Family Violence and Government Policies

This essay discusses the Royal Commission into Family Violence and the recommendations offered by it for the mitigation of the problem of family violence. It also highlights the major causes and effects of family violence and the government policies to address the issue.

Running head: FAMILY VIOLENCE AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES
Family Violence and Government Policies
Name of the Student:
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1FAMILY VIOLENCE AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES
Family violence has emerged as one of the major problems which people from
various nations of the world are suffering from currently (Alexander 2015). Jeffries and Bond
(2015) are of the viewpoint that the process of family violence is not only limited to the
physical abuse that the individuals had to suffer from but also encompasses emotional as well
as mental abuse as well. As opined by Morgan, Boxall and Brown (2018), the adverse effects
of family violence take a toll not only on the physical health of the individuals but also on
their emotional and mental health as well. More importantly, it is seen that the family
violence crime rates are of the increase and women in comparison are the more likely victims
of the family violence (Laing and Humphreys 2013).
As per Ourwatch.org.au (2018), more than 68% of the women of Australia have faced
one form or family violence or the other in comparison to the 9.4% women who had faced
violence at the hands of strangers. In addition to this, for 2013-14, more than 264,028 cases
for family violence were registered in the various local courts of Australia along with the “44
family violence-related deaths in Victoria” itself (Fitz-Gibbon and Walklate 2018).
Furthermore, for the same year, the Victorian government had to spend more than A$3.4
billion for the various legal and relief activities for the mitigation of this problem (Arrow
2018). The net result of this is the fact that the issue of family violence has is one of the
major problems which the national government of Australia is facing currently. This essay
will discuss the “Royal Commission into Family Violence” and the recommendations offered
by it for the mitigation of the problem of family violence.
The “Family Law Act 1975” of Australia defines family violence as “violent,
threatening or other behavior by a person that coerces or controls a member of the person's
family, or causes the family member to be fearful” (Hawkins and Broughton 2016). The act
also encompasses the other aspects of domestic violence like “violence between partners of
both sexes, including same-sex relationships” and others (Walklate et al. 2017). However, the

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above mentioned legislation and the term itself have been amended several times by the
national government of Australia. For example, in Victoria, the term is generally used to refer
to any form of violence which occurs within a family irrespective of the causes or the reasons
for it (Stubbs and Wangmann 2017). More importantly, it is seen that in the different states of
Australia, the term domestic violence is called by different names like “family violence”,
“domestic abuse”, “family and domestic violence” and others (Tarzia, Humphreys and
Hegarty 2017).
According to Fitz-Gibbon et al. (2018), the survey “Women's Safety Survey”
conducted by the “Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)” (1996) can be seen as the first
attempt of the national government of Australia to mitigate the problem of family violence.
As a matter of fact, in the state of Victoria itself, there were more than 74,385 recorded
instances of family violence in 2015, in addition to the ones which were not reported
(Thelookout.org.au 2018). Middleton et al. (2014) are of the viewpoint that despite the ardent
efforts of the Australian government in the recent times, the nation has not been able to
overcome the evil of family violence because of the gap between the policy and practice. In
this regard, Victoria’s Royal Commission into Family Violence and its 227
recommendations are important since they try to resolve the problem of family violence
right from the grass root level (Rcfv.com.au 2018).
The vision of the Royal Commission into Family Violence “is for a future where all
Victorians are safe, thriving and live free from family violence” (Rcfv.com.au 2018). This
policy was formulated by the Australian government in close association with Family Court
of Australia, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Australian Law Reform
Commission, Health Justice Australia and others (Vic.gov.au 2018). The primary idea
behind this was to get a comprehensive idea about the major causes or the reasons for the
high prevalence of family violence in the state of Victoria (ABC News 2018). More

