10 Years On: Global Progress & Delay in Ending Violence against Children – The Rhetoric & the Reality

Youth Justice, Early years, Family Violence

The International NGO Council on Violence against Children has published a report focused on violence that affects children across the globe. This report comments on the many forms of violence perpetrated against children, including child detention rates, child marriage, and physical violence and punishment. It calls on the global community to address the root causes of violence and promote a culture of respect for the rights of the child.

The Australian Human Rights Commission launched 'Conversations in Gender Equality' on International Women’s day. Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, consulted with more 1000 people from every state and territory in Australia to build a comprehensive picture of women’s experiences of gender inequality Participants in the consultation come from a diverse range of communities and with a variety of life experiences. Key themes discussed include negative attitudes and everyday sexism, women’s economic security, violence against women, and living in rural, regional and remote areas. The report aims to raise awareness of gender inequality throughout Australia and to shed light on the everyday struggles women experience across many life domains.

A familiar face: Violence in the lives of children and adolescents

Family Violence

Close to three-quarters of the world’s children aged two to four years old experience physical or verbal violence, or both, by their caregivers at home, according to a new UNICEF report. The report sheds light on four specific forms of violence: violent discipline and exposure to domestic abuse during early childhood; violence at school; violent deaths among adolescents; and sexual violence in childhood and adolescence. The research found that as many as 15 million girls worldwide aged 15 to 19 years old have been raped or sexually assaulted in their lifetime. It is recommended that a national approach to preventing violence against children should address systemic societal beliefs and attitudes that perpetuate the problem, in any setting, including in the home, school, and community.

A National System for Domestic and Family Violence Death Review

Family Violence, Child maltreatment

This report identifies the steps needed to expand domestic and family death review mechanisms to all Australian jurisdictions and ensure that recommendations made to Federal Government agencies in death review processes are actioned.

A socio-ecological exploration of adolescent violence in the home and young people with disability: The perceptions of mothers and practitioners

Disability, Family Violence, Report

This Australian National Research Organisation for Women's Safety report details the experiences of mothers and carers of young people with a disability that use violence in the home. This report is can provide insights into the responses by service providers and the experiences of young people with a disability.

A team effort: Preventing violence against women through sport

Family Violence, Report

Sport has great potential to influence social change and prevent violence against women by creating inclusive, equitable, healthy and safe environments for men and women, boys and girls. This evidence guide collates the academic literature and research evidence regarding sport as a setting for the prevention of violence against women. It provides a summary of current prevention initiatives, and draws from an analysis of these and the wider literature to outline 10 key elements of promising practice in sport settings.

Adolescent family violence in Australia: A national study of prevalence, history of childhood victimisation and impacts

Family Violence, Young People, Client Voice, Report

This Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety research report uses quantitative and qualitative survey data from young people who have used violence to gain insights into their use and experiences. This report offers recommendations for primary prevention strategies for services engaged with young people that use violence.

Alcohol/Drug-Involved Family Violence in Australia: Final report

Family Violence, Alcohol and Other Drugs

Alcohol/Drug-Involved Family Violence in Australia (ADIVA) has set out to investigate the links between family violence and alcohol and other drug (AOD) use in Australia. It draws on data from an Australia wide personal safety survey and police attendance data. Findings show that alcohol was involved in 29% of family violence incidences, and that 12% of family violence incidents were drug-related. Significant challenges include the intergenerational nature of the cycle of violence, and the impact of trauma on children. The paper makes recommendations that would address AOD use in repeat offenders.

Amplify report: Turning up the volume on young people and family violence

Family Violence, Young People, Report, Policy, Report

Melbourne City Mission has released this report examining the policy and service gaps for young people experiencing family violence in Victoria. A key finding of the study is that young people’s ways of managing their safety are often misunderstood and seen as problematic instead of being recognised as protective. The report makes 20 recommendations.

Analysis of the impact increasing the rate and extending eligibility of Parenting Payment Single on financial living standards

Family Violence, Welfare, Report

This report models the Summers Proposal, highlighting the potential benefits of improving social security payments for single mothers. Implementing the proposal could reduce the poverty gap and provide practitioners with valuable evidence to support vulnerable women and children in leaving violent relationships.

Annual alcohol poll 2017: Attitudes and behaviours

Family Violence, Alcohol and Other Drugs

This report by The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education summarises findings of the 2017 nation-wide survey that explored community attitudes towards alcohol. For the first time, Australians were asked in 2017 if they thought there was a link between alcohol and family violence. Ninety-two percent of Australians believe that there is a link between the two, and 80% indicate that they think governments should be doing more to address the role that alcohol plays in family violence.

