Consultations - Written Submissions 

The Council made a call for public submissions to inform the development of the National Plan. Between 21 June and 31 July 2008, 370 submissions were received. The number of submissions and the quality of those submissions reflects the importance the Australian community places on the Government's commitment to develop and implement a plan that will reduce the impact and the incidence of violence against women and their children. The National Council appreciates the 370 individuals and organisations who took the time to prepare their submissions and share their views with Council.

On 26 May 2008 the Government announced the formation of an eleven member National Council charged with the responsibility for providing expert advice to Government on measures to reduce the incidence and impact of domestic and family violence and sexual assault on women and their children and delivering a draft National Plan of Action to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children by the end of 2008.

The National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children held its first meeting in June 2008 and embarked on an ambitious and comprehensive consultation process to ensure the development of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children was informed by the views and perspectives of victims, survivors, services, government representatives, women's groups, perpetrators, the legal sector and advocacy groups.

In early 2008, the commissioned extensive research to gather qualitative feedback from victims, survivors, perpetrators and witnesses of domestic violence and sexual assault.

The key research questions were:

1. Why does family violence and sexual assault happen?
2. What is being done to reduce it?
3. What is being done that works?
4. What else would prevent and stop re-occurrence? Where do we go from here?

The study included a desk-top review of OfW-funded projects, a call for written input from the community, consultations with professional stakeholders as well as feedback from victims, survivors, perpetrators, and witnesses of domestic and family violence and sexual assault.

Issues raised in the 370 written submissions received can be found below.

Libby Lloyd AM
Chair
National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children

Summary of Findings

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Question 1

Why does domestic and family violence and sexual assault happen?

The reasons for the use of violence against women and children covered a broad range of explanations. The common explanations included:

• Personal issues such as substance use and abuse, needs for power or control, low self esteem, mental health problems, ignorance of domestic and family violence or healthy relationships, lack of anger management or self control, poor education and the unwillingness of victims to ask for help;
• Family issues such as the cyclic or intergenerational nature of violence, and lack of positive parenting skills;
• Relationship issues such as the stresses created when relationships begin to breakdown;
• Situational issues such as economic stress;
• Societal pressure or acceptance such as the tensions created between the traditional roles of men and women, unequal power relations between the genders, the inability of men to cope with the changing roles of women, the lack of healthy role models, and that is accepted as normal in society;
• Personal attitudes and social norms such as a general lack of community education about the nature and forms of domestic and family violence, the stigma or shame suffered by victims, the general prevalence of violence in society, the breakdown of community values, religious influences, and cultural acceptance of violence;
• Media exposures such as exposure to violence in entertainment, the sexualisation of women and girls, easy access to pornography and poor celebrity role models; and
• The nature of the legal system such as inadequate responses to domestic and family violence, the system being in favour of the accused, and the lack of consequences for serial offenders.

Descriptions of barriers to family safety for women and children were also varied, complex and inter-related. Some of the barriers include:

