The ongoing toll of Family Violence

Family violence has been labelled a 'major health and welfare issue’ in Australia before the COVID-19 pandemic. Family violence figures in Australia indicate that one in every six Australian women has faced physical violence.

One of the factors that makes family violence so untenable is that it occurs in one’s home- that place above all where a person is supposed to feel safe. It is an act of violence perpetrated by someone you trust, someone who claims to love you. Family violence is not only physical; it can also be emotional or verbal, with insidious messages being repeated over and over.

Family violence has been labelled a ‘major health and welfare issue’ in Australia before the COVID-19 pandemic. Family violence figures in Australia indicate that one in every six Australian women has faced physical violence. Family violence rose by 15.3 per cent in July relative to July 2019 in the more stringent second wave lockdown compared to a 6.7 per cent rise in June before the lockdown. In July, the Australian Institute of Criminology revealed almost 10% of Australian women in a relationship had experienced domestic violence during the coronavirus crisis.

Following Brittany Higgins’ claims that she was assaulted in Parliament House by a male colleague and subsequently pressured not to file a formal report, the conversation about women’s rights and safety has finally come forward to national attention. In the 2021–22 Budget, the government unveiled a package of about $3.4 billion in funding to enhance outcomes for women’s protection, economic security, health, and wellbeing. A move that could have been made a long time ago, as the government now appears to be trying to cover up their futile efforts to prevent domestic violence. Women face significant obstacles when it comes to reporting family violence. Fear, denial, and disbelief are among the reasons provided, as are emotional ties with their partner, commitment to marriage, desire for improvement and remaining for the sake of the children.

Case Study

‘SMLS represented ‘Sharmila’ at Dandenong Magistrates Court to obtain a family violence intervention order. She had suffered horrific family violence from her ex-husband, including smashing her head into the edge of the bathtub, frequent beatings, threats to harm her and her family and threats to self-harm if she left him.

About a year later, Sharmila came to us for family law assistance.

Her ex-husband, Raj, told her he wanted a divorce after she obtained an intervention order against him. Raj instructed his lawyer to prepare the divorce papers.

Sharmila was instructed to attend the lawyer’s office to sign the divorce paperwork with another lawyer “appointed” by Raj to represent her interests.

She signed, what she believed to be, an application for divorce, but has since been told that the paperwork she signed included parenting orders by consent.

Raj’s lawyer submitted the application for consent orders, which were subsequently made.

The orders gave Raj sole parental custody of their children. The children now live with Raj full time, and only see Sharmila occasionally when her ex-husband allows.

Sharmila has full capacity as a primary parent, and had primary care for the children prior to this.

Raj used the consent orders as the ‘exception’ to the intervention order, which prevented him from spending time with the children.

Sharmila is seeking assistance to change the custody arrangements. She has not been allowed to see her children for several months and wants them to live with her.’

*Please note, SMLS changes people’s names and details have been altered in case studies in order to protect client confidentiality

Despite the federal government’s additional domestic violence funding, many front-line services are still chronically underfunded, and the numbers leave no room for complacency. A deeper question we must ask ourselves is, with the decades of policy directed at preventing family violence, we must ask ourselves: why are the numbers still so high? Broader societal attitudes towards women and relationships need to change. We need a national education strategy for children, young people and adults. We need to continue to develop and properly resource service responses to perpetrators and appropriate, holistic support for victims.

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