Links to all Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Documents are located at
Australia
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2023) Personal Safety Australia 2021-2022.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Personal Safety, Australia, 2016, ABS cat no. 4906.0 (2017).
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2022) Family, domestic and sexual violence data in Australia, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 24 January 2023.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia: continuing the national story 2019.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia (Report, 2018).
Backhouse, Corina and Cherie Toivonen, National Risk Assessment Principles for domestic and family violence: Companion resource (ANROWS, 2018).
Boxall H & Morgan A. 2021. Experiences of coercive control among Australian women. Statistical Bulletin no. 30. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Boxall H & Morgan A 2021. Who is most at risk of physical and sexual partner violence and coercive control during the COVID-19 pandemic?. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 618. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Boxall, Hayley and Anthony Morgan, Repeat Domestic and Family Violence among Young People Research Report No 591, February 2020, Australian Institute of Criminology.
Dearden, Jack, and Jason Payne, ‘Alcohol and Homicide in Australia’ (2009) 372 Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice 1.
Douglas, Heather and Robin Fitzgerald, ‘Strangulation, Domestic Violence and the Legal Response’ (2014) 36 Sydney Law Review 231.
Dowling C, Boxall H & Morgan A 2021. The criminal career trajectories of domestic violence offenders. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 624. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://doi.org/10.52922/ti78016
Dowling, Chistopher and Anthony Morgan, Predicting Repeat Domestic Violence: Improving Police Risk Assessment, (Research Report No 581, October 2019, Australian Institute of Criminology).
Dowling, Chistopher and Anthony Morgan, Is methamphetamine use associated with domestic violence? (Australian Institute of Criminology Report No. 563 December 2018).
Grech, Katrina, and Melissa Burgess, ‘Trends and Patterns in Domestic Violence Assaults: 2001 To 2010’ (Issue Paper 61, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 2011).
Hulme, Shann, Anthony Morgan and Hayley Boxall,Domestic Violence Offenders, Prior Offending and Reoffending in Australia, Research Report No 580, September 2019, Australian Institute of Criminology.
Kaspiew, Rae, et al, ‘Evaluation of the 2012 Family Violence Amendments’ (Synthesis Report, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2015).
Kaspiew, R., Carson, R., Rhoades, H., Qu, L., De Maio, J., Horsfall, B., & Stevens, E. (2022). Compliance with and enforcement of family law parenting orders: Views of professionals and judicial officers (Research report, 01/2022). ANROWS.
Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues, Parliament of New South Wales, Domestic Violence Trends and Issues in NSW (Report No 46, 2012).
Leung, F and Trimboli, L. (2022). Improving police risk assessment of intimate partner violence. NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
Miles, H & Bricknell, S. (2024) Homicide in Australia 2022-2023 (National Homicide Monitoring Program) Sydney: Australian Institute of Criminology, Statistical Report 46.
Mooney, Rosemary and Deborah Byrne, Understanding the relationship between family violence and brain injury (The Brain Injury Association of Tasmania, 2016).
Morgan, Anthony, Hayley Boxall and Rick Brown, Targeting repeat domestic violence: Assessing short term risk of reoffending (Australian Institute of Criminology Report No. 552 June 2018).
Morgan A & Boxall H 2020. Social isolation, time spent at home, financial stress and domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 609. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Myhill A, Hohl K. The “Golden Thread”: Coercive Control and Risk Assessment for Domestic Violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2019; 34(21-22):4477-4497.
Noonan, Patrick, Annabel Taylor and Jackie Burke, Links between alcohol consumption and domestic and sexual violence against women: Key findings and future directions (ANROWS, 2017).
International
Barlow, Charlotte and Siobhan Weare, ‘Women as Co-Offenders: Pathways into Crime and Offending Motivations’ (2019) 58(1) The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice 1089. 86-103.
Block, Carolyn, ‘Reducing Intimate Partner Homicide Rates: What are the Risk Factors for Death when a Woman is being Abused?’ in Australian Institute of Criminology, Domestic-related Homicide: Keynote Papers from the 2008 International Conference on Homicide (Report No 104, Research and Public Policy Series, 2009) 62.
Brownridge, Douglas, et al., ‘The Elevated Risk for Non-Lethal Post-Separation Violence in Canada: A Comparison of Separated, Divorced, and Married Women’ (2008) 23(1) Journal of Interpersonal Violence 117.