ANROWS Research Summary: The impacts of domestic and family violence on children

Early years, Family Violence, Young People, Report

This summary is designed for practitioners and policy-makers who want to know more about ANROWS research on the impacts of domestic and family violence (DFV) on children. It outlines the major issues found in ANROWS research relevant to children, the factors preventing effective service delivery and the policy and practice changes recommended by the researchers. It concludes with future research directions.

Attitudes matter: The 2021 National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS), findings for Australia

Family Violence, Report

ANROWS releases latest results from the NCAS survey on attitudes towards domestic violence in Australia. Progress seen since 2009, but concerning findings remain. 41% incorrectly believe equal rates of male and female perpetrators. Majority don't see issue in all communities, and only 47% recognise it in their own town. Valuable for practitioners to address misconceptions and promote awareness of domestic violence across all communities.

Australian country report – “Never waste a crisis”: Domestic and family violence policy and practice initiatives in response to COVID-19

Family Violence, COVID-19, Review, Domestic Violence, Prevention Strategies, Report

Australia’s Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) and the University of Melbourne have released this Australian country report, one of four country reports as part of the DAHLIA-19 study, examining prevention strategies and responses to domestic and family violence during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and up until June 2021. The study found evidence that policy and funding strategies resulted in increased collaboration and communication, more multiagency working, leveraging of existing relationships and more efficient decision-making processes.

This resource sheet presents a snapshot of data describing child protection activity in Australia. It looks at the figures from each state and territory, including the number of investigated and substantiated reports of harm, the most common types of substantiated reports, and characteristics of children who are the subjects of reports.

This resource sheet provides an overview of the statistics on child deaths resulting from abuse and neglect, and information on the recording of child deaths in Australia. In 2015-16 in Victoria, the Department of Health and Human Services referred 38 cases of children (an increase of 59% from the previous year) who had died and were known to child protection up to 12 months before their death to the commission for inquiry. Common causes of death included non-accidental trauma and self-harm.

This updated resource sheet provides a snapshot of the rates of involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in child protection and out-of-home care. In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are almost seven times more likely than non-Indigenous children to be the subject of substantiated reports of harm or risk of harm. Further, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 9.8 times more likely than non-Indigenous children to be in out-of-home care. The experience of poverty, assimilation policies, intergenerational trauma and discrimination is discussed in relation to the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the Child protection system.

This report was developed in collaboration with Melbourne University and identifies gaps in published literature pertaining to 5 key focus areas; Aboriginal children and families, out of home care, high-risk young people, trauma-informed practice, children with disabilities and their families and family violence.

The latest issue of Children Australia includes a range of articles about social work practice and children experiencing vulnerability, including articles about the leadership of young people in family violence prevention, the engagement of refugee families in early childhood services, and the therapeutic supports required for child to recover from family violence.

Monash University’s Gender and Family Violence Program has produced a research brief on the topic of coercive control. This briefing paper brings together research regarding coercive control to support prevention and intervention efforts. Coercive control is understood as a gendered pattern of behaviour using the tactics of intimidation, control and degradation to take away the victim’s freedom. This paper offers brief recommendations for practice as these relate to police and criminal justice responses.

Community Based Prevention of Violence Against Women and Their Children: A Toolkit for Practitioners

Family Violence

Ourwatch has launched an evidence-based toolkit for practitioners and community service organisations to engage their community to prevent violence against women. It addresses the gendered drivers of violence against women and provides a suite of strategies to help practitioners respond to them. The toolkit encourages a tailored approach to prevention that is community driven and specific.

Critical interpretive synthesis: Child protection involvement for families with domestic and family violence, alcohol and other drug issues, and mental health issues

Family Violence, Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs, Report, Child Protection, Report

This report by Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) explores the occurrence, overlap or interrelationships between domestic and family violence, alcohol and other drug issues and mental health issues in Australian families involved in the child protection system. A critical interpretive synthesis of the academic and grey literature found significant weaknesses in the evidence base. The study concluded that further research is needed to understand these interactions in the Australian context.

Data snapshot – Child witnesses of family violence: An examination of Victoria Police family violence data

Family Violence, Young People, Children

This report from the Crime Statistics Agency examines the prevalence and outcomes of witnessing family violence for children aged 0-17 in Victoria. It found that over a five-year-period in Victoria, 109,356 family violence incidents occurred with at least one child witness present. Of those child witnesses, over two-thirds were aged 9 years or younger. In 2018-19, over a third of incidents took place in the lowest ranking socio-economic areas in Victoria.

