This submission was prepared for the Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee’s Inquiry into domestic violence in Australia, addressing each of its terms of reference with a focus on alcohol-related domestic violence and making six recommendations.
Recommendations
- That the Inquiry acknowledges that alcohol is a risk factor for domestic violence occurring and increases the severity of the harms that result from domestic violence. Alcohol should be recognised as a contributing factor to domestic violence in national, state and territory strategies to prevent violence against women and children.
- That the Inquiry recommends that alcohol treatment services and domestic violence services be resourced to develop best practice approaches to working collaboratively, to ensure that a ‘no wrong doors’ policy exists for victims seeking support from either sector.
- That the Inquiry recommends that alcohol treatment services and domestic violence services involve families in the provision of support, where appropriate, to ensure that witnesses to violence, including children, are appropriately supported.
- That the Inquiry note that the increased affordability, availability and price of alcohol is contributing to alcohol harms including domestic violence.
- That the Inquiry recommends the adoption of primary prevention policies targeting the price, promotion and availability of alcohol as a mechanism to reduce alcohol-related domestic violence.
- That the Inquiry recommends that state and territories collect data on the involvement of alcohol in domestic violence incidents, to provide an indication of the extent of the problem and allow for the effectiveness of policies and programs to be measured.