Campbell, Jacquelyn, et al, ‘Risk Factors for Femicide in Abusive Relationships: Results from a Multisite Case Control Study’ (2003a) 93(7) American Journal of Public Health 1089.
Campbell, Jacquelyn, et al, ‘Assessing Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Homicide’ (2003b) 250 National Institute of Justice Journal 14.
Fleury, Ruth E, Cris M Sullivan & Deborah I Bybee, ‘When Ending the Relationship Does not End the Violence: Women’s Experiences of Violence by Former Partners’ (2000) 6(12) Violence Against Women 1363.
Folkes, Stephanie, N, Zoe Hilton and Grant T Harris, ‘Weapon Use Increases the Severity of Domestic Violence but Neither Weapon Use Nor Firearm Access Increases the Risk or Severity of Recidivism’ (2012) 28(6) Journal of Interpersonal Violence 1143.
Glass, Nancy, et al, ‘Non-fatal Strangulation is an Important Risk Factor for Homicide of Women’ (2008) 35(3) Journal of Emergency Medicine 329.
Graham, Kathryn; Sharon Bernards, Sharon C. Wilsnack and Gerhard Gmel; ‘Alcohol May Not Cause Partner Violence But It Seems to Make It Worse: A Cross National Comparison of the Relationship Between Alcohol and Severity of Partner Violence’ (2011) 26(8) Journal of Interpersonal Violence 1503.
Jaffe, Peter, Katreena Scott, ‘Risk Factors for Children in Situations of Family Violence in the Context of Separation and Divorce’ (Department of Justice Canada, 2014).
Livingston, Michael, ‘The Ecology of Domestic Violence: The Role of Alcohol Outlet Density’ (2010) 5(1) Geospatial Health 139.
Lyons, et al., Risk Factors for Child Death During an Intimate Partner Homicide: A Case-Control Study (2021) 26(4) Child Maltreatment 356-362 doi: 10.1177/1077559520983901
McFarlane, Judith, Jacquelyn Campbell and Kathy Watson, ‘Intimate Partner Stalking and Femicide: Urgent Implications for Women's Safety’ (2002) 20(1-2) Behavioral Sciences and the Law 51.
Mechanic, Mindy B, Terri L. Weaver & Patricia A. Resick, ‘Risk Factors for Physical Injury Among Help-Seeking Battered Women: An Exploration of Multiple Abuse Dimensions’ (2008) 14(10) Violence Against Women 1148.
Messing, JT, Thomas, KA, Ward-Lasher, AL & Brewer, NQ 2021, ‘A Comparison of Intimate Partner Violence Strangulation Between Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples’, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. 36, no. 5/6, pp. 2887–2905.
Messing, Jill Theresa, Wilson, Janet Sullivan and Jacquelyn Campbell, ‘ Differentiating among Attempted, Completed, and Multiple Nonfatal Strangulation in Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence’ (2018) 28(1) Women’s Health Issues 104-111.
Miner, Emily, et al, ‘Risk of Death or Life-Threatening Injury for Women with Children Not Sired by the Abuser’ (2012) 23(1) Human Nature 89.
National Institute of Justice, ‘How Effective Are Lethality Assessment Programs for Addressing Intimate Partner Violence?’ (Office of Justice Programs, June 11 2018).
Patch, Michelle, Jocelyn Anderson and Jacquelyn Campbell, ‘Injuries of Women Surviving Intimate Partner Strangulation and Subsequent Emergency Health Care Seeking: An Integrative Evidence Review’ (2018) 44(4) Journal of Emergency Nursing 384.
Petersson, Joachim and Thunberg, Sara, (2022) Vulnerability Factors among Women Victimized by Intimate Partner Violence and the Presence of Children, 37 Journal of Family Violence 1057-1069, doi: 10.1007/s10896-021-00328-8
Rossiter, KR. et al., ‘Domestic Homicide in Immigrant and Refugee Populations: Culturally-Informed Risk and Safety Strategies’ (Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative, Domestic Homicide Brief 4, February 2018).
Spencer, Chelsea and Stith, Sandra, (2020) Risk Factors for Male Perpetration and Female Victimization of Intimate Partner Homicide: A Meta-Analysis. 21(3) Trauma, Violence & Abuse 527-540. doi: 10.1177/1524838018781101
Vivienne, Elizabeth, ‘Custody Stalking: A Mechanism of Coercively Controlling Mothers Following Separation’ (2017) 25(2) Feminist Legal Studies 185-201.
