Australian Government Response to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs Report: Inquiry into Family Violence Orders

Family violence​
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Introduction

The Australian Government welcomes the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs’ (the Committee) final report on the inquiry into family violence orders. Upon referral from the then Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP, the Committee examined the barriers to safety, fairness and access for victim-survivors of family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV) navigating the state and territory family violence order (FVO) system and the federal family law system.

The Government is committed to ending gender-based violence, and supports the Committee’s assessment that a long-term, systematic approach is needed to increase safety for women and children as they navigate family separation and provide stronger and more consistent protections for victim-survivors, in line with the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032. The Committee’s report highlights the need for ongoing reforms and enhancement of cross-cutting initiatives across federal and state and territory courts, law enforcement and frontline services, resulting in the Committee making 11 recommendations to address these key issues.

The Government has carefully considered these recommendations and agrees in principle to 7 recommendations, agrees in part to 3 recommendations and has noted one recommendation.  

Ending violence against women and children is a priority for the Government, with an investment of over $4 billion to advance women’s safety initiatives since September 2024. This funding will go some way to supporting the Committee’s recommendations, including through commitments to enhance information sharing and pilot measures to improve police responses to high-risk and serial perpetrators of family and domestic violence (FDV).

The Government’s response to the Committee’s report reflects the importance of a coordinated and cross-sectoral approach to protecting women and children experiencing violence and ensuring enhanced protections and access to support and services for victim‑survivors navigating legal systems.

The Government thanks the Committee for the inquiry and resulting recommendations, as well as individuals and organisations who provided submissions to the Committee, particularly victim-survivors who bravely shared their lived experiences.

Help and Support

This response contains content on violence against women and children, and may be distressing to read for victim-survivors of family, domestic and sexual violence.

Free advice and support is available online and via telephone through the following services:

  • 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) is available for free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to support people impacted by domestic, family or sexual violence
  • Lifeline crisis support line 13 11 14
  • Relationships Australia 1300 385 578
  • Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800
  • Mensline Australia 1300 78 99 78
  • Men’s Referral Service 1300 766 491.

Each state and territory also has a dedicated crisis line providing family violence support:

  • New South Wales Domestic Violence Line 1800 656 463
  • Queensland DVConnect Womensline 1800 811 811
  • Victoria Safe Steps crisis response line 1800 015 188
  • Australian Capital Territory Domestic Violence Crisis Service 02 6280 0900
  • Tasmania Family Violence Counselling and Support Service 1800 608 122
  • South Australia Domestic Violence Crisis Line 1800 800 098
  • Western Australia Women's Domestic Violence Helpline 1800 007 339.

Australian Government Response to the Recommendations

The Committee recommends that, in the next Parliament, the Australian Government work with the states and territories to increase the visibility of violent offenders across jurisdictions through the National Domestic Violence Order Scheme (NDVOS). NDVOS should enable and require real-time updating of family violence orders (FVOs), conditions and breaches.

Government response: Agree in part

The Australian Government is committed to working with states and territories to deliver innovative new approaches to better identify high-risk perpetrators.

The National Criminal Intelligence System (NCIS) is a national information sharing capability which provides law enforcement and intelligence agencies across Australia with near real time access to law enforcement information and criminal intelligence. NCIS contributes to a safer Australia by providing police officers with access to key information from multiple agencies and systems on a single national database, allowing them to see relevant risk information such as domestic and family violence orders, incident and offence history, warnings and warrants.

In September 2024, National Cabinet agreed to enhance the NCIS to provide a ‘warning flag’ to better identify high-risk perpetrators of FDV and assist police responses. This work will be progressed by the Attorney-General’s Department in partnership with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and in collaboration with states and territories, through the FDSV Working Group, which includes justice and police representatives from all states and territories.

The Government is undertaking a national review of Domestic Violence Order (DVO) frameworks, which includes the scope of the National Domestic Violence Order Scheme (NDVOS). The NDVOS facilitates the automatic mutual recognition and enforcement of orders nationally, ensuring visibility of orders and their associated conditions; however, timing for provisioning varies. The review will consider existing gaps and identify opportunities for potential reform across jurisdictions to ensure that domestic violence frameworks are fit for purpose. The Attorney-General’s Department is leading the review in close consultation with the states and territories. A report is expected to be provided to both the Standing Council of Attorneys-General (SCAG) and Police Ministers Council (PMC) by June 2026.