• Society, culture and attitudes such as gender inequality, societal attitudes to domestic and family violence and sexual assault, the social stigma surrounding being affected by domestic and family violence and sexual assault, the fact that they are considered taboo subjects, ongoing stereotypical misconceptions about domestic and family violence and sexual assault, an expectation that families should avoid breaking up, the way that families are perceived as the last bastions of privacy, a general loss of community values like respect, responsibility and community cohesion, the normalisation of violence through the media, and the sex industry and pornography legitimising violence against women and girls;
• Knowledge, education and awareness such as a lack of community awareness of domestic and family violence and sexual assault, a lack of awareness of what assistance is available and how the legal system works in relation to domestic and family violence and sexual assault, the lack of a comprehensive national education program, the lack of effective media campaigns, and the lack of effective, nationally consistent, best practice training in domestic and family violence and sexual assault for generic services;
• Individual issues such as fear of the consequences of reporting, fear of losing social connections, lack of confidence in the system to protect victims and their children, concerns and stress about economic security and disruption to children, shame guilt and embarrassment, mental health issues, poor self esteem and perception, and love for their partner and commitment to the relationship;
• Family and parenting issues such as generational conditioning and the perception that violence is normal, along with poor parenting skills;
• Legal issues such as the perceived: lack of protection for victims; risks associated for families with a history of domestic and family violence within the Family Law system; lack of support for victims to remain within the family home while the perpetrator is forced to leave; lack of legal aid and legal support for victims; and, lack of a coordinated and consistent legal system.
• Policing issues such as the lack of coordination between police and other service providers, police offering inadequate protection for victims, a general lack of police resources and training in domestic and family violence and sexual assault, and the perceived attitudes of some police;
• Service delivery issues such as whilst public awareness campaigns encourage women to seek assistance they are not always backed up with adequate or coordinated services, complex interactions with Departments of Community Services and Child Safety, a perceived lack of political leadership to create a coherent service network, a lack of funding for research into domestic and family violence and sexual assault issues and a perceived lack of commitment to act on recommendations of existing research;
• Housing issues such as the insufficient availability of safe, affordable, crisis accommodation and long term housing;
• Financial issues such as inadequate financial and welfare provisions;
• Service issues such as a lack of services for men, a lack of mental health services, a lack of follow up with offenders/perpetrators, a lack of services for older women experiencing elder assault, a lack of holistic, personalised and tailored services, and a lack of integrated service systems between providers and between all levels of government; and
• Structural and situational issues such as physical and social isolation keeping victims in violent relationships.

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Questions 2 & 3

What is being done to reduce it? What is being done that works?

Characteristics of resources, programs and services that were considered to work included:

Collaboration

• Services where men and women work together to solve problems, under the guidance of therapeutic professionals;
• Government and non-Government service provider partnerships that network together to identify the needs of those in their specific community for program and policy development; and
• Programs that are facilitated in such a way that they are truly participatory – based on ongoing relationships and support.

Accessibility

• Ensuring regional coverage, beyond major towns and into surrounding rural areas;
• Providing 24 hour accessibility of services; and

Representativeness/relevance

• Services where support workers reflect a broad cross section of the community; and
• Providing consumers with choice of service.

Prevention

• Early intervention programs aimed at 'at risk' families;
• Services that deal with prevention rather than just cure;
• Services with fully trained workers to ensure appropriate servicing and referral for victims; and
• Referrals from other services to aid prevention of domestic and family violence in at- risk families.

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Question 4

What else would prevent and stop re-occurrence? Where do we go from here?

Education

Community education was a major recommendation from many submissions. Teaching both adults and children the fundamentals of healthy and respectful relationships was assumed to contribute to the eradication of domestic and family violence and sexual assault. Awareness raising about domestic and family violence as a national issue, the signs of domestic and family violence and what to do or what services are available were all considered important elements of a national campaign.

Recommendations included:

• Broad national community campaigns that cover traditional media, school education curriculum, sporting groups and workplaces that would address the underlying causes of violence, communicate the fact that violence is wrong and a crime, and what victims and witnesses can do in response to violence;
• Multi-dimensional campaign design to include awareness raising and education, demonstrate healthy society values, provide positive role models for men and women, and clearly convey Australia's rejection of violence;
• Reviewing advertising standards and Australian classification systems to address the image of women and children in the media ;
• Specific education at all levels is required to address violence and challenge various cultural/ societal norms, such as:
  • Healthy relationships
  • Positive parenting
  • Anti-violence and bullying
  • Workplace safety and support;and
• Specific education needs to be delivered to various target groups: parents, children/teens, teachers, organisations, human services professionals, legal professionals, police, social services and the general community.

Services

Immediate and ongoing services for victims of domestic and family violence received a great deal of attention in submissions. The most common recommendations included the provision of accommodation options, holistic or integrated services, and access to legal services, with lesser attention paid to counselling and financial support.

Accommodation options included:

• Increase the availability of emergency accommodation that meet the various needs of women and their children;
• Increase the availability of long-term and affordable housing;
• Ensure access to safe housing or accommodation options;
• Support women and their children to stay in their family home, and require the perpetrator of violence to leave the home instead; and
• Design accommodation solutions that meet the short-, medium- and long-term needs of women and children in escaping a violent relationship.

Integrated service options included:

• One-stop-shop models where victims can have all their service needs, including housing, financial assistance, court or legal assistance, counselling, and training and support to secure employment catered for.

