Perpetrator data gaps exposed in family violence sector

SUPPORT services operating in the family violence space regularly face challenges gathering data on the perpetrators of violence, with several separate collection and storage processes in use across the sector, a parliamentary inquiry heard in Geelong last month.

The state’s inquiry into the collection of data related to the perpetrators of family violence was initiated earlier this year in March.

It aims to investigate the mechanisms used for capturing data on the profile and volume of people using family violence in Victoria, and the barriers that exist to achieving a full understanding of the cohort.

Ahead of the hearings, committee chair and Lara MP Ella George said more needed to be done to identify people using, or at risk of using, family violence.

“It is important for the committee to hear from sector experts what opportunities there are to ensure we are capturing valuable data on the profile of people who are choosing to use violence,” she said.

In Geelong last month, the inquiry held hearings with several local support providers, including Barwon Health, the Sexual Assault & Family Violence Centre, and Meli, with representatives from each organisation sharing insights into how perpetrator data is currently collected, who collects the data and how the process could be improved.

Meli executive director of service Bernadette McCartney said the importance of the inquiry was well-understood by the organisation and offered the committee recommendations around breaking down the current siloed nature of the existing statutory systems and developing a systemic approach to the collection of data.

“Simply put, we believe there is a need to develop a database that is specific to people who use violence,” she said.

Kristy Berryman, Meli’s manager of family violence, said there were countless examples of practitioners on the ground doing the work to establish practices to strengthen the sharing and gathering of perpetrator data and fill gaps in the information available.

“But I guess we are not benefiting from that wider policy and legislation that really supports those things happening.”

Ms McCartney said the absence of somewhere to collectively store the information gathered remained a problem, noting that even then, information is not helpful in the absence of analysis.

“You can create a database, and government have created databases around lots of different things.

“If it has no capacity to train people to undertake analysis of the information and subsequent plans…then it will be another problematic database.

“The royal commission identified that the police systems need to talk to the court systems, to the corrections system, to the child protection system.”

Almost 10 years on, she said, this still is not occurring.

“We are relying on goodwill with the local senior sergeant from the family violence unit, or we are relying on the manager from child protection. There is just no way to congregate this information.”

Meli has provided a specialist response to people who use violence for more than 20 years and is the largest provider of services for people who use family violence in the Barwon area.