The Committee recommends that, in the next Parliament, the Attorney-General work with the states and territories to develop and implement a community education program to raise awareness of how FVOs are recognised and enforced across Australia through NDVOS, and the legal intersection between FVOs and parenting orders.

Government response: Agree in principle

The Australian Government has published community education materials on the Attorney‑General’s Department’s website to increase understanding of the operation of FVOs through the NDVOS, since its commencement on 25 November 2017. The materials comprise a video and brochure, which has been translated into 36 languages, and provide an overview of how FVOs are recognised and enforced across all participating jurisdictions. This is further supported by links to relevant state and territory contacts. Each state and territory has made jurisdiction-specific information about FVOs and their enforcement publicly available. The current national review of DVO frameworks, which includes the scope of the NDVOS, may identify further opportunities to review and promote these materials, in addition to current promotional efforts.

The Government has also funded the Family Violence Law Help website, hosted by National Legal Aid (NLA), which provides information about making arrangements for children when there is an existing FVO, and what happens when there is a parenting order in place prior to an FVO being sought.

The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA) provides publicly available information on its website about FVOs, including high-level information about how to apply for them and information about the legal intersection between FVOs and parenting orders.

The Government has also published the Parenting Orders Handbook, a guide for separating parents to agree clear, safe and workable arrangements in the best interests of their children. The Handbook is available on the Government’s Family Relationships Online website and referenced on the FCFCOA website. It includes practical advice about the legal intersection between FVOs and parenting orders. The Attorney-General’s Department is in the process of updating the Handbook to reflect recent legislative amendments, and will look for opportunities to further promote community awareness of this resource once finalised.

The Committee recommends that, in the next Parliament, the Attorney-General advocate for, and assist all states and territories to:

  • adopt nationally harmonised:
    • legal definitions of family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV)
    • family violence laws and consistency in access, application processes and enforcement, and messaging of FVO requirements
  • allow children and young people to apply for FVOs and to be named as protected persons on FVOs
  • rapidly improve police responses to reports of FDSV and police recognition of coercive control, including:
    • the capacity of police to make own-motion FVOs
    • minimising the risk of misidentification of victim-survivors as primary perpetrators and systems abuse
    • implementing culturally safe and trauma informed models of response
    • improving knowledge of the legal intersection between FVOs and parenting orders, and the obligation for police to assist victim-survivors to obtain FVOs and respond to breaches of FVOs in matters involving children where the statutory basis is met
  • ensure information, application forms and court proceedings are accessible for First Nations and culturally or linguistically diverse people, those with low digital literacy skills or poor online access, or who are living with disability
  • make court proceedings safer by:
    • supporting all applicants to participate in hearings remotely if they wish
    • ensuring there are safe entrances and waiting areas, and safety protocols in all courts for applicants in FDSV matters
  • make amendments to laws to require courts making or varying an FVO to consider varying parenting orders to prioritise the safety of victim-survivors and children under section 68R of the Family Law Act 1975, and to notify the court that made the original parenting order if the parenting order is varied
  • include an option to apply for changes to parenting orders in application forms for FVOs.

Government response: Agree in principle

The Australian Government recognises the importance of engaging with evolving understandings of FDSV, improving police responses to FDSV, making court processes safer and more accessible for all victim-survivors, and streamlining intersections between FVOs and parenting orders.

The Attorney-General’s Department is currently conducting a national review of DVO frameworks, including the NDVOS, in consultation with the states and territories. The review will consider existing gaps and identify opportunities for potential reform across jurisdictions to ensure that domestic violence frameworks are fit for purpose.

Section 68R of the Family Law Act 1975 empowers state and territory courts to amend parenting orders during FVO proceedings and notify the family court as required. Any amendments to laws to require courts to consider varying parenting orders and to notify the originating court, would be a matter for state and territory governments.

The Family Law Council (FLC) is a statutory body of experts appointed to provide advice to the Attorney-General on the family law system. The current Terms of Reference require the FLC to consider improvements in relation to evidence and procedure in family law matters to ensure that parties and children who have experienced trauma, or require additional support to engage in the family law system, can achieve just and safe outcomes. The FLC will also consider opportunities to improve the experience of vulnerable parties who are, or have been, involved in criminal proceedings, child protection proceedings, or domestic violence proceedings, in addition to family law proceedings. The FLC are to report on these Terms of Reference by 30 June 2026.