3FAMILY VIOLENCE AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES
importantly, on the basis of the suggestions which were put forwarded around 227
recommendations were forwarded, out of which 212 have already been implemented
(Thelookout.org.au 2018).
According to Hutchins, Crozier and Truong (2018), “violence against women remains
the biggest contributor to ill-health and premature death in women aged 15 and 44”. This can
be seen as the fulcrum point of the Royal Commission into Family Violence and also the
various recommendations which has been offered by the commission. The major aim of the
recommendations put forward by the Royal Commission into Family Violence was to
implement various kinds of preventive programs as well as measures to ensure the fact that
the perpetrators of family violence are punished (Rcfv.com.au 2018). In addition to this, one
of the main scopes of the recommendations is to safeguard gender equality both within the
structure of the families and also within the nation itself (Vic.gov.au 2018). The
recommendations also aspire to develop various kinds of strategic as well as systematic
foundations which will prevent the family violence (ABC News 2018). In addition to these,
the recommendations, at the same time, also intend to extent the preventative measures to the
Aboriginal Communities and the Diverse Communities (Rcfv.com.au 2018).
The recommendations of the “Family Violence and Service Delivery Reform Unit”
also seek to establish different Support and also Safety Hubs which will enable the authorities
to meet the increasing demand for quality services by the victims (Vic.gov.au 2018).
Furthermore, they also intend to strengthen the kind of responses which are currently offered
to the families to the family members and also the children safe. The recommendations also
offer the opportunity to the individuals to establish safe as well as stable housing and also
effective support recovery system (Rcfv.com.au 2018). The recommendations have at the
same time proposed that rather than the normal legal proceedings special family courts be
established for the hearing of these kinds of cases (Vic.gov.au 2018). Tarzia, Humphreys and

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Hegarty (2017) are of the viewpoints in the normal courts which is often crowded with
people, deter the victims of family to discuss their problems in an effective manner and thus
the establishment of special family courts would help these victims in a substantial manner.
More importantly, these private courts would offer the opportunity to the authorities to
conduct private interviews and others which will enable them to resolve the disputes in a
much effective manner (Vic.gov.au 2018). However, this would require the national
government as well as the legal authorities of the nation to establish “victim-centred justice”
(Rcfv.com.au 2018).
The recommendations also propose for the strengthening of the “Family Violence
Risk Assessment and Risk Management Framework” wherein special police forces will
be there to react to the cases of family violence on an urgent basis (Vic.gov.au 2018). More
importantly, the plan has also proposed for the synchronization of the different departments
of the local as well as the national government, the legal system, police authorities and others
for handling such kind of cases. The “Family Violence and Service Delivery Reform Unit”
has also made it mandatory for most family violence workers to have social work
qualifications by 2020 (ABC News 2018). The most important one among these
qualifications is that the “family violence practitioners”, in order to counsel the victims of
these cases would be required to have a social work or some similar kind of degrees
(Rcfv.com.au 2018). In addition to this, the Victorian government in its “Building from
Strength: 10-Year Industry Plan for Family Violence Prevention and Response” has
made it clear that the practitioners are required to have the highest kind of educational
qualifications and also skill sets (Vic.gov.au 2018).
Neave (2015) is of the viewpoint that the effectiveness with which a victim can out of
the trauma of family violence depends to a large extent on the efficiency as well as the
effectiveness of the counseling services offered to them. It is with the objective to offer better

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kind of counseling services to the victims so that they are being able to overcome the trauma
of the family violence that the Victorian government has made the regulations for the
counselors more stringent (Fitz-Gibbon and Walklate 2018). In this conjunction it needs to be
said that the “Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW)” also requires the social
works or the counselors to have certain minimum level of educational qualifications as well
as skill sets (Fitz-Gibbon et al. 2018). However, because of the kind of workload that the
professional counselors are required to handle it is often seen that various individuals with
inadequate educational qualifications and also skill sets are allowed to offer counseling
services (Hawkins and Broughton 2016). The recommendations have made it clear that such
kind of practices will be allowed no longer. These in short are some of the major precepts of
the “Family Violence and Service Delivery Reform Unit” or more commonly called by the
name of Royal Commission into Family Violence.
According to Morgan, Boxall and Brown (2018), the issue of family violence has
formed an integral part of the political debate of not only the Victorian political system but
also of the entire Australian political system itself. Furthermore, since the past few years it is
seen that many political parties have tried to win the elections on the basis of their support
and also intended reforms for the cause of this issue. In this regard, mention needs to be made
about Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister of Australia in 2015, who called the problem of
family violence a “tragic and deadly epidemic” (Dowling et al. 2018). It is pertinent to note
that all the major political parties of the nation like the Greens, Labor and Coalition
recognized the issue of family violence as a major problem which is not only affected the
individual lives of the people but at the same time affected the nation in a substantial manner
(Walklate et al. 2017). However, all these parties differed regarding the measure which needs
to be adopted for the mitigation or the resolution of this particular problem.

