicians need more support in managing the complexity of this area of practice. We need to integrate and further evaluate responses to the needs of children exposed to domestic violence into general practice-based domestic violence training.

Useful websites

Walking the Walk: Next Steps Against Family Violence (2015) : YouTube online resources We investigate what a real, practical change in Australia’s relationship to family violence might look like – and grapple with questions of policy – with 2015 Australian of the Year and anti-family violence advocate Rosie Batty, Human Rights Law Centre executive director Hugh de Kretser, sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, and co-chair of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples and the National Justice Coalition, Kirstie Parker. With host (and Women's Legal Service Victoria CEO) Joanna Fletcher, our panellists explore what a proper and nuanced response to the complex issue of family violence might entail, and weigh up the roles of law enforcement, government, communities and the legal profession. Presented in partnership with Human Rights Law Centre and Women's Legal Service Victoria.
Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria
A statewide resource centre supporting workers and families to help stop family violence.
Domestic/family homicide in Australia
by Tracy Cussen & Willow Bryant. Australian Institute of Criminology, Research in Practice, No. 38 May 2015.
Domestic and family violence
by Christopher Angus. NSW Parliamentary Research Service, Briefing Paper No 5/2015
Stepping stones: legal barriers to economic equality after family violence - Women's Legal Service Victoria (22 September 2015) Executive summary Women’s Legal Service Victoria has observed that there are legal and economic problems arising from family violence which result in serious financial hardship for women and, at present, there are no accessible legal remedies to these problems. We have researched the problems in the Stepping Stones project. This report contains the findings of the project and recommendations for solutions. In interviews with women, we explored the consequences of family violence on women’s financial circumstances. We specifically directed our attention to systemic barriers women faced in their economic recovery. Common themes emerged from the interviews including: •A lack of police understanding of the financial consequences arising from family violence, and a lack of police action in stopping economic abuse. •The conditions included in intervention orders of the Magistrates’ Court are largely unhelpful in preventing economic abuse. •Women who are victims of family violence often have to flee their home; this has serious financial implications and there is a major shortage of available housing for women. •Service providers such as energy retailers, telecommunication services and banks have low awareness of the difficulties faced by women experiencing family violence and are unhelpful when interacting with these customers. •The energy, telecommunications and banking industries insist on their right to enforce joint debts, even in circumstances of family violence. This places women and their financial recovery at risk. •Women have little knowledge of their legal and financial rights following violence and separation. This lack of knowledge can result in women staying in unsafe relationships. •Women who are involved in family law proceedings to resolve financial issues experience a lengthy and stressful process, and achieve outcomes that are often inequitable. Many women choose not to pursue financial settlements after relationship breakdown because of the particular barriers created by family violence. This causes further financial disadvantage for women. Perpetrators use joint debt to continue to perpetrate violence against women and there is no legal recourse to sever the joint liability. Although there are legal mechanisms available to address some of the problems women encounter, women’s access to these mechanisms is hindered. There is potential to make better use of intervention orders in dealing with some of the debt and small property issues that arise. There are also existing mechanisms in the family law jurisdiction that could better assist women. Improving the accessibility of available legal remedies for family violence victims is key to economic equality. During our research it became clear that reform to: family law, the family violence legal system and the regulation of energy, telecommunications and credit is needed. This law and regulation reform needs to be coupled with the adoption of better policies by industry and government departments which:
Specialist family violence services: the heart of an effective family violence system
Domestic Violence Victoria submission to the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence -19 June 2015
Domestic, family and sexual violence in Australia: an overview of the issues (2014)
Australian Government report
Domestic violence in Australia - interim report (19 March 2015)
Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee. Commonwealth of Australia
Domestic violence in Australia - final report (20 August 2015)
Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee. Commonwealth of Australia
Protection orders for domestic violence: A systematic review. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice No. 551 (2018) : Australian Institute of Criminology : Australian government Protection orders are a common legal response to domestic violence which aim to prevent further re-victimisation by the perpetrator. The current study systematically reviews research into the use and impact of protection orders, using the EMMIE framework (Effectiveness, Mechanisms, Moderators, Implementation and Economy). Meta-analysis is used to examine the overall effect of protection orders, while narrative synthesis is used to examine the underlying mechanisms and moderators of their effectiveness, their implementation and economic viability. Protection orders are associated with a small but significant reduction in domestic violence. They appear to be more effective under certain circumstances, including when the victim has fewer ties to the perpetrator and a greater capacity for independence, and less effective for offenders with a history of crime, violence and mental health issues.
Targeting repeat domestic violence: Assessing short term risk of reoffending. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice No. 552 (2018) : Australian Institute of Criminology : Australian government Drawing on repeat victimisation studies, and analysing police data on domestic violence incidents, the current study examined the prevalence and correlates of short-term reoffending. The results showed that a significant proportion of offenders reoffended in the weeks and months following a domestic violence incident. Individuals who reoffended more quickly were more likely to be involved in multiple incidents in a short period of time. Offenders with a history of domestic violence—particularly more frequent offending—and of breaching violence orders were more likely to reoffend. Most importantly, the risk of reoffending was cumulative, increasing with each subsequent incident. The findings have important implications for police and other frontline agencies responding to domestic violence, demonstrating the importance of targeted, timely and graduated responses.
