By Anne Summers  

The data that is published here for the frst time reveals both the shocking extent of domestic violence suffered by women who are now single mothers, and outlines in grim detail the economic, health and other consequences of the choice these women made to leave the violence. The findings are both new and confronting and have major policy ramifications for how we address domestic violence, and to the policy-induced poverty that is its outcome for far too many women and children. Although there is extensive, and growing, awareness about domestic violence in contemporary Australia, the true extent, and the consequences, of this violence remain largely hidden. Perhaps as a result, the conversations about domestic violence are mostly focused on how to deal with its victim-survivors, rather than how to stop the violence from happening. The same is true of much policy. Prevention policy is mostly long-term, based on the assumption that we need full gender equality in our society for domestic violence to end, yet there is no federal government plan for how to achieve gender equality in Australia. (Nor is there any evidence that countries with greater gender equality than Australia have lower rates of domestic violence. In fact, the opposite is often the case.) Another major focus is teaching respectful relationships in schools – another long-term approach that will hopefully pay dividends in the future but cannot be expected to have much impact on violence being perpetrated today. All this suggests that a policy reset is required, and for that to happen the conversation needs to change. And for the conversation to change, we need new information. This was the overall context and rationale for the report that follows: the search for new information that might prompt us to take a fresh look at domestic violence in Australia. Rather than continuing to look through all the familiar lenses, rehashing all the known data, and continuing to reinforce our existing findings and convictions, I thought it was necessary to seek a fresh perspective. This might, I hoped, yield new knowledge which can, in turn, suggest new ways of tackling our twin objectives: reducing domestic violence, and providing better support for the women who escape it. I decided to do this by examining the circumstances of single mothers who had experienced domestic violence. My reason for this choice was that single mothers appeared to experience domestic violence at a much greater rate than women in any other household group.

Syfnry: University of Technology Sydney., 2022. 109p.

By Madison Lloyd,  Alice Campbell, Amie Carrington, Janeen Baxter

Domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) is a pervasive and growing issue in Australia. Despite government-led national plans to reduce this violence in Australia, there is evidence that rates are increasing and incidences are becoming more severe. DFSV support agencies offer a range of services to support victim-survivors including targeted support to assist clients to leave violent relationships, access housing, legal and counselling support, as well as offering emotional and social support and support to recognise and define abusive and violent behaviour. This paper argues that these services also have the potential to lead to social change at a structural level as suggested by a reverse dominance coalition framework. Inequalities persist when they are normalised and celebrated by society. 'Reverse dominance coalitions' make cultural change possible by establishing large collectives of people who speak out in solidarity, develop alliances and collectively establish expectations of equality.Data from interviews of victim-survivors is used to illustrate the applicability of the reverse dominance coalition framework to DFSV support services. The paper finds that the framework offers a means of understanding how support at an individual level to victim-survivors also has broader transformative power to change societal awareness, attitudes and responses. It concludes that DFSV agencies not only assist DFSV victims to recover and heal but also play a leadership role in promoting broader changes at the community, policy and societal level.
Brisbane: Life Course Centre,  University of Queensland, 2025. 30p.l. 

By Jennifer Rose Wies

This research explores the themes of participation and professionalization as they intersect with power in domestic violence advocacy by using a case study from one region in Kentucky. Throughout this dissertation, I investigate the ways political and economic pressures influence local domestic violence advocates and the ways these macro-level pressures influence 1) an advocate’s level of participation in the organization and 2) a transition in social service provision to a professional model of advocacy. The research illustrates that the nature of domestic violence service provision is changing in the United States as a result of the increasingly privatized nature of social service provision and subsequent shifts in domestic violence advocacy participation practices and professionalization trends.

University of Kentucky, 2006, 252p.

By The Human Rights Watch

This 86-page report describes how authorities in Western Australia have been quick to remove children from Aboriginal mothers fleeing domestic violence and from Aboriginal parents without adequate housing, rather than providing appropriate services to address these issues.

Human Rights Watch, March 26, 2025, 86p.

By Marie Segrave and Stefani Vasil

This book explores the structural harm of borders and non-citizenship, specifically temporary non-citizenship, in the perpetuation of domestic and family violence (DFV). It focuses on the stories and situations of over 300 women in Australia. The analysis foregrounds how the state and the migration system both sustain and enable violence against women. In doing so this book demonstrates how structural violence is an insidious component of gendered violence – limiting and curtailing women’s safety. The Borders of Violence advances contemporary research on DFV by considering the role of the state and the migration system. It bridges different fields of scholarship to interrogate our knowledge about DFV and its impacts and improve our critical accounts of gender, structural violence and borders. It illuminates the ways in which temporary non-citizens are often silenced and/or their experiences are obfuscated by state processes, policies and practices, which are weaponised by perpetrators in countries of destination and origin, with impunity. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of border criminology, criminology, sociology, politics, sociology, law and social policy. It offers key insights for professionals, policymakers, stakeholders and advocates working broadly to support temporary non-citizens and/or to address and eliminate violence against women.

London; New York: Routledge, 2025. 223p

By Jo Spangaro, Nigel Spence, Jacqui Cameron, Kelsey Hegarty, et al.

Around one third of refugee women in Australia are estimated to have experienced domestic violence (DV) and many face multiple post-migration challenges. Universal screening for domestic violence, and response, is recommended for women in priority populations and has been implemented in health services across diverse jurisdictions. Universal screening for domestic violence involves asking all women a small number of standardised and validated questions about experiences of violence at home. Asking women directly about experiences of abuse increases disclosure and creates opportunity for supportive intervention. However, this is untested with refugee women accessing settlement services.

The Safety and Health after Arrival (SAHAR) study introduced and evaluated a culturally tailored DV identification and response strategy with women accessing five refugee settlement services in NSW, Australia, four in the greater Sydney area and one regional NSW site.

This report finds the SAHAR intervention was effectively implemented by the settlement service providers. The relatively high disclosure rate, and high levels of acceptance of the intervention with both refugee women and settlement staff, demonstrate the feasibility of culturally tailored, universal DV screening and response in settlement services. Successful implementation of DV screening and response requires: planning and preparation, organisational commitment, training, translated tools and resources, staff support during implementation, guidelines and referral protocols.

Wollongong, AUS: University of Wollongong 2024. 34p.