Nothing will be off-limits when Australia’s first royal commission into family violence begins next month, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has said.
Andrews has revealed an extract of the terms of reference for the commission, which lists prevention, early intervention, victim support and protection, and perpetrator accountability as part of its scope.
Andrews has promised to adopt every recommendation the commission makes.
Family violence is the leading cause of death and disability for Australian women under the age of 45, according to the Victorian government, and the promise of a royal commission formed a key part of Andrews’s campaign in the lead-up to his election in November.
On Monday afternoon he told reporters that the commission would not be about proving there was a problem.
“None of us need to be convinced there is a massive problem,” Andrews said.
“We know that for a fact, and there is no debate and no doubt that we need to get on with [fixing] it. This is about the unspeakable tragedies unfolding every hour of every day in every part of our state.
“We are committed to this being a thorough and detailed process of inquiry about making practical recommendations for the future.”
The commission should take no longer than 12 months, he said.
According to statistics from Domestic Violence Victoria, there was a 72.8% increase in reports of family violence incidents to Victoria police between 2004 and 2012. The number of family incident reports submitted by police rose from 50,382 in 2011-12 to more than 65,000 in 2013-14.
High-profile murders of women and children have also highlighted the scale of the problem, with many offenders found to have been on bail, parole, facing charges, or deemed a low risk of harming again at the time of committing the crime
In 2013, Julie Grant was murdered by her ex-partner, Shannon Mahon, who was on bail for assault.
Last April, Fiona Warzywoda was stabbed to death by her de facto husband, who had a family violence order out against him. Last February Kelly Thompson was stabbed to death by her former partner, who had frequently breached intervention orders.
In the same month, Greg Anderson murdered his 11-year-old son, Luke Batty, while facing 11 criminal charges, most of them domestic violence related.
There were 29 women and eight children killed through family violence in the state in the year to November last year.
Domestic Violence Victoria chief executive Fiona McCormack said the terms of reference of the commission were encouraging because they placed emphasis on the perpetrators, as well as early intervention.
“It’s an outrageous situation at the moment where we ask women across the state to flee their homes every year because we can’t keep them safe,” McCormack said. “And we know once they leave, men will follow and stalk them.
“The good thing about the terms of reference for this commission is that they’re comprehensive, a whole range of agencies are involved, and that will give it a much broader focus, while also building on evidence we already have.
“We need to take our approach to domestic violence into the next era to make it about how we gather intelligence systematically and share that information between a range of agencies to hold perpetrators to account and keep women safe.”
It was important that the government had said the commission would run alongside other more immediate responses to family violence being implemented, she said.
The royal commission into family violence will be led by Justice Marcia Neave, and will commence once the terms of reference have been signed off by the state governor.
