Fact file: Domestic violence in Australia

Updated

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced at a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting on April 1 that federal, state and territory leaders will unite to tackle domestic violence at a national summit in October 2016.

The announcement followed the release of a report by the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence.

ABC Fact Check has received many requests to check claims made about domestic violence in Australia.

Researching this area, Fact Check encountered challenges in obtaining and interpreting the statistics on domestic violence, including a scarcity of national data on reported domestic violence, its prevalence and particularly its impact on victims.

These shortcomings were also identified in a 2015 Senate Committee report into domestic violence in Australia and the COAG report identified a lack of data on child victims in particular.

The Victorian Royal Commission said the greatest problem limiting the data on family violence was the widespread under-reporting, as well as failure to identify the issue and gaps in recorded data on particular groups.

Fact Check has scrutinised the available data on domestic violence and talked to experts to present this guide to what the data does, and does not, show.

The debate

Former Australian of the year Rosie Batty said in her valedictory speech in January that family violence was an "epidemic".

Former Labor leader Mark Latham has been critical of Ms Batty's characterisation and claimed in a podcast in January that surveys showed women were safer than ever before and unacceptable incidents of domestic assault were no worse than they were 20 or 30 years ago.

Ms Batty has also spoken of the "gendered" nature of domestic violence and told the Victorian Parliament in November last year that the statistics showed it was clearly an issue affecting women.

Social Services Minister Christian Porter echoed this view when he said that domestic violence was a problem "almost overwhelmingly, almost exclusively" perpetrated by men against women and girls on an ABC Q&A program devoted to domestic violence last year.

He was responding to a question about data cited by groups such as "One in Three", who raise awareness of male victims of family violence.

"Contrary to common beliefs, up to one in three victims of sexual assault and at least one in three victims of family violence and abuse is male (perhaps as many as one in two)," the website states.

These claims can be distilled down to two key questions — what are the proportions of male and female victims relative to each other, and how are rates of domestic violence changing over time?

Defining domestic violence

The Australian Bureau of Statistics notes that there is no single agreed definition of domestic violence.

The key questions are:

Does domestic violence affect only the two people in an intimate relationship who live together, should it be extended to partners who don't live together, and to all victims of domestic violence, including children and family members?

Is physical violence the only type of domestic violence or are there other types, for example psychological abuse?

Heather Nancarrow, CEO of Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS) told Fact Check that when the movement to prevent domestic violence began in the 1970s, the term was synonymous with men's violence against their intimate female partners and these victims are still the focus of many domestic violence services.

She said that in some states, for example Queensland, the legislation governing domestic violence protection orders originally only recognised domestic violence between intimate partners.

The legislation in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, the ACT, the NT and South Australia now defines domestic violence as occurring between intimate partners, relatives, family members, carers and children and in most cases an intimate relationship can exist between two people who don't live together (i.e. people in a dating relationship).

In Tasmania, family violence is only considered in the context of a spouse or partner relationship.

The terms "domestic violence", "family violence", "domestic and family violence" and "domestic abuse" are used across the different jurisdictions.

The types of behaviour included in different jurisdictions is broadly consistent, according to Ms Nancarrow.

The Commonwealth Family Law Act 1975 defines to "family violence" as "violent, threatening or other behaviour by a person that coerces or controls a member of the person's family, or causes the family member to be fearful".

As well as assault, this behaviour also includes withholding financial support and preventing contact with friends and family.

Stalking behaviours are regarded as domestic violence in some but not all jurisdictions.

The Victorian royal commission found solid support for these broad definitions of the relationships covered by family violence, but noted that "many in the community still do not recognise emotional abuse and economic abuse as family violence".

Fact Check has based this analysis on the broad definition of domestic violence to include all violent, threatening or controlling behaviour that affects intimate partners who may or may not be living together, and other family members and carers.

How many men and women affected?

Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS) is the independent organisation jointly funded by the Commonwealth and state and territory governments to research evidence to reduce domestic violence against women and children.

Their Violence Against Women in Australia report notes that one in four women have experienced at least one incident of violence by an intimate partner they may or may not have been living with.

The "One in Three" campaign is a group of diverse advocates who raise awareness of male victims of domestic violence, though no funding source is stated on their website.

They say that one in three victims of family violence are male.

Both organisations sourced their claim to the ABS's personal safety survey (PSS), which was last conducted in 2012 and is the only consistent national survey on domestic violence victims.

