This year there’s been unprecedented focus and press coverage on family violence in Australia, for an incredibly tragic reason: during the first 5 months of this year, we have witnessed an escalation in the number of women killed as a result of family violence. Whilst statistics from prior years show that on average one woman each week was killed by a current or former partner, recent statistics indicate we are, on average, now losing one woman every four days to family violence.

I have practised family law for 26 years. During that time, family violence has been part of my daily client experience. From my standpoint, the frequency of clients experiencing family violence has not changed, but our awareness as a society has.

THE ECONOMICS OF FAMILY VIOLENCE

The economic impact of family violence cannot be understated. It can affect a victim’s living and economic situation, in some circumstances leaving them without income or financial support and reliant on financial assistance from specialist services.

The Federal Government’s announcement (as part of the FY25 budget) that it would invest $925 million over the next 5 years is staggering – but sobering when you consider that the cost of family violence to the Australian economy in 2023 was estimated at $21.7 billion.[1]

Whilst we now have the attention of our political leaders, the recently announced increase in funding is largely aimed at assisting those that have fled their homes to re-establish themselves (and their children) elsewhere – away from their communities, necessitating change of schools for children and (in some cases) loss of employment.

ARE VICTIMS SEEKING HELP AT THE RIGHT TIME?

The Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey 2021–22 (ABS Personal Safety Survey)[2] found that:

• 45% of women who had experienced physical and/or sexual violence from a current partner did not seek advice or support about the violence.
• 37% of women and 39% of men who had experienced physical and/or sexual violence from a previous partner did not seek advice or support about the violence.

The ABS Personal Safety Survey[3] estimated that almost 2 in 3 (64%) of women who experienced partner violence left the home when the relationship finally ended. Most go to temporary accommodation away from friends, family, schools and social networks, jeopardising their employment and general stability. This is also reflected in a recent report from Homelessness Australia[4] which found that 45 per cent of women and girls seeking homelessness assistance have done so in the context of family violence.

The ANROWS National Risk Assessment principles highlight the following:

• Women are most at risk of being killed or seriously harmed during and/or immediately after separation. The NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team recorded that approximately two-thirds (65%) of female victims killed by a former intimate partner between 2000-2014 had ended their relationship within three months of the homicide.
• Separation is particularly dangerous when the perpetrator has been highly controlling during the relationship and continues or escalates their violence following separation in an attempt to reassert control or punish the victim.
• Children are also at heightened risk of harm during and post-separation.[5]

Currently it is estimated that allegations of family violence are made in approximately 70% of family law cases before the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

Clearly separation is a high risk event. But the statistics show that victims may not be getting the right support at the right time. Why?

THE STRATEGIC GAP – GETTING THE RIGHT ADVICE AT THE RIGHT TIME

There are numerous initiatives and organisations trying to find solutions to assist victims of family violence, in addition to recent government initiatives. For example, the Commonwealth Bank and Good Shepherd both offer low interest or interest free loans to victims of family violence. However, these initiatives are not aimed at preventing violence, but instead only assist with the aftermath of violence by giving victims access to funds for specific costs, such as relocation expenses, rental costs, or the purchase of essential items.

There remains, in my view and based on my experience, an absence of strategy around preventing family violence and the important part that legal advice and the legal system can play in supporting those seeking to escape family violence with the right advice and the right strategy at the right time.

Legal advice is costly

There’s a prevailing view in the community that legal advice is unaffordable. What is less well known is that many accredited family law specialists provide discounted initial meetings, with some also providing fixed or reduced fee services.

For example, our firm offers a two hour meeting for $490 plus GST – 2 hours with a lawyer experienced in family violence matters could have a significant positive impact on someone seeking to leave a dangerous relationship.

LEGAL ADVICE – AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF SAFETY PLANNING

Why is legal advice not considered part of a prevention piece, supported by appropriate funding? I struggle to understand this – based on my experience, legal advice is an essential part of a family violence support package.