Within the 2022-23 Budget, the Government allocated $4.1 million over 4 years to enhance the effectiveness of police responses to FDSV through the development and delivery of a national training and education package. The package will build on existing training in the states and territories; seeking to enhance law enforcement’s response to FDSV, including through increasing awareness of coercive control and improving recognition of indicators that help identify the more subtle behaviours of FDSV, such as the use of technology-facilitated abuse. The training will also include content on culturally safe policing and trauma informed response models aimed at minimising re-traumatisation. It is anticipated that training will commence rolling out nationally in early 2026.

The FCFCOA is independent from the Government. The FCFCOA is responsible for its operations, including court access and security, and is focused on safety in family law matters before the Courts, including provision for safety plans and safe rooms for vulnerable litigants to the extent possible. States and territories are responsible for matters relating to accessibility and safety in state and territory courts.

As owner of the Commonwealth Law Courts, the Department of Finance undertakes comprehensive disability access audits in public areas under its control at the Commonwealth Law Courts on a five-year cycle to ensure alignment with current accessibility codes and standards. The next audit period is 2025-26. Audit findings are incorporated into the Department of Finances’ forward capital works planning. In 2022-23 the department completed $3.7 million of works to improve accessibility.

The Committee recommends that, in the next Parliament, the Australian Government increase the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA)’s capacity to identify, respond and expedite high-risk FDSV and child abuse matters, including:

  • reducing wait times and overall costs for victim-survivors
  • extending Lighthouse and the co-location program
  • enhancing the support provided in Evatt List matters
  • supporting research into the circumstances where re-screening for FDSV risk in Lighthouse would be appropriate.

Government response: Agree in principle

The Government supports the expedient identification of, and response to, FDSV and child abuse matters in the family law courts, and has provided significant funding to the FCFCOA to help facilitate the effective handling of these matters. This includes:

  • $55 million over 4 years from 2022-23 to continue and expand the FCFCOA’s Lighthouse program
  • $23.8 million over 4 years from 2024-25 to engage additional court staff to assist with delivering the National Strategic Framework for Information Sharing between the Family Law and Family Violence and Child Protection Systems and its Co‑Location Program (National Framework). This is complemented by additional funding to the states and territories to deliver the National Framework.

On 6 September 2024, National Cabinet agreed to improve information sharing about perpetrators across systems and jurisdictions. To support this, the Government will be expanding the National Framework to apply to property-only and spousal maintenance proceedings, as well as proceedings under Part 3 of the Family Law (Child Abduction Convention) Regulations 1986 in relation to ‘incoming’ cases (involving a request for the return of a child abducted to, or retained in, Australia) initiated in the family law courts.

Lighthouse, including the Evatt List, is funded under the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032, with funding expiring on 30 June 2026. Decisions regarding future funding for the FCFCOA, and related research, are a matter for Government.

The Committee recommends the Australian Government continue to lead the development and implementation of an enhanced national FDSV risk and information sharing framework, with the goal of establishing, in the next Parliament, a live dashboard that all decision-makers in FDSV and child abuse matters can access, noting:

  • the information sharing framework should go beyond court-initiated orders and the self-disclosure of parties and include existing FVOs and breaches, criminal matters, child protection issues, family law orders, and other information relating to FDSV and child abuse risks
  • the risk assessment principles and framework must address systems abuse and the abuse or risk of harm to animals, and provide strong referral pathways
  • consideration should be given to expanding information-sharing beyond current information-sharing protocols, with appropriate safeguards.      

Government response: Agree in principle

Significant work is progressing through National Cabinet and multiple ministerial councils to enhance national FDSV risk assessment and information sharing.

On 6 September 2024, National Cabinet agreed on several new approaches to better identify high-risk perpetrators, share information about them across systems and state boundaries, and intervene earlier to stop violence escalating. National Cabinet agreed to increase and extend two-way information sharing between the family law courts and state and territory courts, child protection, policing and firearms agencies under the National Framework and Co‑location Program until 30 June 2028. The Australian Government will also be funding a feasibility and design study of a technological solution to support information sharing between the family law courts and state and territory courts. Any further expansion to the Information Sharing Framework will be considered through the statutory reviews required to be conducted after commencement of the relevant legislation.