Doing good business: A resource for researchers about conducting research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children about family violence.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Family Violence, Tool/toolkit

This research tool, prepared by staff at the ACU Institute of Child Protection Studies (ICPS) is designed for people who may be interested in funding or conducting research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children on the topic of family violence. Its guidance is informed by the views of Indigenous researchers, research ethics committee members, Elders and senior community members, service providers, parents and young people from remote, rural, regional and urban Australia.

A new report published by ANROWS examines the impact of inter-parental conflict (IPC) and domestic and family violence (DFV) on parenting and parent–child relationships. The report shows that emotional abuse is a serious issue in family breakdowns, and those women at the more extreme end of family violence are experiencing multiple and overlapping types of abuse, including emotional, physical, sexual and financial abuse. The report also found a relationship between the presence of family violence and parenting capacity, satisfaction with parent-child relationships, and child wellbeing. The report concludes with key recommendations to improve policy and practice.

Domestic and family violence perpetrator screening and risk assessment in Queensland: Current practice and future opportunities

Family Violence, Policy Recommendations, Report

The Australian Institute of Criminology study explores how service systems encountering domestic and family violence (DFV) approach screenings and risk assessments of perpetrators. The study reveals variations in practices across child protection, mental health, substance abuse, and corrections services, highlighting the need for better training and support for frontline staff. This emphasises the importance of addressing DFV comprehensively and enhancing screening processes to include perpetrator considerations.

Domestic and family violence protection orders in Australia: An investigation of information-sharing and enforcement with a focus on interstate orders

Family Violence, Report

Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) has released a report summarising the findings of research undertaken by the Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research regarding the enforcement of Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DPVOs). Inconsistencies and competing interests at the intersections of domestic and family violence, child protection, and family law remain a barrier to effective implementation and enforcement of DVPOs.

Economic Abuse between Intimate Partners in Australia: Prevalence, Health Status, Disability and Financial Stress

Family Violence, Safety and wellbeing, low income

Economic abuse is a form of domestic violence that has a significant impact on the health and financial wellbeing of victims. However, economic abuse between intimate partners remains a largely under-researched topic in Australia. This study aims to provide a national picture of the prevalence of economic abuse within the general population by determining the prevalence by age and gender, and identifying associated risk factors. The study found financial stress and disability to be significant indicators of economic abuse in the home.

Effectively engaging stakeholders and the public in developing violence prevention messages

Family Violence, Evidence Informed Practice

This study explores the ways in which stakeholders and the wider public can be effectively engaged when developing and communicating violence prevention messages. It emphasises the need for clear and consistent messaging, and evidence informed approach informed by past experiences.

Emerging evidence, insights and lessons: News media and the primary prevention of violence against women and their children

Family Violence

This report from Our Watch explores the role that media can play in preventing violence against women and children. It highlights the link between media reporting and community attitudes towards violence against women, and the tendency for news media to blame victims. The report suggests a number of practices that could improve the situation for women and children, including training for journalists and students and cross sector collaboration.

Evaluation of the pre-court support for adolescents using violence in the home (AVITH) pilot: Final evaluation report

Youth Justice, Family Violence, Young People, Report

This Centre for Innovative Justice report presents evaluations and impacts from a Youth Law early intervention program for young people who use violence in the home. This report provides insights into the effectiveness and limitations of the program as well as an evaluation guide for service providers working in the AVITH space.

Fathers who use violence: Options for safe practice where there is ongoing contact with children

Families and parenting, Family Violence, Safety and wellbeing

In situations of family violence, women and children are not always in a position to separate from an abusive partner. Separation itself may cause increased violence, homelessness or poverty. This paper explores strategies for working with families where fathers who use violence continue to have contact with the children. Whole of family approaches that engage each member of the family are discussed as having an important role to play in promoting the wellbeing and safety of all involved.

Free from Violence: Victoria’s Strategy to prevent family violence

Family Violence, Safety and wellbeing, Evidence-Based Program

The Victorian Government has launched the next step to build a state free from violence, with the release of a Primary Prevention Strategy as part of the Family Violence Rolling Action Plan. The strategy focuses on the social structures, norms and practices that prevent or reduce the risk of violence. The strategy outlines a plan to develop more evidence-based programs and to establish the first Victorian Prevention Agency.

Future-proofing safety: The organisational case studies report

Family Violence, Report, COVID-19, Report, Case Study

The Centre for Family Research and Evaluation at Drummond Street, Good Shepherd and GenWest have released this interactive report detailing three organisational case studies that explore family violence service data before and during COVID-19 in 2020-21 to increase understand of how family violence presentations changed in the context of the pandemic. The report presents findings relating to demographics, comparisons to pre-COVID and organisational response. A key finding was that Good Shepherd experienced a 51 per cent increase in the number of clients receiving family violence case management.