While Legal Aid is an option for some, it’s not available to everyone, and the system as a whole is overwhelmed. So why are there restrictions on government funding (or other funding initiatives) being used to obtain legal advice?

Having lost a client to family violence very early in my career, I know the fear and risk many victims face in the time leading up to or following their decision to separate. In many cases, lawyers can play a key role in safety planning by:

• Obtaining an intervention order, ensuring the children and victim are safe, before separation is communicated to the perpetrator.
• Ensuring that there are parenting orders and interim financial arrangements in place, which enable the family to remain in the home while the perpetrator is removed.
• Facilitating access to key resources designed to improve safety. There are amazing resources available to victims of family violence, such as the Salvation Army Safer in the Home [6]program and the intervention supports provided by organisations such as the Protective Group[7], who can undertake a safety assessment of the home, install security cameras and devices, change locks and provide personal security alarms, accessing government funding where possible.

THINK OF THIS AS AN ALTERNATIVE

What if instead of diverting victims to crisis accommodation and the consequential risk of homelessness, the family can remain safely in their home and with their support network around them, continuing to attend their employment and with their children still attending their schools? Provided the safety measures are in place, and provided the police are also enforcing intervention orders appropriately, this outcome, may appeal to many as a far better way to manage the separation aspect of a family violence case.

Clearly this approach is not appropriate at the extreme end of the family violence spectrum. However, I believe it could work well in less extreme cases, where removal of the family from their community to a crisis shelter is not strictly necessary and may lead to heightened trauma and feelings of alienation. In such cases, the perpetrator is removed from the home and appropriate security measures (such as those described in this article) are put in place to keep the victim and children safe and protected within their existing community and support network.

THE EDUCATION PIECE – WHAT FAMILY VIOLENCE LOOKS LIKE

Preventing family violence, requires extensive education around what violence looks like for the public, law makers, lawyers, the police, and (most importantly) the victims of family violence. Namely how to:

• identify family violence, with an understanding of the myriad forms it takes
• assess risk, and
• devise a separation plan to (as far as possible) ensure the safety of all parties.

Coercive control is now widely considered to be the most lethal form of violence, and yet it can be one of the most difficult forms of violence to identify and prove in a legal setting. Education of front line service providers is therefore essential.

The most recent reform to the Family Law Act 1975 parenting regime, which came into effect on 6 May 2024, addresses the specific goal of combating some of the issues faced by litigants who have experienced family violence. In my view, the impact of these changes depends on all parties to the litigation being able to correctly identify and assess the risk of family violence.

INFORMATION IS POWER

Experience tells me that legal advice has to be a key part of the preventative piece of addressing family violence. Information is power, and with information, victims are better equipped to make informed decisions about their next steps. Safety assessments can be undertaken as part of the legal advice process, and if necessary, clients can still access the traditional supports provided by various service providers if it is found that the home is not a safe place for the family to remain. A planned separation can then occur within the support of a legal framework, ameliorating the risk of an explosive violent scenario that requires the family to flee in the night.

Given the opportunity, surely this is a better way? Collaborative safety planning which includes legal advice will not only go some way to combatting the overwhelming public cost of family violence, but may also provide a better outcome for families experiencing violence.

[1] Australian Government, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Family domestic and Sexual violence, Economic and financial impacts (12 April 2024).

[2] Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey 2021-2022, issued 15 March 2023.

[3] Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey 2021-2022 (2023)

[4] Homelessness Australia’s Homelessness and domestic and family violence: State of Response Report (2024)

[5] ANROWS National Risk Assessment Principles for domestic and family violence, Cherie Toivonen & Corina Backhouse, Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, for the Commonwealth Department of Social Services (2018).

[6] https://www.salvationarmy.org.au/need-help/family-and-domestic-violence…

[7] https://protectivegroup.com.au/about/protective-services/