Domestic and family violence in the spotlight, for now
Despite more media coverage and public attention, domestic violence is still increasing across the nation. Caitlin Mollenhagen lists some of the social and economic costs of domestic violence that show that this issue should stay at the deserved forefront of discussions.
Domestic, family, and intimate partner violence is a contemporary and important social policy topic in Australia. It is an issue that has been described in the media as an epidemic (see Senelmis & Kulas, 2015), and one that occurs across all cultures, ages, and socio-economic groups (Phillips & Vandenbroek, 2014). The existence of State’s Domestic Violence Death Review Units and Teams speaks volumes in itself about the shocking prevalence in todays society.
2015 could be a significant year for bringing domestic violence further into the spotlight as a critical social issue. So far we have seen the Australian of the Year award to go a domestic and family violence victim and campaigner, Rosie Batty, who is being hailed as putting domestic violence on the national agenda (Australian of the Year Awards, n.d.), and the release of the Not Now, Not Ever report on domestic and family violence in Queensland.
The Not Now, Not Ever report acknowledged that despite the influx of high profile and tragic incidents of domestic violence both in Queensland and across the nation and despite significant media coverage, public commentary, and community attention, domestic and family violence is still increasing (Queensland Government, 2015). From this report it is shown that in the one year period between 2013-2014 there were 66,016 occurrences of domestic and family violence (which is an average of 181 incidents reported to police every day) and there were 17 domestic violence related homicides (Queensland Government, 2015). As Phillips & Vandenbroek (2014) state, the true extent of this issue is not possible to measure as most incidents of domestic violence go unreported in Australia still.
To bring this issue into a social policy context, here is a small sample of some of the social and economic costs of domestic violence:
- The National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (NCRVWC) estimated the cost to the national economy at $13.6 billion in 2009
- Using burden of disease methodology VicHealth determined that domestic violence was the leading risk factor contributing to death, disability and illness in Victorian women aged 15-44
- The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health found that women who have experienced domestic violence rate their health as poorer and use health services more frequently than other women, even after they are no longer exposed to violence
- Domestic violence remains one of the leading causes of homelessness, accounting for 32% of all clients receiving assistance from specialist homelessness services in 2011-2012 (Phillips & Vandenbroek, 2014).
So we know that the occurrence of domestic violence is increasing and we can see that it is an issue that has multidimensional and complex needs, using these costs as an example, but in 2014 the Commonwealth government made the following funding cuts (to highlight a few) to essential services that supported those experiencing domestic violence: $44 million to new shelters and emergency accommodations, and $21 million to housing and homelessness services and $64 million to Australian legal services over 4 years (Parliament of Australia, n.d.).
While governments state to have a strong stance on domestic violence, and commitment to reducing its occurrence in our society when looking at the contested nature of funding, and statements, such as this one in the 2014-2015 federal budget, that the Australian public service will be reduced across four years to provide a leaner public sector that delivers value for taxpayer’s dollars (Australian Government, n.d.), these ideological commitments can become less clear.
While state and federal funding commitments and budget allocations have a contested nature for social issue and policy reform, funding commitments and extensions such as the recently announced National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness, which is to have a focus on women and children experiencing domestic violence (Borello & McDonald, 2015), may indicate that this issue will be at the deserved forefront of not only discussion but progress in 2015.
References
- Australian Government. (n.d.). Budget Overview.
- Australian of the Year Awards. (n.d.). Honour Roll.
- Borello, E., & McDonald, S. (2015). Scott Morrison gives homelessness groups two-year, $230 million funding extension.
- Phillips, J., & Vandenbroek, P. (2014). Domestic, family and sexual violence in Australia: an overview of the issue.
- Queensland Government. (2015). Special taskforce on domestic and family violence in Queensland.
- Senelmis, S., & Kulas, E. (2015). Intimate brutality: The epidemic of domestic violence.
Caitlin Mollenhagen embarked on a few career paths before her passion for working with people, promoting mental well-being, social change, and advocacy led her to study social work. Currently in her final year of a social work degree she is excited about being an emerging practitioner.