Around 17,000 people aged 18 and over were asked, in private, about their experience of violence since the age of 15.

It shows that one in 11 people (1,927,900) have been subject to violence by a partner since the age of 15 — the breakdown is one in six women (1,479,900) and one in 20 men (448,000).

That means that of the total victims of partner violence since the age of 15, 23 per cent were men and 77 per cent were women.

Using the broad definition of domestic violence relationships (see above), for both male and female victims of domestic violence, the most common perpetrators were partners, and boyfriends or girlfriends.

However, the ABS cautions that where people have experienced violence from more than one perpetrator, they are counted separately for each perpetrator, but only counted once in the totals, so the groups cannot be added together.

However, ANROWS says the definition of intimate partner violence should include past and present cohabiting partners, boyfriends, girlfriends and dates and have conducted a more detailed analysis using additional ABS data.

This analysis shows that one in four Australian women experienced at least one incident of violence from an intimate partner (2,194,200, 25.1 per cent) since the age of 15.

The One in Three website claims that one in three victims of family violence are male and cites as the source a number of statistics, including several from the ABS survey.

These include the finding that a third of people who experienced domestic violence from a current partner in the last 12 months were men (33,100) and two thirds were women (66,200), though the ABS notes that the number for men has a large statistical error and should be used with caution.

For the victims of violence perpetrated by a current partner since the age of 15, one in three (119,600) were men and two in three, (237,100) were women.

Other statistics are published by law enforcement and crime agencies.

Homicide statistics from the Australian Institute of Criminology show 75 per cent of victims of intimate partner homicide were female.

NSW police statistics for 2014-15 showed that 69 per cent of domestic violence assault victims were female.

The Victorian Royal Commission reported that in Victoria, three quarters of victims in family violence incidents attended by police were female and 77 per cent of perpetrators recorded by police were male.

It noted that while males were more likely to be victims of violence generally, this was most likely to occur at the hands of men outside the family home.

"By contrast, violence against women is more likely to be perpetrated by an intimate partner," it said.

In terms of family violence, "female victims are more likely to be a current or former partner of the perpetrator, while men are more likely to experience violence in different familial relationships — for example, as a son or a sibling."

What the experts say

The PSS can identify whether victims have experienced any threat of violence since the age of 15, but not whether they have been subject to multiple threats and/or assaults over time, though there is some data on the frequency of violence from current partners.

Cathy Humphries from the department of social work at the University of Melbourne told Fact Check that the main shortcoming of the PSS was that it measured victims, not incidents, of domestic violence.

The data on current partner violence shows that 65 per cent of men and women experienced more than one incident of violence.

She said that only by looking at the number of incidents could the severity of domestic violence be determined.

"All these men could be reporting this but it could easily be a one-off," she said.

Survey responses to questions about physical assault ranged from pushing and shoving through to being stabbed, shot or beaten but the survey aggregates all acts or threats of violence, so it could not establish the severity of domestic violence experienced by respondents.

Deborah Walsh, family violence lecturer at the University of Queensland told Fact Check that the ABS survey was also not able to detect patterns of "coercive control" that can be perpetrated by men against female partners.

"When his power and control or authority is challenged, that's when the violent incident will erupt," she said.

"This particular man may not be violent every week, it might only be once a year."

She said when these men reassert their authority, women adjust their behaviour to accommodate them, and that will not show up in surveys as violence.

Ms Nancarrow said that PSS participants were asked about emotional abuse but the responses depended on the interviewees' interpretation.

"If they feel abused because someone yelled at them, called them names, that could be coercive control, or it might not be," she said.

Ms Nancarrow said that some groups, particularly Indigenous, disabled and those from non-English speaking backgrounds, were under-represented in the PSS.

"We can't guarantee that there isn't a higher rate of violence because they didn't pick up particular groups of women," she said.

With regard to police statistics, Ms Walsh said they were affected by the difficulty of identifying the perpetrator in domestic violence incidents where partners were reporting violence towards each other.

"In some of the domestic violence reporting to police, they will report mutual combat," she said, "so there's a move in mutual combat situations for police to be trained to identify the primary aggressor."

Are the rates changing?

The ABS survey has only been conducted twice and does not provide detailed information on how domestic violence rates are changing over time.

The ABS recorded crime victims data collects information from states and territories on crimes committed but data from Tasmania is not included and the use of the domestic violence flag varies widely between the jurisdictions.