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The Coalition government has been an ardent supporter of the Royal Commission
and its efforts (Arrow 2018). As a matter of fact, the initial funding for the Commission, that
is, A$100 million, came in the year 2015, which was provided by the Coalition government
(Vic.gov.au 2018). In addition to this, another $30 million “to frontline legal assistance
providers for victims of family and domestic violence and $25 million for improved
provision of domestic violence support services” have been offered by the Coalition
government for the resolution of the problem of family violence (Rcfv.com.au 2018). More
importantly, the Coalition government has also offered funding to the Commission so that
they can offer “help Indigenous women and communities” and also help in the creation of a
safety culture (Arrow 2018).
The recommendations have not received much support from the Greens and the
Labor. In this regard, it needs to be said that the major policy followed by these two was to
invest millions of dollars into “frontline legal services” with the intention of offer adequate
legal services to the women and the other victims of family victims (Stubbs and Wangmann
2017). It is pertinent to note that these parties believed that the issue of family violence can
only be remedied by making the laws and legislative system more stringent. However, it
needs to be said at this juncture that these parties have criticized the recommendations
because of their failure to understand that the family violence would need more than the
strengthening of the legal system for its mitigation (Fitz-Gibbon et al. 2018). In these regard,
it can be said that the Coalition government through the introduction of these 227
recommendations is looking to gain long-term rewards so as to effectively address the issue
of family violence.
Australia is one of the most of the developed nations of the world with a high rate of
education and also a multicultural society (Middleton et al. 2014). Dowling et al. (2018) are
of the viewpoint that the nation is known for its liberal and free way of life and the people

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generally like to live in harmony. In this regard, it can be said that the problem of family
violence is perhaps one of the biggest blemishes of the culture of the nation. More
importantly, it is seen that the majority of these family violence cases are committed against
the women of the nation and the perpetrators are mainly the male members of the family
(Laing and Humphreys 2013). These acts of violence not only take a toll on the physical
health of the women but at the same time affect them emotionally as well and in many cases
it is seen that they even scar the victims for the rest of their lives (Hutchins, Crozier and
Truong 2018). In this context, the “White Ribbon Campaign (WRC)” is an important one
to note. The primary aim of this campaign is to reduce or mitigate the violence committed by
the male members of the society against the female members of the society (White Ribbon
2018). The members of the campaign wear ribbons to articulate “the idea of men giving up
their arms” (White Ribbon 2018). More importantly, the members of this campaign try to
reduce the number of cases of violence against women by not only educating the men but at
the same time spreading awareness regarding the ill-effects of the process of violence against
women (Arrow 2018).
The Domestic Violence Resource Center Victoria is “a statewide resource centre
supporting workers and families to help stop family violence” (Dvrcv.org.au 2018). The
center under discussion aspires to offer a platform to the victims of domestic or family
violence wherein they can not only raise their protests against the family violence instances
that they have faced but also seek legal assistance. More importantly, this center has active tie
ups with the legal authorities and others who can help the victims of family violence to seek
legal advice as well as assistance (Dvrcv.org.au 2018). In addition to this, these centers also
offer the services of various kinds of social workers or family violence practitioners so that
along with legal assistance the victims are also able to get emotional counseling as well. The

