SUBMISSION Inquiry into capturing data on family violence perpetrators in Victoria: Legislative Assembly Legal and Social Issues Committee
This ANROWS submission sets out the current state of data collected on people who use domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) to identify opportunities to collect additional data to better understand and respond to the perpetration of DFSV.
ANROWS provided a submission to the Legislative Assembly Legal and Social Issues Committee’s (Parliament of Victoria) inquiry into capturing data on family violence perpetrators in Victoria. The submission drew on our evidence base to highlight:
- the state of available data on the profile and volume of family violence perpetrators
- limitations of current access and data linkage
- opportunities to improve what data we collect on the profile and volume of people using violence and how the data is collected.
ANROWS recommends that the Committee consider:
- what is in scope when using “perpetrator” and “family violence” terminology, as is the case in the terms of reference for this inquiry. What forms of violence are missed by these terms, and how this scope can impact the quality and usefulness of data collected. There are many forms of violence, including sexual assault and sexual violence, child sexual abuse, filicide, elder abuse and adolescent use of violence, that often occur in the context of family violence. These behaviours may not be captured by the family violence or perpetrator frameworks even where these behaviours intersect with use of family violence.
- the importance of Indigenous data sovereignty in conversations of accessing and using data. Attempts to collect and analyse existing data DFSV must recognise the underlying context of harm and related distrust stemming from the ongoing failure of systems to respond to violence experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
- the need for meaningful qualitative measurement of perpetration.
This submission will be of interest to policymakers, practitioners and researchers interested in making better use of existing data and advancing data collected on the perpetration of domestic, family and sexual violence.
Suggested citation
Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety. (2024). Inquiry into capturing data on family violence perpetrators in Victoria [Submission]. ANROWS.