Legal services options included:

• Legal and court support or advice that is victim friendly; and
• Provision of accessible legal services to domestic and family violence and sexual assault victims and witnesses.

Offender/perpetrator options included:

• Educating men about behaving well and being responsible for their actions;
• Group work with male facilitators;
• Anger management programs;
• Emergency accommodation services for perpetrators removed from the family home;
• Mandatory rehabilitation programs for repeat offenders; and
• Providing integrated services to address using violence and other contributing factors in men's lives.

Child/Children options commonly mentioned included:

• Education on respect and that violence is wrong; and
• Education on healthy relationships and violence prevention

Financial support options included:

• Increase crisis support to women escaping a violent environment;
• Provide sufficient funding for existing projects with a proven track record, to fill service gaps, and for locally based intake and referral services; and
• Financial management assistance for women who have escaped a violent environment, such as quarantining parts of government provided income so that household bills are serviced.

Workforce options include:

• Funding is also required for various service providers and agencies to attract and retain skilled staff.

In addition to the general population, education and service programs also need to be offered in a respectful and relevant fashion, to Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities, Indigenous communities, disabled women, rural and remote communities, lesbian women, and women who have been imprisoned.

Other important recommendations were made with regards to service delivery, although with less frequency. These included improving access to the Department of Community Service for women and children, improving access to crisis and long-term counselling services for perpetrators and victims, the provision of support to men, and improvements to health and mental health services.

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Police and Legal responses

Legal reforms to address the specific challenges of victims of domestic and family violence and sexual assault were a major focus of recommendations and covered a range of potential improvements to the legal response including:

• The harmonisation of State and Territory laws and responses relating to domestic and family violence and protection orders as part of a National Plan;
• Aligning the Plan with the National Child Protection Framework and other Human Rights obligations;
• Officially recognising domestic and family violence as a criminal offence at all levels of justice response (police and the courts) and expanding the legal definition of D&FV to include more subtle forms of abuse;
• Reconsidering the Family Law Act as it relates to families with a history of domestic and family violence and sexual assault.
• Dedicated domestic and family violence courts and Death Review Boards in each State and Territory;
• Stronger sentencing and harsher penalties imposed on offenders/perpetrators to act as a real deterrent;
• Comprehensive training for police and court officials on the causes and impacts of domestic and family violence and sexual assault;
• Increasing the use of evidence kits in domestic and family violence and sexual assault cases, particularly gathering photographic evidence to assist prosecution at a later date; and
• Increasing police powers to arrest or issue interim Apprehended Violence Orders to offenders/perpetrators, regardless of the wishes of the victim or the availability of the courts; and/or remove perpetrators from the family home.

Recommendations for the National Plan

Many submissions provided broad guidance on potential principles, and content, of the National Plan, including that the National Plan needs to:

• Focus on eradication rather than reduction of violence against women and children;
• Focus on long term solutions not short term fixes;
• Have an overall focus on victim safety and perpetrator accountability;
• Aim for integrated or holistic service provision and development;
• Operate and inform multiple levels within the domestic and family violence and sexual assault industry, from national bodies through to local services;
• Be underpinned by human rights, gender, health promotion, social determinants and child protection philosophies;
• Operate across multiple portfolios and sectors;
• Be informed by ongoing research and new theoretical models;
• Seek input from Government, sector expert, service provider and interest group stakeholders;
• Be sensitive to the needs of all women and children, including Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities , Indigenous and disability groups;
• Set goals and targets;
• Include mechanisms to enhance legal equality, such as better access to legal services and representation;
• Include a workable governance structure with coordinating, steering, monitoring and troubleshooting functions;
• Include research that improves our understanding;
• Include public release of gendered crime statistics with common definitions and measure of domestic violence between the state and territories;
• A peak body that takes responsibility for the implementation of the National Plan;
• Clearly identified bodies with core responsibilities so tasks do not 'slip through the cracks';
• The establishment of a domestic and family violence death review process to identify issues for reform, gaps in the system and imperatives for change;
• The relationships and context in which violence against women occurs should be made explicit within the Plan; and
• The Plan should be informed by traditional and new theoretical frameworks.