National Cabinet also agreed to develop new national best-practice FDV risk assessment principles and a model best-practice risk assessment framework.

The Government has committed $2.0 million over 3 years from 2024-25 to deliver the model risk assessment framework, which will support improved national consistency and efficacy in how FDV risks are identified, assessed and managed. This initiative is being led by the Department of Social Services.

Work on new national best practice FDV risk assessment principles is being led by Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety Limited (ANROWS) and will consider a range of inputs that comprise the contemporary evidence-base. The new principles will be incorporated into the model best-practice risk assessment framework, which will focus on strengthening jurisdictions’ consistency of practice and system responses to FDV.

To support jurisdictions’ implementation of the model best-practice risk assessment framework, on 7 February 2025 the Data and Digital Ministers Meeting (DDMM) agreed to commence a project to produce national guidance to enable best practice FDV information sharing, on its Fourth National Data Sharing Work Program, under National Cabinet’s Intergovernmental Agreement on Data Sharing.

In addition, under the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021‑2030, all Australian governments agreed to work together to enhance national arrangements for sharing child safety and wellbeing information.

The Committee recommends that, in the next Parliament, the Australian Government introduce measures to improve the safety of victim-survivors of FDSV at court during family law proceedings, including:

  • ensuring victim-survivors can attend court appointments remotely where there are safety concerns
  • meeting accessibility requirements for people with disability
  • ensure court facilities have adequate safe rooms, safe zones and security staff
  • enhanced protocols and training about safety planning for victim-survivors of FDSV.

Government response: Agree in principle

The Australian Government recognises that the safety of victim-survivors should be paramount when engaging with the family law courts. The Family Violence Law Help website hosted by NLA, provides information about safety at court, including how to develop a safety plan.

The FCFCOA is independent from the Government. The FCFCOA is responsible for its operations and is focused on safety in family law matters before the Courts, including provision for safety plans and safe rooms for vulnerable litigants to the extent possible.

The Department of Finance is responsible for ensuring disability access in public areas within the Commonwealth Law Courts. The FCFCOA is responsible for ensuring that court services are accessible to people with disability. The Department of Finance undertakes comprehensive disability access audits at the Commonwealth Law Courts on a five-year cycle to ensure alignment with current accessibility codes and standards. The next audit period is 2025-26. Audit findings are incorporated into the departments’ forward capital works planning.

The Committee recommends that, in the next Parliament, the Australian Government introduce measures to improve the accessibility of FCFCOA proceedings and the support provided to vulnerable groups, including:

  • supporting individuals with low English and/or digital literacy to complete relevant online forms such as the Lighthouse triage tool and to fully engage in court proceedings, including:
    • access to interpreters when needed to ensure safety and procedural fairness
    • the translation of information resources into key languages
  • expanding the number of Indigenous Family Liaison Officer positions to meet demand
  • piloting and evaluating Disability Liaison Officer and Cultural Liaison Officer positions within the family law jurisdiction.

Government response: Agree in principle

The Australian Government is providing significant funding for the legal assistance sector to support vulnerable applicants engaging in family law matters, including through a recent $3.9 billion package for the legal assistance sector announced as part of the 6 September 2024 National Cabinet, to be delivered through the National Access to Justice Partnership (NAJP) from 1 July 2025. The package includes $275.7 million over 5 years to Women’s Legal Services via a new quarantined funding stream to assist women and children at risk of, or experiencing, FDSV.

The Government also provided an additional $8.7 million over 4 years from 2022-23 to increase the number of Indigenous Family Liaison Officers and Specialist Indigenous Lists to ensure First Nations women and children engaging with the family court system receive appropriately tailored support.