Australian Institute of Criminology's homicide data, and crime data from NSW and Victoria police, show how domestic violence rates have changed in the last two decades.

Domestic and family homicides declined between 2002 and 2012.

However, data on police reports of domestic violence shows the opposite trend.

Domestic assault in NSW has risen from a rate of 257 per 100,000 people in 1995, reaching a high of 400 incidents per 100,000 people in 2014 (28,980 incidents).

This represents a 2 per cent increase in the five years up to mid-2014.

Similarly, reports of family violence incidents in Victoria have been increasingly steadily since 2010-11, with an 8.8 per cent increase from 2013-14 to 2014-15 (70,906 incidents).

The Victorian Royal Commission report said it was not clear whether the prevalence of family violence was increasing, but it noted that greater reporting of family violence had led to an increase in incidents being recognised.

"In Victoria this has been evident in the increased number of reports to police and the number of family violence intervention orders being issued," it said.

Expert opinion

The AIC identify domestic and family homicides by determining victim relationships to perpetrators.

They found that a history of domestic violence was found in a third (34 per cent) of the homicides.

Whether domestic homicides were associated with a history of domestic violence is investigated by domestic violence death review teams in some states.

Anna Butler, manager of the NSW domestic violence death review team, told Fact Check that while the AIC data was useful, it could not definitively show whether the homicide was a result of a domestic violence incident.

She explained that some cases, such as those involving acute episodes of psychosis, or the actions of a demented patient, would not fit the definition of domestic violence.

Her report covering 2000 to 2012 showed that of the 995 homicides in NSW, 28 per cent had an identifiable history of domestic violence, lower than that found by the AIC.

The Victorian Systemic Review of Family Violence Deaths, conducted by the Victorian coroner's court, revealed similar findings, though the proportion of intimate partner homicides was lower.

If the homicide statistics may over-estimate the number of domestic and family homicide victims, the police statistics can under-estimate victims.

Deborah Walsh, family violence lecturer at the University of Queensland told Fact Check that domestic violence reports to police were useful but cautioned that not all victims and perpetrators came to the attention of police.

The ABS Personal Safety Survey showed that 95 per cent of men and 80 per cent of women who had experienced violence from a current partner had never contacted the police.

A 2013 NSW survey, conducted by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, of 300 victims attending domestic violence services showed that only half reported their most recent incident to police and the most common reason for not reporting was fear of revenge or further violence.

Ms Nancarrow said a range of reasons, including increased confidence in police or better education about protection orders, could push up the numbers of domestic violence reports but that was not necessarily an indication the incidence had gone up.

A Victorian report on family violence from the Victorian department of justice reported that the steady rise in reported incidents over time coincided with the introduction of the Victorian police code of practice for domestic violence in 2004, and legislative changes to the Family Violence Protection Act.

Conclusion

Fact Check's survey of domestic violence data in Australia showed that one in six women and one in 20 men have experienced at least one incidence of violence from a current or former partner since the age of 15.

However, the national dataset is not able to identify the frequency or severity of victims' experience of violence, a shortcoming that could obscure substantial differences in how men and women experience of domestic violence in Australia.

Let me tell you, there are people dying and people whose lives are absolutely ruined as a result of domestic violence and, what's more, we are all, as a society, the victim. David Morrison

2016 Australian of the Year

And while homicide data shows that rates of domestic violence deaths have been falling, reports of domestic violence to state police forces have been rising.

Experts say under-reporting of domestic violence could under-estimate domestic violence and in the same way, improved policing and justice treatment of victims could have the opposite effect.

Domestic violence statistics are vital for informing service delivery and public policy but a national data collection and recording framework will not be operational until 2022.

But in the words of the 2016 Australian of the Year David Morrison, speaking on a recent episode of Q&A, "it's not about the statistics".

"We run the risk, at times, of being a nation of bystanders comforted by a few statistics," he said.

"Let me tell you, there are people dying and people whose lives are absolutely ruined as a result of domestic violence and, what's more, we are all, as a society, the victim."

Editor's note: On April 8, 2016, advocacy group "One in Three" posted a comment on Fact Check's Facebook page, which can be read here. In response, Fact Check changed One in Three's description to reflect their advocacy of men and boys who are victims of domestic violence, rather than just men. Fact Check also changed the words "men" and "women" to "male" and "female" where appropriate.

Topics: domestic-violence, assault, australia

First posted