These publications from the Department of Health and Human Services share the complexities of work with children, youth and families and some of the innovative practice approaches being used to address them. This is an annual publication shining a spotlight on examples of good practice and the variety of practice approaches available.

Hospitalised assault injuries among women and girls: fact sheet

Family Violence, Safety and wellbeing

This fact sheet examines cases of hospitalised assault perpetrated against women in the period 2013–14. Women aged 15-19 and 50-54 years experienced the highest rates of assault. Fifty-nine percent of all these women were assaulted by bodily force. Where information about the perpetrator was available, a spouse or domestic partner was the most commonly reported perpetrator, evident in 59% of cases.

I believe you: Children and young people’s experiences of seeking help, securing help and navigating the family violence system

Family Violence, Client Voice, Children and Young People, Report

The Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre (MGFVPC) conducted a research project in collaboration with FSV to develop MARAM practice guidance. This report presents findings from in-depth interviews with Victorian children and young people (ages 10-25) who have experienced family violence, providing valuable insights for practitioners working in this field.

Identifying the key components of a ‘whole family’ intervention for families experiencing domestic violence and abuse

Families and parenting, Family Violence, Safety and wellbeing

This article in the Journal of Gender-Based Violence outlines the shift in knowledge and practice that is driving new approaches to domestic violence and abuse. As the name implies, whole family approaches aim to engage with all family members living with domestic violence rather than focusing only on women as victims. This article describes findings from an evaluation of a pilot in one town in Northern England over 18 months. The pilot shows how, in a children’s social care setting, where additional resources and organisational support are made available, practice can be shifted away from a blaming approach to one that emphasises the potential for recovery and change for all family members. The article is available free of charge until the end of June.

Intervention programme for fathers who use domestic and family violence: Results from an evaluation of Caring Dads

Family Violence, Journal article, Case Study, Domestic Violence, Program Evaluation, Journal article, Case Study

This article, published in Child & Family Social Work, presents the findings of an evaluation of Caring Dads, a Men’s Behaviour Change Program trialled in two Australian locations. The study had a small sample size (40 fathers and 17 mothers) however findings aligned with previous evaluations of the program. The evaluation found positive improvements for mothers in their self-perceived level of safety, experiences of domestic and family violence, and in respectful communication.

ANROWS and the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network have released this national data analysis report investigating the prevalence of, and characteristics and dynamics that precede, an IPV homicide. A key finding was that of the 311 IPV homicides examined, there were at least 172 children under the age of 18 who survived the homicide involving one, or both, of their parents.

Investigating the mental health of children exposed to domestic and family violence through the use of linked police and health records

Family Violence, Mental Health, Young People, Adolescents, Support Services

In this report Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) presents findings from a unique set of data collected over a 30-year period in Western Australia. Researchers looked at instances of engagement with mental health agencies for children under the age of 18 who had been exposed to family violence. Key findings are detailed in the report.

This Kids Helpline Australia report outlines the issues affecting children and young people in Australia. In 2016, counsellors responded to over 3,400 contacts each week from children and young people seeking information, support or counselling. The impact of technology continues to create innovation but also concerns about safety. There has been a 151% growth in young people using WebChat over five years.

Listening to the Voices of Children and Young People Harmed by Fathers Who Choose Violence: An interview with Professor Cathy Humphreys and Dr. Katie Lamb

Family Violence, Podcast

This episode from the Partnered with a Survivor podcast, features an interview with Professor Cathy Humphreys and Dr. Katie Lamb from the University of Melbourne about their participatory research with children and young people who have experienced family violence from their fathers. This episode features their reflections as researchers, and also shares one of the digital stories developed by a young person as part of this project.

Long ignored, adolescent family violence needs our attention

Family Violence

This short article discusses the detrimental effects that adolescent family violence has on the health and wellbeing of families. Adolescent family violence is distinct because it is violence perpetrated by young people against family members, and can carry and stigma and shame with it. It is a complex form of family violence and, to date, has had limited research in the Australian context.

Looking Back, Moving Forward: Learnings from the transition to working online in primary prevention

Family Violence, Evidence Informed Practice, Tool/toolkit

This Safe and Equal peak body resource details the advantages and challenges for primary prevention family violence practitioners moving to an online environment. This resource demonstrates embedding learning within the practice and is particularly useful for Victorian primary prevention practitioners.