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center not only offers telephonic services to the victims but also various kinds of courses to
the professionals so that they can improve their counseling skills (Dvrcv.org.au 2018).
As opined by Fitz-Gibbon et al. (2018), the instances of family violence leave the
victims emotionally as well as physically drenched and thus the victims often require the
assistance of various kinds of counselors to get over the trauma involved in the process.
Furthermore, the center also organizes various kinds of meetings and sessions wherein the
victims can not only meet similar kind of victims of family violence but also derive the
necessary strength from them. These meetings or sessions at the same time offer the victims
an opportunity wherein they can express their feelings as well as emotions in an effective
manner and thereby heal themselves emotionally (Dvrcv.org.au 2018). In addition to these, it
is also seen that the center maintains an online blog wherein professionals from different
parts of the world offer guidance as well as assistance to the victims. Thus, it can be said that
these centers offer invaluable services to the victims of domestic violence and also help them
to overcome the horrors of the family violence.
Domestic Violence Victoria can be seen as a peak body which seeks to offer
specialist family violence services to the women as well as children who have been the
victims of family violence. The mission of the body is to “shape a world where women and
children can live fulfilled lives, free from fear and violence” (Thelookout.org.au 2018). The
body is known for offering various kinds of advocacy services to the people of the nation so
as to mitigate the evil of family violence. This is usually done by the body by means of
spreading awareness and also making people understand the notions of equality and respect
(Thelookout.org.au 2018). More importantly, the body from time to time takes the help of
various kinds of media campaigns to not only raise respect for women but also to reduce the
cases of family violence as well.

9FAMILY VIOLENCE AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES
The recommendations of the Royal Commission into Family Violence have also
articulated the need for the improvement of the “domestic violence police in Victoria”. The
“domestic violence police in Victoria”, can be seen as a division of the main police force of
the state which deals with the various cases of family violence (Police.vic.gov.au 2018).
However, the working style of this department of the police is drastically different from the
other departments of the Victorian police force. For example, it is seen that rather than taking
a professional approach the officials of this force are required to take a more personal
approach for dealing with the various victims of family violence (Morgan, Boxall and Brown
2018). More importantly, this division of the Victorian police works as per the strict dictums
of the “Victorian Family Violence Protection Act 2008” which offers a list of various
offenses that belongs to the category of family violence (Police.vic.gov.au 2018). In addition
to this, the officials are also required to follow the “Code of Practice for the Investigation
of Family Violence” for dealing with the various victims of family victims (Fitz-Gibbon and
Walklate 2018). The victims in case of emergency can seek their assistance by dialing the
number “000” (Police.vic.gov.au 2018). Furthermore, the deaf as well as people with Autism
and other kind of problems can also reach them through their telephonic number “1800
Respect” (Police.vic.gov.au 2018). The majority of the victims of family violence concur on
the point that they offer invaluable services.
The current policies followed by the national government of Australia for the
mitigation of family violence are no doubt effective and have shown results yet there is room
for improvement. One example, even after the Royal Commission into Family Violence,
special family courts had not yet been established. One way through which the Victorian or
the national government can improve the quality of the family violence services offered to the
victims is to establish family courts wherein the victims would be able to seek justice in an
effective manner. Another measure to improve the existing policies followed by the Victorian

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government is to recruit more female support providers into the various bodies which are
entrusted with the work of offering relief services to the victims. In this regard, it needs to be
said that the majority of the victims of family violence are women and children and it is seen
that after facing violence at the hands of a man they generally do not feel comfortable talking
to a man. Thus, if there are female help providers the victims would feel more comfortable to
discuss their problems. Establishment of local bodies along with the state level ones would
also improve the quality of services which are being offered to the victims and would also
reduce the number of these crimes.
To conclude, the problem of family violence has emerged as one of the major
problems which the nation of Australia is facing currently. Furthermore, the majority of the
victims of these family violence cases are women. More importantly, these instances of
family violence not only affect the physical health of the victims but at the same time affect
their emotional as well as mental health. The Victorian government in conjugation with the
national government of Australia has formulated various kinds of regulations for the
mitigation of this problem. In this regard, the Royal Commission into Family Violence is an
important one which has proposed 227 recommendations through which the problem can be
resolved in an effective manner. Moreover, it is seen that out of the 227 recommendations
212 have already been implemented. In addition to these, as per the recommendations of the
Commission, the various departments of the national government have been integrated with
the Victorian government to offer better relief services to the victims of family violence.

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