Abstract
Domestic and family violence fatality review processes were first implemented in Victoria, Australia, in 2009 and since this time, permanent review processes have been established in a number of other Australian jurisdictions. These fatality review processes examine deaths which follow unreported or unreported histories of domestic or family violence. This chapter provides an overview of the establishment and operation of existing fatality review processes in Australia, the goals and purpose of the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network, and examines some key themes and issues arising across jurisdictional mechanisms. Key themes profiled include: the gendered nature of domestic violence-related intimate partner homicides; separation as a characteristic of fatal cases; and common issues amongst service responses to domestic violence, including deficiencies in information sharing.
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Notes
- 1.
At the time of this writing, only Tasmania and the Northern Territory did not have any form of domestic violence fatality review mechanism. There are six states and two territories in Australia; five states have permanent domestic violence fatality reviews, and one territory has a pilot program.
- 2.
Australia has a written Constitution with power vested in both the States and the Commonwealth. Responsibility for domestic violence transects state and federal government due to the division of powers in relation to criminal, family and other civil law. There is no permanent national review function due to individual states and territories holding responsibility for conducting reviews at a state level.
- 3.
This is a commonly accepted definition of domestic violence. This definition informs the work of the individual death review teams and the network, although the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) definition informs the network’s data collection and case identification processes. This definition reflects national and international understandings of this set of behaviours.
- 4.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are Australia’s original peoples. Extended familial relationships are a characteristic of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and are an integral part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and history.
- 5.
Despite domestic homicide data being available through the National Homicide Monitoring Program, contextualising and quantifying deaths involving a domestic violence history is a primary function of death review processes in Australia.
- 6.
In Australia, coroners are judicial officers who conduct inquiries and investigations into the circumstances surrounding unnatural, violent or unexpected deaths. Such inquiries are undertaken to determine the cause, place and time of death and, where appropriate, to make recommendations to prevent future loss of life.
- 7.
An example of a domestic violence related accident may be where a domestic violence abuser is arguing with a domestic violence victim on a car trip and the victim has a fatal car accident.
- 8.
Data findings from Queensland, Victoria and South Australia have been derived directly from the reviews and are not, otherwise, publically available.
- 9.
The term ‘femicide’ means the killing of women.
- 10.
This figure is not disaggregated by domestic violence context.
- 11.
Time period is not disclosed to avoid identification of the cases reviewed.
- 12.
This figure is not disaggregated by domestic violence context.
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Butler, A. et al. (2017). Australia. In: Dawson, M. (eds) Domestic Homicides and Death Reviews. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56276-0_5
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