Domestic Violence Political Forum

Address by Kellie Tranter

27 February 2007

At the outset let me say that there is no excuse for cowardly acts of physical violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, intimidation, economic deprivation or threats of violence.

Why domestic violence cannot be ignored?

Domestic violence directly affects more than the victims: it affects their children, their families and friends, it affects employers and co-workers and it has repercussions for the quality of life in a local community.  It has far-reaching financial, social, health and psychological consequences.  Domestic violence also has financial costs, including the costs to the community of police and other intervention, of bringing perpetrators to justice and of social support, relocation and medical treatment for injured victims.

In 2004, Access Economics, commissioned by the Office for the State of Women, released "The cost of domestic violence to the Australian economy".  This key report estimated that the total annual cost of domestic violence to the Australian economy in 2002-2003 was $8.1 billion.  The largest contributor was pain, suffering and premature mortality at $3.5 billion.  The remaining costs totalled $4.6 billion.  The largest part was consumption costs, of which the largest component was lost household economies of scale.  The next largest categories were production and administration at $484 million and $480 million respectively.

Taking a closer look at Maitland

• A community, adversity and resilience report carried out by Tony Vinson ranks the Maitland area as being in the top 25% of the worst areas in the State in terms of the distribution of social disadvantage.
• According to information presented at the Maitland Anti-Violence Forum, some 50-60% of police work in this area is domestic violence related.
• Only 2% of police are designated Domestic Violence Liaison Officers in the Lower Hunter Command (covering a geographical area of 7,700 sq km from Wollombi to Tea Gardens, Nelson Bay to Greta and up to Barrington Tops - the Command only has two designated full time police officers).
• Unemployment, education levels, intergenerational welfare dependency, income levels and housing issues are among the specific socio-economic characteristics of the Maitland area that contribute to many offences, including those relating to drugs (including alcohol) and, to some extent, personal and family violence.
• Maitland is well above the State average for reported sexual assaults and indecent assault, and still it is estimated that only about one quarter of sexual assaults are reported.

The Way Forward

• Perpetrator Programs

Men who use violence against women have only recently begun to receive attention from researchers and policy makers.  Programs aimed at re-educating violent offenders now exist in the UK, Australia, North America and New Zealand.

Currently in this area a domestic violence offender can be directed to Probation and Parole as part of a bond.  Probation and Parole can then use an option of a 12 week "Domestic Violence Program for Men" for that particular offender.

There are no compulsory programs for domestic violence offenders.

• Early Childhood Prevention Programs

Education programs in schools are consistently identified as a key strategy for reducing violence in society.  The philosophy is that by exposing children and young people to non-violent alternatives, and by providing them with conflict resolution and anger management skills alongside respect for others and tolerance of diversity, violent behaviour in adults will be prevented.

This simple strategy strikes me as being based on sound common sense.

• Community Awareness Campaigns

States sponsor public education campaigns about domestic violence, sexual violence and child abuse.  Community education campaigns using pamphlets, resource kits, fact sheets, posters, billboards, radio and television commercials, have all been used.  Sadly most of these initiatives have not been evaluated to see whether they actually prevent violence against women.

Other Measures

We need a more long-term integrated response to domestic violence in Australia, aimed both at preventing domestic violence in the first place and at reducing existing levels of violence.  Pilot programs such as those funded under the PADV initiative have certainly contributed to our understanding of effective solutions to domestic violence in our community.  The challenge is to provide on-going problems and to achieve longer-term goals.

International studies on domestic violence also point to a need to:

• improve domestic violence data collection;
• improve evaluations of intervention, public awareness and education programs; and
• improve cost estimates so that we can see the real cost of domestic violence including:

-  economic consequences such as loss of income, child care costs, housing  costs and legal or court costs;

-  some measure of indirect and non-economic costs of domestic violence to the community, such as educational disruption, restriction of occupational attainment, the impact on individual self-esteem and the long-term social, educational and psychological impacts on women and children;

-  projected costs of the intergenerational effects of domestic violence such as the development of life cycles of abuse from one generation to another;

-  re-investnment in frontline specialist services for women so that there is a continuum of care for services;

-  enhance funding for refuges.  As I see it, stability or security in funding is almost as important as its amount;

-  introduce specialised tribunals for dealing appropriately with offenders.  Ordinary courts aren't equipped to do that yet and knee-jerk responses are hopeless: for example, it seems pretty obvious to me that the recent "name and shame" suggestion by Mr Iemma - I wouldn't flatter it with the name "policy" - would end up causing at least as much social and financial harm to the victims as it would to the perpetrators;

-  encourage investment in affordable housing:  for example, governments could waive State land tax to encourage landlords to lease suitable residential properties to non-profit housing with long term leases.  If we can believe recent media reports about "the rental crisis", measures like this are more urgent than ever.

-  provide access to healthcare (GPs plus counselors) for young people.  This has been identified as a critical issue for young people in the Maitland area.  I was in Orange yesterday and noticed that the local council seems to provide those services free of charge.  Do we? If not, why not? There is no adolescent health team in this area.  Again, why not?

-  focus on helping women achieve continuity of income, leading to greater self-sufficiency.  How many women and children are stuck in abusive and violent relationships - and remain tight-lipped about it - because they have no money of their own, and so no choice?

-  the 2006 Ombudsman's report "Domestic Violence Improving Police Practices" states that there is no comprehensive framework to guide Commanders when planning their response to domestic violence, and no standards to effectively measure their performance.  Clearly more needs to be done.