Wallace, M. et al., (2021) ‘Homicide during pregnancy and the post-partum period in the United States, 218-2019’. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 138(5): 762- 769, doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000004567
White, Catherine et al., ‘I thought he was going to kill me’: Analysis of 204 case files of adults reporting non-fatal strangulation as part of a sexual assault over a 3 year period’ (2021) 79 Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2021.102128
Zilkins, R.R., Phillips, M.A., Kelly, M.C., Mukhtar, S.A., Semmens, J.B., & Smith, D.A., ‘Non-fatal strangulation in sexual assault: A study of clinical and assault characteristics highlighting the role of intimate partner violence’ (2016) 43 Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine 1.
Overview
The following factors are commonly identified in academic literature, domestic violence death reviews and a range of risk assessment tools as key signifiers of risk for the escalation of domestic and family violence. It is not an exhaustive list and other resources may include additional factors. The distinguishing characteristic of domestic and family violence is that it can present in many forms and can occur within a variety of relationships and is most likely to involve a complex pattern of controlling behaviour and violence over a period of time, rather than a single incident. This is often referred to as coercive control. One study has described coercive control as the ‘golden thread’ running through risk identification and assessment for domestic violence. It is likely therefore that risk will heighten where a perpetrator increasingly engages in multiple forms of violence or abuse, or does so more frequently, intensely or severely. Judicial recognition of this is critical to understanding the ongoing and ever-changing risks of domestic and family violence unique to the circumstances of each case before the court, and the need to regularly reassess risk throughout the course of judicial proceedings. It is also important to recognise, more broadly, that certain groups within the community as identified in this bench book may be at greater risk of experiencing domestic and family violence, and may be more vulnerable to its impacts. Some people may belong to multiple groups that have been identified as being particularly at risk of domestic and family violence.
It has become increasingly common for agencies, including police, to employ in an attempt to identify victims at risk of escalation of domestic and family violence victimisation, and in particular, intimate partner homicide. Those tools are only effective if they accurately identify those victims who are at significant risk. Recent research has observed that risk assessment tools which fail to take account of the gendered nature of domestic and family violence may be ineffective.
Victim fear
Past domestic and family violence and escalation
Non-fatal strangulation
Weapons and threats to kill
Separation
Pregnancy of victim
Misuse of alcohol or drugs by perpetrator
Stalking
Coercive and controlling, jealous, obsessive behaviours by the perpetrator
Suicide threat by perpetrator
Step-child in the family
Parenting proceedings and other court proceedings
Overview
The following factors are commonly identified in academic literature, domestic violence death reviews and a range of risk assessment tools as key signifiers of risk for the escalation of domestic and family violence. It is not an exhaustive list and other resources may include additional factors. The distinguishing characteristic of domestic and family violence is that it can present in many forms and can occur within a variety of relationships and is most likely to involve a complex pattern of controlling behaviour and violence over a period of time, rather than a single incident. This is often referred to as coercive control. One study has described coercive control as the ‘golden thread’ running through risk identification and assessment for domestic violence. It is likely therefore that risk will heighten where a perpetrator increasingly engages in multiple forms of violence or abuse, or does so more frequently, intensely or severely. Judicial recognition of this is critical to understanding the ongoing and ever-changing risks of domestic and family violence unique to the circumstances of each case before the court, and the need to regularly reassess risk throughout the course of judicial proceedings. It is also important to recognise, more broadly, that certain groups within the community as identified in this bench book may be at greater risk of experiencing domestic and family violence, and may be more vulnerable to its impacts. Some people may belong to multiple groups that have been identified as being particularly at risk of domestic and family violence.
It has become increasingly common for agencies, including police, to employ in an attempt to identify victims at risk of escalation of domestic and family violence victimisation, and in particular, intimate partner homicide. Those tools are only effective if they accurately identify those victims who are at significant risk. Recent research has observed that risk assessment tools which fail to take account of the gendered nature of domestic and family violence may be ineffective.
Victim fear
Past domestic and family violence and escalation
Non-fatal strangulation
Weapons and threats to kill
Separation
Pregnancy of victim
Misuse of alcohol or drugs by perpetrator
Stalking
Coercive and controlling, jealous, obsessive behaviours by the perpetrator
Suicide threat by perpetrator
Step-child in the family
Parenting proceedings and other court proceedings