Domestic violence order offenders. Crime facts info No. 136 (2006) : Australian Institute of Criminology : Australian government A domestic violence order (DVO) is issued, generally by a magistrate, as a lawful direction restraining what a family or defacto family member may do in respect of one or more other family members. DVOs are separate from other types of restraining order and are targeted at violent behaviour. It is not an offence to be subject to a restraining order, but it is unlawful to breach the order. The Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program collects data from police detainees in 9 sites across Australia. The following graph shows that all age groups of adult males who have been detained and charged contain a proportion whose current charges include breaching a DVO, whether as the most serious offence or a lesser charge. Overall, 3.4 percent of male detainees at DUMA sites have been charged with breaching a DVO, but there is an increasing trend with age. In the youngest age group (18-20 years), only 1.2 % of detainees have been charged with such an offence, while the proportion in older males (36 years and older) is 5.2%, or four and a half times as many. A recent Australian Federal Police report found that 12% of attendances at domestic violence incidents in the ACT resulted in a breach DVO charge (Taylor 2006).
Community perceptions of domestic violence. Crime facts info No. 138 (2006) : Australian Institute of Criminology : Australian government A recent VicHealth publication (VicHealth 2006) reported on a survey of contemporary community attitudes among 2,800 Victorian respondents to violence against women. The Australian Institute of Criminology analysed and recently reported on the results (Taylor & Mouzos, 2006). There were 2,000 adults aged 18 years and older who were randomly interviewed by telephone for the main sample along with an additional oversample of 800 persons from Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian and Greek backgrounds. In the report this oversample was referred to as respondents from selected culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (SCALD). As the following chart demonstrates, male and female respondents in the main sample were significantly more likely than the SCALD sample to say that forcing a partner to have sex is always domestic violence. Persons from the SCALD sample were more likely to answer 'don't know' than the main sample. The report shows that these differences in attitudes were reflected across a range of other questions.
Domestic violence typologies: What value to practice?. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice No. 494 (2015) : Australian Institute of Criminology : Australian government Over the last few decades, understandings of the nature and causes of domestic violence have increased in sophistication. This has been influenced by, and led to, an influx of domestic violence typologies that have attempted to identify differences between groups of offenders and victims based on factors ranging from physiological reactions to specific stimuli through to historical experiences of violence and abuse. While this research has been of undeniable conceptual and theoretical value, its applicability to the day-to-day work of domestic violence practitioners is less clear. This study represents one of the first attempts to speak directly to professionals about how domestic violence typologies inform their everyday decision making and case practice.
Young Australians and domestic violence. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice No. 195 (2001) : Australian Institute of Criminology : Australian government In 1998 and 1999 an investigation into young people's experience of, and attitudes towards, domestic violence was undertaken. This brief overview summarises some of the findings of young people's experiences in their own relationships, their experience of witnessing adult domestic violence and their attitudes towards violence. The implications of the findings for understanding young people's experience of domestic violence and prevention are briefly highlighted.
Forsdike, K., Tarzia, L., Hindmarsh, E., Hegarty, K. (2014). Family violence across the life cycle. Australian Family Physician, Vol. 43, NO. 11, pp. 768 - 774 Background: Family violence covers a range of abuse including child abuse and neglect, intimate partner violence and elder abuse. Each form of abuse has a significant negative impact on health and wellbeing, and patients present to general practice with varying physical and psychological issues. General practice is unique in that it often works with an entire family, which can be challenging and needs to be actively managed. Objective: This article aims to address clinical questions that general practitioners (GPs) may have in identifying and responding to patients experiencing family violence. It takes into account the different types of abuse victims experience and how to respond to perpetrators. The recommendations in this article can also apply to same-sex relationships. Discussion: Managing family violence requires a whole-of-practice approach to encourage a safe environment in which families can disclose abuse and where GPs can respond appropriately. Abuse can be inter-generational and GPs have a role in identification, management and referral. Keywords: domestic violence; general practice
Phillips, J. and Vandenbroek, P., (2014) Domestic, family and sexual violence in Australia: an overview of the issues : Parliament of Australia : Australian government 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.
Sammut, J. (2014) The New Silence: Family Breakdown and Child Sexual Abuse: Centre for Independent Studies Despite family breakdown exposing children to greater risk of sexual abuse, the issue receives scant attention in this country. Child sexual abuse is not fully and frankly discussed because the public discourse is self-censored by politicians, academics, social service organisations, and the media in compliance with politically correct attitudes towards ‘family diversity’—the socially ‘progressive’ and ‘non-judgmental’ fiction that says the traditional family is just one among many, and equally worthy, family forms.
Profiling parental child sex abuse. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice No. 465 (2014) : Australian Institute of Criminology: Australian government Public policy initiatives to redress parental child sexual offenders have been hindered by the absence of an offending profile that characterises this core group of intrafamilial offenders. Drawing on data from a sample of 213 offenders, this study augments knowledge about sex offender typologies by identifying ten key descriptive features of parental offenders. The findings revealed that parental sex offenders have a distinctive profile unlike that of other child sexual offenders and are more criminally versatile than presupposed. This may provide useful information to support clinical practice and preventive interventions aimed at increasing offender desistance and reducing threats to the safety and welfare of young children and their families.
Dr Wei Leng Kwok (2013) Trends in evaluation: Preventing violence against women : Violence Against Women : Vic Health : Victorian government Resource 1: Preventing violence against women: Community of practice reflections (688KB) Resource 2: Paper 1: Evaluation capacity building in the Respect, Responsibility and Equality program: Report on Stage 1 (2008–10) (937KB) Resource 3: Paper 2: Evaluating preventing violence against women initiatives: A participatory and learning-oriented approach for primary prevention in Victoria (1.08MB) Resource 4: Preventing violence against women. Doing evaluation differently: A five step guide for funders, evaluators and partners to build capacity for evaluation, learning and improvement (1MB)
White Ribbon
Australia's campaign to stop violence against women
Family violence : Victims of Crime : Victorian government This page: explains that abusive behaviour can happen in many different personal and family relationships gives examples of abusive behaviour explains the physical and emotional effects of an abusive relationship explains what to do if you’re experiencing abuse in a personal or family relationship.