Targeted measures funded by the Government to support vulnerable applicants include:

  • The ban on Cross-Examination of Parties Scheme, which provides protections for victims of family violence during cross-examination in family law proceedings by prohibiting personal cross‑examination in certain circumstances, and requiring that cross-examination be conducted by a legal representative.
  • The continuation of Family Advocacy and Support Services (FASS), Domestic Violence Units (DVUs) and Health Justice Partnerships (HJPs), funded under the NAJP from 1 July 2025, which integrate legal assistance with other holistic support services for individuals who have experienced family violence.
  • Providing $44.5 million over 3 years from 2025-26 and $15.2 million per year ongoing to continue the FCFCOA’s enhanced family law case management system, which will assist all family law litigants, including vulnerable groups and victims of FDV.

The Government acknowledges that accessibility of proceedings, including access to interpreters and the translation of information, disproportionately impacts vulnerable groups, including First Nations people, culturally and linguistically diverse people and people with disability. The Government will continue to support the FCFCOA to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to design culturally appropriate supports, including through the engagement of Indigenous Family Liaison Officers and the operation of the Specialist Indigenous Lists.

Court forms, accessibility and interpreter arrangements are operational matters for the FCFCOA. Decisions regarding future funding for the FCFCOA, including funding for Indigenous Family Liaison Officers which expires on 30 June 2026, are a matter for Government.

The Committee recommends that, during the next Parliament, the Australian Government amend section 114AB of the Family Law Act 1975 to ensure that the family law courts are empowered to make personal protection injunctions (PPIs) where necessary to protect victim-survivors and children.

The Australian Government should work with the states and territories to resolve enforceability issues and consider developing amendments to the Act that criminalise breaches of PPIs.

Government response: Agree in part

Under Australia’s federal system of government, the primary responsibility for family violence and criminal matters rests with the states and territories, with each managing their own law enforcement and justice systems.

The Australian Government is committed to improving protection for those affected by family violence and, as such, the injunction provisions remain in the Family Law Act 1975 as additional protection for victims of family violence. Currently, the Family Law Act 1975 empowers family law courts to make a PPI where there is no existing state or territory FVO in force.

If a PPI issued under the Family Law Act 1975 is breached, the protected person may file an application to seek an order from the family law court regarding the contravention. Alternatively, sections 68C and 114AA of the Family Law Act 1975 provide a power of arrest where a person breaches a PPI. A member of the Australian Federal Police or a state and territory police force may arrest a person if the officer believes on reasonable grounds that the person has breached the injunction by causing, or threatening to cause, bodily harm to the person protected by the injunction, or has harassed, molested or stalked that person. 

Any proposal seeking to criminalise breaches of PPIs would have significant resourcing, funding and operational implications and would require close consideration and consultation, including with the FCFCOA.

The Committee recommends that, in the next Parliament, the Australian Government pilot and evaluate a children’s advocate position in FCFCOA to support Independent Children’s Lawyers and ensure children’s voices are heard during parenting matters.

Government response: Noted

The Australian Government acknowledges the importance of appropriately engaging with and seeking the views of children to assist the family law courts to determine parenting arrangements in the best interests of the child. This includes the role that social science professionals may play in providing support and information to the Court, and to professionals such as Independent Children’s Lawyers (ICLs).

Children can express their views to the family law courts through a number of existing processes, including engaging with an ICL, court child expert, or other private single expert who may meet with the child, seek their views and provide a report to the court. The Government notes that under the Family Law Act 1975, ICLs are required to ensure that any views expressed by the child in relation to matters relevant to the proceedings are fully put before the court, as well as advise the court about the best interests of the child.

Reform to require ICLs to meet with a child and provide that child with an opportunity to express a view came into effect in May 2024. A review of these new provisions to ensure they are operating as intended will form part of the review of the Family Law Amendment Act 2023, which must commence as soon as possible after the third anniversary of the commencement of the Act.

The Committee recommends that, in the next Parliament, the Australian Government lead the development and implementation of a package of reforms to eliminate opportunities for systems abuse in the family law and state and territory FVO systems. Development of the reforms should consider:

  • evaluating the effectiveness of recent reforms to the Family Law Act 1975 and whether further changes are needed, for example clarifying that systems abuse is family violence in section 4AB
  • developing comprehensive, culturally safe, and trauma-informed training and resources for judicial officers and legal professionals on the dynamics, complexities, identification and appropriate responses to FDSV, including financial and legal systems abuse and animal abuse, that:
    • is created and delivered by subject matter experts and those with lived experience and be regularly evaluated
    • includes specific First Nations training which is designed and delivered in partnership with Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations, as well as specific training on the unique issues that migrant and refugee women experience
  • implementing mandatory continuing professional development for all legal professionals engaged in FVO and family law matters
  • establishing a capacity-building service for judicial officers and other court staff
  • implementing a screening tool that identifies systems abuse and unmeritorious applications, and developing specialised processes and interventions that enable courts to intervene to protect victim-survivors in high-risk matters involving systems abuse
  • conducting research into the extent and impacts of misidentification at the intersection of FVO and family law proceedings and designing measures to strengthen the early identification and response to systems abuse
  • implementing a national outcomes measurement framework to monitor the outcomes of the family law courts’ decisions to determine the impact on victim-survivors. This could include reviewing decisions for instances of systems abuse and misidentification.     

Government response: Agree in part

Following the National Cabinet meeting on 6 September 2024, the Australian Government is conducting an audit of Commonwealth systems to identify and remove opportunities for systems abuse. The audit is an ongoing piece of work and is one mechanism through which Government can consider the weaponisation of systems by perpetrators of FDV. While the audit has an initial focus on the child support, social security and tax systems, it is not limited to these systems. The Government is also implementing the principles of safety by design as part of the audit. Safety by design is a preventative approach to systems design that aims to ensure safety considerations are holistically considered in the design and operation of systems and prevent abuse before it occurs.

Both the Family Law Amendment Act 2023 and the Family Law Amendment Act 2024 require a statutory review of the operation of the amendments to ensure the new provisions are operating as intended. The review of the Family Law Amendment Act 2023 will include a review of the new harmful proceedings order powers which respond to systems abuse by preventing harmful family law litigation, and the new overarching duty on parties to resolve family law matters quickly, inexpensively and efficiently, otherwise cost consequences may apply. The Family Law Amendment Act 2024 included amendments to allow the court to make orders protecting sensitive information from a person’s attendance at health or specialist family violence or sexual assault services from being produced or used as evidence in court hearings, where the harm caused by this would outweigh the benefit of the evidence being available to the court.

That Act also introduced provisions to allow divorce to occur without court attendance, protecting against potentially traumatic or unsafe court attendance. Further, the Family Law Amendment Act 2024 made amendments to expressly capture ‘economic or financial abuse’ within the definition of family violence. The review of these Amendment Acts must commence as soon as possible after 6 May 2027 and 10 June 2028, respectively, and be completed within 12 months. The reports must be tabled in Parliament.

While responsibility for requirements for Continuing Professional Development for legal professionals sits with state and territory law societies, the Government has funded the NLA, Women’s Legal Service Victoria and the First Nations Advocates Against Family Violence as a consortium arrangement to progress the development of Continuing Professional Development training for legal practitioners on Coercive Control. It is anticipated development of the training will be completed towards the end of the 2025-26 financial year.

The Australian and state and territory governments co-fund the National Domestic and Family Violence Bench Book, which is a resource for judicial officers in all Australian jurisdictions to improve understanding of family violence. The Bench Book contains sections on economic and financial abuse, systems abuse and animal abuse and highlights key academic literature and cases involving these types of abuse for judicial officers to consider. The Australian and state and territory governments also co-fund the Family Violence in the Court training program for judicial officers. This training builds upon the Bench Book resource and is delivered through face-to-face training seminars across Australia.

The Government contributes further funding to the National Judicial College of Australia (NJCA) and the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration (AIJA) to design, develop and deliver education and training programs for judicial officers across all court hierarchies and jurisdictions, as well as educational programs for judicial officers, court administrators and members of the legal profession in relation to the administration of judicial systems.

In addition, the Federal Court of Australia and the FCFCOA also lead the delivery of judicial education programs within the courts.

The Committee recommends that, in the next Parliament, the Australian Government undertake a scoping study to explore the benefits and feasibility of a single advocacy support model for victim-survivors of FDSV.

Government response: Agree in principle

The National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032 acknowledges that experiences of the FDV support landscape can be fragmented and complex to navigate, making it difficult for people to access the supports they need. Action 4 from the First Action Plan commits the Commonwealth and state and territory governments to building the capacity of services and systems that support victim-survivors to provide trauma-informed, connected and coordinated responses that support long-term recovery, health and wellbeing.

Related websites

House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs